Any thoughts or opinions on mitrazpine ,... nightime HELL of jerks & Sweats!?

Hiya all,

I would like to share my nighrime experience of the benzo withdrawal insomnia hell.

So shortly after WD. I realised that I lost the ability to sleep.

I got prescribed mitrazpine.. I chose that instead of a SSRI as I need sleep.

However i know as i drift off i jerk uncontrollably and it jerks me awake. (Even with 15mg miztapine)

Then if I do get into a sleep... instead of jerking I sweat like soaking.  So the miztapine most nights knocks me out but I am saturated in sweat  !  Every night is the same. Only thing that took the edge off was some weed (I guess that makes sense? If people with seizures take weed... is it the same thing?)  Oh and I wont go into the nightmares and dark thoughts that comes with the insomnia:(

Any advice?  I do all the usual.. meditation relaxation etc. No eating before bed you name it.

If anyone would like to share there opinions or experiences I would be most grateful!  I just cant get relief..

O

Sorry it's such a struggle.  However, you've only been off 4 months and that is a relatively short time when it comes to healing and recovery. 

Insomnia was my worst symptom too.  I tried Mirtazapine for about 6 weeks.  It really never worked for me so I stopped using it.

What you are experiencing now in the way of symptoms are pretty common Benzo WD symtpoms and most likely are not caused by the Mirt?

Ashton says insomnia resolves for most between 6 -12 months but many take longer for it to completely even out. 

The best thing to do is to NOT put a timeline when you think you should feel better/sleep better.  Unfortunately healing and recovery are unique to each person and it plays out on it's own time line.

What worked for me was to take nothing.  Yeah, I know, people say they can't survive with little to no sleep, but you can.  Your body will get all the sleep it needs via micro sleeps that you are unaware of and any other sleep you get.  I went for months on 5 - 10 hours per week.  I know it's not a contest to see who can go without sleep the most, but it worked for me and others too.  I did that because everything I tried for sleep, Rx and OTC, never worked for more than a night or two tops.

I learned coping skills instead.  When this started, I thought something bad would happen if I didn't get 8 hours or so every night.  That's simply not true.  Temporary (up to 2 years or so) lack of sleep will not kill you and most likely won't even make you sick?  I never got sick, not one time, when colds and flu and everything else contagious went through our house when I wasn't sleeping.

Hang in there, it evens out, but takes time and more time.  Also you may have to taper off the Mirt too? 

Hi there,

Thank you so much for replying to me! Really appreciate the input!

Thanks that's reassuring that I am still in early days...!! Yes your right on the body will cope with little sleep.

I do indeed think your very right on just attempting sleep without having to take anything else. However I just dont seem to have the mental strength for that right now... nightime is so hard... dark thoughts, despair, and the deep painful anguish just eats into my soul...... and the more I cant sleep the more frustrated and irritated I get until I cant take anymore and start screaming into a pillow and punching the walls type thing ... !! Where you like that? If you dont mind me asking.

Your very right... I really wish I didnt have to take the miztapine as I dont think it's fun withdrawing from that either!! Its deffo helping me though to a degre and giving me a good appetite

In pray and pray and my prayers were answered I am just on the last leg of this awful journey .

Thank you

Hey, don't quote me this, but I believe I heard that Mirt is more sedating at lower doses?? Maybe you can consider trying 7mg and see if that works better?

After my cold turkey, I had awful insomnia, and I took Mirt and got decent sleep for the first time in weeks. I only took it for a couple of days and then stopped, but my sleep remained okay after that point.

I was terrible when I couldn't sleep.  I would toss and turn, punch the pillows, swear out loud and was basically like a toddler having a fit.  All of that only ensured wasn't going to get much, if any, sleep.

I had to learn to deal with it without freaking out.  It took some time, but I did.  But for about the first 6 months after my CT, I was the poster child for what not to do...literally!

So I will agree that its a benzo WD thing. However,....Mirtrazipine was the devil for me. It definitely amped up sleep problems and gave me atrocious nightmares - on top of the ones I already suffered with at the time. Some ppl do ok with it. I was not one of those ppl.

To give you hope I sleep well 90% of the time now. On average there's like 3-4 days a month where I get disrupted or little sleep. I'm at a point where I no longer take any supplements for this either. Just good pre-sleep routine, and some aromatherapy on my pillow.

If you knew how bad it was for me....I am in SUCH a better place. I'm still healing so I know this could revisit - but for now I'm going with it:)

When I first started on Mirtazapine I used to jerk awake in a panic the second I drifted off continuously all night.

I kept taking it and after a few months I started to sleep usually a good 6-9 hours a night, which I still do now. I know from BB that most people withdrawing from benzos don't get much sleep if any at all, so Mirtazapine has been amazing for me. Maybe try sticking with it for a little while longer?

Thanks all for you really helpful replies...

I am gonna stick it out for a little while longer as sometimes I am getting better sleep and maybe looking at other things