Mirtazapine: Strange Back Pain (Page 2)
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Hello, I am taking 30mg daily before going to bed (male, 43 yo). I have started with a very low dosage of 7.5mg and over the course of about 1.5 months I reached the current level. I experienced clear drowsiness (which is a good as I was having trouble sleeping) and dry mouth from the beginning. While the effect of drowsiness right after taking the pill persists, the dry mouth seems to be mostly reduced (80% from the top at the beginning). The reason why I'm writing is a strange back pain that started about 6-7 weeks ago. Here is why I find it strange and why I would like to hear from others if they experienced it like this: 1. I wake up every morning with acute back pain over all my back (bottom to below the neck) 2. Due to the pain I can hardly move in bed when I wake up. Often it's painful to just breath and I can find no good position. 3. I noticed a recurrent more painful area along the spine, but, like I said, pain is really everywhere in the back. 4. After I manage to get up, pushing through the pain, the pain fades in a matter of a few minutes as I start moving. 5. I don't experience pain during the day. 6. I did not change my sleeping habits, my mattress, my pillows etc. Only a few minutes of pain in the morning would seem acceptable, if it wasn't for the acuteness of it. My guess (and it's really only just that, a guess) is that for some reason Mirtazapine is making me contract the back muscles through the night and then I somehow struggle to take control of my back muscles. Would anyone let me know if they experienced similar back problems? Thanks!

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Hello Darasa30,

Thanks for sharing your experience. Indeed, back pain is mentioned among the side effects, but I didn't find anyone else describing what was happening to me. I would wake up almost unable to move or breath with back pain. Anyway, I stuck to mirtazapine for about 3 months, because it was the third attempt with this type of drugs and having given up already twice before on account of side effects, I was determined to make it work, somehow. The sleep was immediately very good and the back pain eventually (3-4 weeks) subsided and become manageable. Eventually I gave up Mirtazapine on account of rapid and serious weight gain. I took on some 20+ pounds in a matter of weeks (6-8). Never happened anything like that as I'm naturally on the slender side. I would eat uncontrollably. Quite scary really.

I hope these personal accounts help someone else feel less alone in this. It's really shameful that drugs that should help you, give you such bad side effects.

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Riccardo,

I am a 56 yo female in fairly good physical condition.

Initially I was very hopeful about Mirtazapine for depression and insomia. After just two days on the medication, I could see improvements in sleep which may have helped overall. Unfortunately I also developed back pain in my mid-back and lower back. I too experienced difficulty and pain when breathing.

Back pain began on Night 3 on 15 mg of Mirtazapine. Resolution of the pain was initially similar to yours, resolving quickly after getting out of bed. After 3 more nights, I began waking up during the night with the back pain, and it would not resolve during the day. I became concerned that the pain was morphing into chronic pain, something I have dealt with during times of great activity. Because my activity level has not been changing and there weren't other changes that occurred, I wondered about the Mirtazapine. I chose to stop the medication; the daily pain and nighttime disruption in sleep due to pain is not worth it. Waking up during the night with pain for me replacing one type of insomnia with another. So, Mirtazapine is not the med for me.

It doesn't look like a large population is impacted by this, but it is listed as a side effect in a small population of people. I'm feeling confident that I am one of those individuals, and although the pain could subside with time, the back pain in the meantime doesn't make it worth it. I wish I knew the mechanism of this side effect. Just know it happens is not enough for me.

I'm interested to know if you stayed on the med and if your back pain subsided.

Hope to hear from you.

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