Mirtazapine good for depression ?

[hanshan]

Hi Lan,

I take 45 mg mirtazapine daily - mostly in the evening with pregabalin to help stop the waking anxiety thing. It works to the extent that I don't wake to feelings of anxiety or impending doom like I used to. However, I still get waking nightmares, which I've had in varying forms for decades (a kind of post-traumatic stress problem from childhood family problems).

But on balance things are much better now than they've been. As Leunig (a cartoonist in Australia) says: "The whale of despair in the middle of the night turns out to be a sardine on toast in the morning" (I'm probably misquoting a bit).

[Lan69]

Hanshan I sleep really well now, it's taking a long time but I now average about 8 hours + every night. I never thought I would get a decent night sleep again a few months back. Them waking nightmares sound awful and scary and your quote is very true.

[sandie]

Hanshan - I love that quote, and have used it today; a friend of mine has a daughter who is going through a very difficult time and is making early morning (1 am two nights ago), phone calls to her parents with all sorts of imagined problems.

I have suggested she tell her daughter the quote - it fits so well !

[hanshan]

Leunig is an unofficial national treasure in Australia. If I could encapsulate his work, it is that in the darkest of dark, things often seem overwhelming, but hope sometimes shines a light. The balance between overwhelming despair and hope shifts in his work, just as life does.

Here is a link to some of his work:

http://www.leunig.com.au/cartoons/cartoons

[MyNameIsTerry]

Yes, I like that too, hanshan.

at the butterfly and the man.

[Istherehope?]

Never come across Leunig before - loving him now thanks Hanshan!