Week One... Restless Legs and Cramps

[thehornet]

After bad experiences with Pregabalin, Citalopram and Venlafaxine my doctor talk me into giving Mirtazapine a shot.

I'm on day FIVE of 15mg and unfortunately i'm yet to feel any benefits at all, i was told that it should help my sleep straight away but that hasn't happened yet either. I take 15mg in the evening before bed and after about 45 minutes i start getting pins and needles throughout my body which turn into really painful cramp like feelings particularly in my legs, hands and feet. Just wondered if any one has had this side effect when starting up and if/when it passed? I can manage a couple of hours of the pain each night before having to take a Xanax to help me fall asleep.

Just not sure how long i can put up with experiencing this every night

Any thoughts / feedback would be much appreciated

[hanshan]

Hello Hornet,

Unfortunately, I also get something similar - I think it's an under-reported side effect of mirtazapine. For me, it starts about half-an-hour after taking mirtazapine at bedtime. I get a series of jolts - about three per minute - that lasts about half-an-hour. This is annoying, but bearable, as I usually sleep well once it has stopped. If I can remember back, I used to also get the restless legs (that odd crampy feeling), but now I'm taking pregabalin in addition to mirtazapine, which seems to have stopped that.

I'm usually lucky in that I fall asleep before the jolts start, so I sleep through them. Only occasionally am I still awake when they start.

My advice is to spread the dose through the day so there is no spike, and take the last dose a couple of hours before bedtime. If you still get restless legs, they will be much less noticeable if you are up and moving around. Good luck!