I've had considerable time out of the ditch today.

USEFUL INFORMATION for anyone considering trying mirtazapine/Remeron. It was the only thing that helped me, somewhat, mainly by letting me sleep, back when I was just called "depressed." (Then the doc started saying Bipolar and added lamotrigine and I got my life back..)

Anyway, last night I increased my mirtazapine to the previous full dose--a little earlier than I had planned but the sleeplessness was just getting too bad. It knocked me out and I've been drowsy all day, even though it was a small increase. I had been splitting the 30 mg pills in half, then splitting some of the halves in half, to get a dose of about 22 mg (some gets lost as powder.) Just going from 22 to 30 restarted the intense drowsiness, like it was when I first started at 15 mg.

So whenever you start this OR increase the dose, be careful! Do not plan to drive!

Also, I laid down at about 5 pm to rest a little and fell asleep, and when I woke up I had that sleep paralysis or whatever you call it, when you're partially awake but can't move. Kinda scary at the time--"what, did I have a stroke or something?"--but apparently harmless. I thought it went on for 15 minutes or more but I don't think so, since when I finally could move, only 20 minutes had passed since I laid down. So if you ever do take it, be prepared for that and if it happens try not to worry.

I haven't seen many people on here taking mirtazapine which I think is unfortunate when so many have sleep problems. It's really quite good for that and for depression.