Fibromyalgia Community

I love the stuff and can't sleep without it. Sometimes I wish it made me sleepier. I've never had any ill effects from it.

MeMe has some experience with this type of side effect from it. Hopefully she'll see the post.

HI Sweet Shelley~

I've taken Remeron twice in my life... And currently I'm rotating it now with Prosom... I take either or. The Remerom will not make me get sleepy and want to fall asleep... BUT when I do fall asleep I am out for count!! I'll sleep 15 hours across the board, every single time on 15 mg.

So what I had done was cut it in half... Still, I was sleeping 15 hours!!! When I seen my Rheumy again, I told him of this issue that I slept very well with it, however, I was sleeping my life away! I told him that I cut the dose in half and I was still sleeping and could NOT force myself to be awake!! No way could I stay awake!

So he told me to cut it down to 5mg and would like to see me get 8-10, no more or no less. Well, I did that and I was getting 9 hours of sleep each night, right in the middle of what he wanted... So that was good!!

However, I was/am still experiencing major fatigue w/ this med, no matter the dose. I LOVE it for sleep but it depletes my energy so greatly that I cannot do a single simple task!!! My breathing becomes labored. I do have a problem with increased heart already & breathing problems when I'm extremely fatigued or in the heat!! Well, the Remeron makes me feel that way too...

So now, I'm just chipping away at it, small as a pencil point and still sleep all night with it and I find myself still fatigued. B/c of my great fatigue when I was on the high dose I was became severely depressed b/c the fatigue it brought on was extremely debilitating than I already am. Plus it caused me to become Majorly depressed for two months.

I'm not saying this to scare you either. Being inform is vital. However, you may not at all react the way I did.. I still love Remeron for the very fact that it is the only true med that will put me in a deep sleep!! I just don't like how it makes me feel during the day. So I asked my dr for his approval if he would allow me to take Remeron when I was in major flares as to try to sleep it off... and the Prosom for regular maintance. He was all for it. So I rotate them.

Another thing I forgot to mention, when I would wake up for a 15 hour nights sleep, I'd end up dosing on and off all day long too!! But chipping the 15 mg pill, the size of a pencil tip rid's of the 15 hours sleep & naps.. I just have to watch the fatigue & added depression..

I know your having trouble cutting it, as it is an already small pill, just take a knife... well, that's what i do, & I make tiny chips or shavings and see how that works....For me that's less than 5 mg.

I hope you give it a try and how that works, if not call your dr. At least your trying! As far as your already being weak, dear gosh, you need a very low dose b/c this makes me so fatigue I couldn't hardly walk just out of sheer fatigue only!!! Monitor yourself closely. If the tiny chip causes you to feel the same, then it may not be right for you and call to discuss it with your dr.

It's great to see you & have you with us again. You were certainly missed!!

Hugs, MeMe

thanks for the info Meme....thats the way i was today all day...i was so tired and fatigued and have had a migraine about all day...they are reallly hard to cut down cause its so little of a pill....i slept ok last night but i still would wake up now an then but would go back off to sleep....i hear some people have hallucinations and nightwares...

hope that doesnt start with me....but i havnt felt good all day....course i felt so tired after all i went thru yesterday as you know and having a panic attack in his office was no fun either.....but at least he sees how bad my anxiety is...when you look up Remeron it says ists mostly for drepresssion and PTSD.....well its my anxiety that is the worse for me but i know they all go hand in hand at times but anxiety is what i am more concerned with at this moment...

I mean I cant even get up the nerve to hardly leavethe house much anymore and when i do well thats what happened at the dr office......

I just dont want to wake up everyday in a stupor state an be like that all day...i told him the more i am down and dopey feeling the more depressed i get but he still puts me on it....my vision has been really blury all day also....i only took a 4th of a 15 mg tablet....i slept prettty good but just didnt feel good all day after taking it...i dont know if this will let up and did it help your anxiety at all...???

Thanks for letting me know....i may give it thru the weekend and if it doesnt let up with the fatigue i will have to stop it i guess....cant take anymore fatigue than what i already have....i thought i was goig to pass out yesterday just getting to his office and getting home....sometimes i still feel like something else is wrong with me....i cant do anything anymore but stay in and even thats getting hard also....still have panic......i just hope soon to find some help.....but thanks sweetie for letting me know about how it effects you.....at least i can be aware....hope you are doing ok and feeeling better......

