Mirt - tolerance to histamine effect = insomnia?

[anxiousjomo]

Hi,

Wondering if one of you experts on here can help.

I have been on 15mg of Mirt for 3 months - had anxiety, depression and insomnia, and SSRI's had not worked for me.

It worked well - no real side effects (except for about 1hr of restless legs about 1hr after taking it) - was sleeping well.

Then, about 7 days ago, I suddenly just was wide awake all night. Could not sleep at all. I did not feel that anxious, nor was I worrying about anything, and I do the usual tricks of no caffeine after lunch, sleep at regular times etc, but it just felt like every time I started to drift toward sleep, something yanked me back up.

The next night I was so exhausted I passed out and slept for about 7hr straight. Then again the next night I was awake all night - maybe 1hr sleep. Then again I slept ok, and then last night was awake all night again.

Does this sound like a tolerance for the antihistamine effect having built up? And that, now that my brain is not getting the "help" it is used to from the mirt, it is almost like the insomnia I would get from withdrawing?

My anxiety and depression are ok - it still seems to be dialling them down a bit, which is all I needed, but this sleep thing is just brutal, and it just seems so strange to come out of the blue like this...

Any help would be gratefully received. I don't think the answer is going up to 30, but might it be going down to 7.5? Or I just have to ride it out and try and deal with the insomnia another way...

[SmilingAlbert]

Sorry to hear your problems Anxiousjomo. You have my sympathies - I know myself how MH issues seem much more challenging without sleep.

The anti-H effect does wear off for some people, but the relaxing element does not, generally.

It sounds like your sleep strategy is sounds - no caffeine etc. I suggest you try and take your dose earlier - like 2-3 hours before you want sleep, and keep well away from screens, TVs, stuff like that during that period - a good book is perfect.

I agree the answer is probably not going to 30mg - Mirt tends to become more enervating. 7.5mg is certainly worth a try - and I have to say I was on 3.75mg for a while and found that effective too. But you should check in with your doctor on this as there may be other issues.

Good luck and keep in touch,

Best wishes,

Albert

[anxiousjomo]

Thanks Albert.

Yeah - my mood seems ok generally, so I am reluctant to change anything.

I am doing ACT/CBT to help with the sleeping, which does seem to be helping. I managed a good 5 hours or so last night, which is certainly an improvement. Hopefully I can get the sleeping to a better place and then use those techniques to help with the anxiety as well.

[anxiousjomo]

Just to say, if anyone is looking at this with a similar problem - the answer seems to be "Yes".

It appears I was not that susceptible to the histamine side of the med, but very sensitive to the adrenaline side, which possibly took a while to build up in my system. So after the first month or two on 15mg, where I would sleep ok (maybe about 6-7hrs), once tolerance to the histamine effect had built up (or, alternatively, the levels of adrenaline had built up in my system enough to overcome it), I could not sleep.

Once I cut down to lower than 15mg, my sleep started improving pretty quickly.