# Mirtazapine Vs Benzos



## Richard22 (Apr 21, 2012)

I'm 21 and I suffer social anxiety, insomnia and a bit of depression. I've decided to stay away from the SSRI's as I've had negative effects from all of them and I'm not a fan of sexual dsysfuctions. My GP has now prescribed me Mirtazipane and from my research it seems it's a anti-histamine with anti-depressant properties. 

I've been on Klopopin on and off for nearly a year and it's been a miracle drug for my SA and Insomnia but I know I won't be able to take it forever.

From reports I've read Mirtazapine is perfect for insomnia and has sedative, anoxlytic effects. I was wondering if these effects can be comparable to Benzos?

Should I taper myself off benzos and just rely on Mirtazapine? Or should I continue to use both?

Thanks for the help!


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## gilmourr (Nov 17, 2011)

Richard22 said:


> I'm 21 and I suffer social anxiety, insomnia and a bit of depression. I've decided to stay away from the SSRI's as I've had negative effects from all of them and I'm not a fan of sexual dsysfuctions. My GP has now prescribed me Mirtazipane and from my research it seems it's a anti-histamine with anti-depressant properties.
> 
> I've been on Klopopin on and off for nearly a year and it's been a miracle drug for my SA and Insomnia but I know I won't be able to take it forever.
> 
> ...


Yeah they are kind of similar. Mirtazapine should knock you out way more than the benzos do, unless you're taking about 4 mg's of lorazapam.

To me, 15 mg of mirtazapine feels like 3-4 mg of lorazapam. Benzo's also put you in a slightly relaxed state. Mirtazapine puts you out like a tranq'd rhino. Even after you wake up after a 12 hour sleep you're tired, and it usually takes 15 hours from when you take it to start really waking up. Btw, Mirtazapine never worked on my anxiety, it just puts me to sleep very fast. Benzos actually remove some anxiety like, chest pain, or stomach problems.

I suggest a really low dose at first, maybe 7.5 mg. The stuff hits hard. Maybe equip it with a SNRI so you get a jump, like cymbalta/pristiq or effexor.


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## Richard22 (Apr 21, 2012)

I guess I'll just have to try for myself, seems like there is a lot of mixed reviews with it actually aiding anxiety but sounds insomnia will be a thing of the past which is great and I can definitly put on a few extra pounds.


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## gilmourr (Nov 17, 2011)

I actually think that the sedation is as bad as the insomnia :/

Insomnia I wouldn't fall asleep until 5 AM even in bed for 3 hours, but the sedation is like 14 hours of sleep a day including naps, and when you're awake you feel so slow and retarded. Like since I've been on this med, I hate having convo's because I can hardly keep up as I'm too tired to speak most times.

I really can't see how ANYONE does well using this medication. I've got a pretty good resistance to meds, and this low dose is still putting me out. Can't imagine being on 45-60 mg. 

It will lift your mood though.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Richard22 said:


> I've decided to stay away from the SSRI's as I've had negative effects from all of them and I'm not a fan of sexual dsysfuctions. My GP has now prescribed me Mirtazipane and from my research it seems it's a anti-histamine with anti-depressant properties.


I've tried 5 SSRIs & all had severe sexual side effects (combined with no positive effects in my case). I can see why your doc picked Remeron. It's claim to fame is that it's one of only 3 ADs that lack sexual side effects. The other two would be Serzone (enjoy liver failure?) and Wellbutrin (a stimulating med that tends to cause insomnia).

The negative of Remeron is that it's infamous for causing weight gain. This may help explain why it's not very popular, despite that huge advantage of not killing sexual function.



> From reports I've read Mirtazapine is perfect for insomnia and has sedative, anoxlytic effects. I was wondering if these effects can be comparable to Benzos?


Wouldn't know as I find neither sedating. I'm an oddity though that's not sedated by most allegedly sedating drugs.


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## ricca91 (Mar 11, 2012)

gilmourr said:


> I actually think that the sedation is as bad as the insomnia :/
> 
> Insomnia I wouldn't fall asleep until 5 AM even in bed for 3 hours, but the sedation is like 14 hours of sleep a day including naps, and when you're awake you feel so slow and retarded. Like since I've been on this med, I hate having convo's because I can hardly keep up as I'm too tired to speak most times.
> 
> ...


It is noteworthy that lower doses of mirtazapine (7.5-15 mg) are heavily sedating, while higher doses (30-45 mg) can even be stimulating, because the noradrenergic effect prevails. Dose and sedation, in this case, are inverse proportional.


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## gilmourr (Nov 17, 2011)

I would love to hear someone who has taken mirtazapine back that up because I really doubt I would feel more alive if I bumped up to 30 mg or 45 mg. I'll talk to it with my psych, but I'm pretty sure she would've told me about this since she said I shouldn't be this tired after 6 weeks of using. 

Or at least some journal or wiki page would be appreciated! That way I'm not wasting time trying some large dose.


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## Akane (Jan 2, 2008)

Not even comparable. The 2 med classes feel completely different and have different side effects.


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## ricca91 (Mar 11, 2012)

gilmourr said:


> I would love to hear someone who has taken mirtazapine back that up because I really doubt I would feel more alive if I bumped up to 30 mg or 45 mg. I'll talk to it with my psych, but I'm pretty sure she would've told me about this since she said I shouldn't be this tired after 6 weeks of using.
> 
> Or at least some journal or wiki page would be appreciated! That way I'm not wasting time trying some large dose.


From www.preskorn.com/columns/0003.html (copy and paste the link, for some reason it doesn't work if you click on it)



> Mirtazapine, like imipramine, may have a curvilinear dose-response curve.
> There is some suggestion that sedation is more pronounced on low rather than high dose mirtazapine therapy (15 versus 30 mg/day or more).
> 
> This suggestion is principally based on the fact that there was a higher incidence of sedation in the American trials, which used lower doses, than in the European trials, which used higher doses of mirtazapine. There may be other reasons for this finding but that discussion is beyond the scope of this paper. Suffice it to say that the multiple actions of mirtazapine suggest the following theoretical explanation for why this otherwise paradoxical observation might be true.
> ...


A similar result is obtained by people who take quetiapine (Seroquel). It seems to be more sedating at lower doses than at higher ones. (I take 200 mg which is a medium dose and it knoks me out). Remember, however, that YMMV.
I hope it was helpful!


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