Hugs Karen

Karen,

As far as it helping anxiety, I can't say it did. My anxiety is usually brought on by supressing my emotional feelings or it's triggered by something... That's when I experience anxiety... The Xanax is what helps mine, when I need to take it...

I certainly understand your position. Your between a rock and a hard place. Everything I find something that would help me really sleep, I'd have some miserable side effect. So I now I just rotate it, instead of taking it daily, with the Prosom.

I hope it gets better and I'm so sorry the side effects seem to outway the benefits for you when it comes to antidepressants. Feel better soon.

Hugs, MeMe

Thanks Meme

Thats what makes me so mad is to know he is giving me something for depression and not anxiety ...I have never heard of Prosom.....I will look it up....I guess its a sleep medication also since you take it at night....

I take klonipin 3 times a day but still have alot of anxiety....and its suppose to be long acting but i still suffer....I dont know if talk therapy would help me or not but i have got to try to come up with some money for that since they dont have anything free around here.....

I wish i could take a anti-depressant but after going around twice with them all I think i realize i just cant tolerate them so I might as well give up with that...

Have a good evening and I guess i will chat with you tomorrow since we both wake up aout the same time...lol...

Hugs, Shelley

Hi Rachel

Did you have any problems with anxiety or depression and did it help with that....I think Remeronn is only for depression and I have alot more problems with anxiety than anything else....ive tried all the anti-depresants for anxiety but i cant tolerate them at all so I have been fighting this for 3 years and is just gettng worse....but i am glad it seem to help you alot..

I think i iwll give it a chance thru the weekend but after that if i still feel this drained i will give it up...then its back to square one again i guess...

thanks for your info..

have a good evening

I can't help you with anything on the medication specifically but that tired, sleep all day feeling... double check the amount of water you're consuming during the day. I discovered that I was way off on my fluid intake and started feeling much better when I really kept track and made sure I got 6 to 8 eight-ounce glasses of fluids during the day. I not only felt more energy, but I no longer had the appetite problems/cravings I had before.

Hope it eventually all works out for you!

Hugs, LuAnn

Hi LuAnn

well if water has anythig to do with it i am in trouble....I dont drink alot of water because of my IBS....i know most people will laugh about that but everytime i drink water or tea it gets me started with the bathroom and then my Ibs gets all out of whack and i start having severe stomach problems....i try to get about 2 cups a day in but thats aabout all i can handle

I hate to say i drink diet sodas alot but have tried to cut back on them and drink skim milk and ginger ale....but i do know water is what i need if it just wouldnt tear my stomach up so bad....

thanks for reminding me though cause i need toget my body use to it somehow..

Take care and have a good evening

I have severe IBS at times as well and cutting back on diet soda helps. I increased my water intake gradually and am now up to what I need daily. My IBS is very much stress induced and here lately my stress levels have calmed down.

Good luck!

I do have depression, but no anxiety. My dad put me on it because I was having a very hard time getting to sleep at night, would cry at the drop of a hat and did not want to go to work. I loved my job at the time too, so we all knew something was seriously wrong. It helps me sleep and keeps me on a more even keel emotionally. I've struggled with depression symptoms on and off since I was about 12. It took until I was 23 to be bad enough that I needed meds.

Have you been tried on Paxil yet? It makes some people sleepy and is one of the better ones when anxiety is involved.

Karen,

Rachel has a great point!! ---Thanks Rachel!!--- Paxil does work well for depression & anxiety!! My MIL has both really really bad!! This medicine is what keeps her 'functioning', to say the least! This would be a great med to bring up to your dr to try!! I know your sensitive to them, but you can always start at the lowest dose.

Wishing you well, MeMe

Many year ago I started having panic attacks and they were so bad they finally had me take xanax(alprazolam). Went to a physiatrist for 10 years. Had a prescription for up to .50 3 times a day. Never got addicted to it because I didn't always take that much each day. That did the trick for anxiety and panic and it seemed to help with fibromyalgia also. Most times just having it with me made my anxiety better because I knew I had something that would work quick if I had a panic attack.They call it a rescue drug when you have bad panic or anxiety and it really rescued me. Maybe it will work for you. I just started taking remron a few days ago 1/2 of 15ml tablet w 6ml ambien. Wow, does it ever make you sleep long. I don't think I will be needing the ambien any more. Ambien alone(12.5 delayed release) only gave me about 6 or 7 hours of sleep so I was going to bed at midnight or later. bye for now! G