Mirtazapine & Sleep - advice please?

[ItShouldGetBetter]

Hi all,

I have been on mirtazapine for three years and decided that I can no longer cope with sleeping 14+ hours a night and being constantly tired, so am lowering dose ready to switch to escitalopram.

However, it's 4am and I'm still awake even though I'm exhausted. On mirtazapine I'm a zombie, without it I'm just as tired but without sleeping!

Has anyone been through this or going through it? I'm a little at the end of my tether.

Many thanks in advance

[panic_down_under]

I have been on mirtazapine for three years and decided that I can no longer cope with sleeping 14+ hours a night and being constantly tired, so am lowering dose ready to switch to escitalopram.

You don't actually need to wean off mirtazapine before starting on escitalopram, and given a common initial SSRI side-effect is insomnia, it may be a good idea to wait until you're stabilised on the new med before quitting.


However, it's 4am and I'm still awake even though I'm exhausted. On mirtazapine I'm a zombie, without it I'm just as tired but without sleeping!

Unfortunately, rebound insomnia if fairly common when quitting mirtazapine. How much were you on before and at what rate are you tapering off?