Does anybody have these side effects on 45 mg of Mirtazapine?. my legs feel so heavy, tight, swollen, and my knees are sore in the joints. it gets this bad that I am unable to walk as normal and I have to sit down. I feel like my legs are going to give in on me. my toes feel cold and numb, especially in the mornings. I am in my 60's and have told my GP. she thinks its old age or arthritis, but I doubt that. I have read up about the side effects and it does say less mobility or sore joints and problems with movement. they state this is rare!. I have to follow this up with the Psychiatrist who prescribed this drug to me. I will see what they say. I am not happy that I feel like I am about to lose my ability to walk for longer than say 15 minutes without having to sit down and then the pain doesn't go away after doing that. Please let me know if you have the same side effects and what they did to help you with them,maybe changing meds may have to happen. im not sure. My blood pressure is normal so its not that.
Mirtazapine - Does anybody have tight stiff legs, feel swollen , heavy and sore knees?
Question posted by pjc1151 on 16 Dec 2017
Last updated on 23 March 2024 (6 weeks ago) by Tomatoeface
22 Answers
Hi I’ve been tapering down only on15mg for 5 months now 2 months later down to 7.5mg this was still helping me to eat and sleep which were the reasons I took it not sure but if I go down a little more I lose my appetite and my legs and other muscles ache like mad also woke up after a 5 mg aching like flue I’m wondering whether to go to 7.5mg again but I am trying to stop to stop these symptoms
Yes I do I struggle with ache legs at night time after took tablet , no idea why but they do then struggle to sleep!
Leg pain and cramping is a known side effect for mirtazapine but its incidence is low.
It happened to me while taking it and the adverse effect was immediate. I have stopped taking it for ~1 month now but still have leg pain.
I never thought of the things in this question as related to mirtazapine, but come to think of it I have experienced them. But the main thing for me was that while being in the second month on it I increasingly felt joint pain in my left elbow and I could see it ready to start in the right one. I decided to get off of it, but thought I needed to taper down. It was hard to see the pain steadily getting worse while I felt that I needed to still go slowly getting off of it. The pain remained for a month and a half in both elbows after I got off of it. It was quite painful at times and then it finally started to go away. Coming off of it mirtazapine was kinda weird mentally and I developed a real tightness in my chest which worried my doctor a lot. Then that went completely away in about two weeks. My ankles and feet also swelled up which may be decreasing now. There are explanations for swelling, like age, too much salt, etc. but I never experienced that before.
Maybe the last two experiences were unrelated to mirtazapine, but I had this feeling that the drug was trying to kill me, or at least wreck as much as it could in my body.
As Robin mentioned his pains faded after he stopped mirtazapine… how long did it take you for the pains to go away . I have the same problems that you mentioned . Sciatica , shoulder pain , ankle pain , calf pain and plantar fasciitis in both legs . I was super active and with no pains before mirtazapine . It ruined my life . I just want to know if it will get better . I got off of it 1 month ago ans i still am suffering from tight muscles amd sciatica … i was on mirtazapine for 12 months on 15 mg .
Hi there,
I took Mirtazapine for four months, for insomnia, for which it worked very well. However, I experienced exactly the same symptoms as the original post. I was a very fit 62 year old with no previous muscular skeletal symptoms. My concern is that it is now two months since I stopped taking the drug and symptoms have shown little sign of abating. When I stopped taking the mirtazapine there was an slight reduction in symptoms for the first week but no improvement since. I am still limping and can only walk very slowly. I would love to read any new posts about how long it took for things to return to normal, if indeed they have.
Been on Mirtazapine 15 mg for 3 months and it's been great for sleep and stopped my suicidal thoughts but I've gained about 20kg and getting stiffness and pain in both shoulders and can't lift my left arm above my head. My left leg keeps swelling and falling asleep too. I can go for long walks with no problems but as soon as I stop, my left leg swells up and my foot goes to sleep completely. I've just been getting used to it because the stuff has worked a treat for my mental health. Bit worried that my left shoulder and left leg are always a lot worse than my right side. Told my doctor and he recommended halving the dose but that made it harder to sleep again
I have suffered from heavy, tired legs since on mirtazapine and reduced to 15mgs but still suffering. I'm considering going down to 7.5mgs but the doctor doesn't seem too interested. I don't know what to do.
I have had the worse pain in my feet/ankles.. if I have been sitting for even a short period of time i hobble like a 90 year old lady. This has only happened since I have been on Mirtazapine. I am going to wean myself off, have had enough.
On my goodness I am so glad I found this site, I was told I could have periphery atery disease, but the symptoms of swollen hands and feet, cramps in my calfs so bad when I walk, bad back, just came out of no where, and unlike p.a.d the symptoms were not all the time, meaning sometimes I could walk for miles and not get the cramps in the backs of my legs, but apparently with p.a.d you do. my hands hurt just by holding my tablet to write this, I only put could mirtazapine cause these symptoms in my search engine because the symptoms started when I started them.
Then I came upon this and it's as if I am reading my own symptoms, like every single symptom I have someone has written about it, but it seems like the doctors don't want to admit it, saying it's up to you if you come off it, but why would people's symptoms disappear when they stop taking them, I am going to ring my doctor tomorrow and put it forward to her, I am gutted about the mirtazapine though, because they do help with my anxiety, and sleeping, although these symptoms are making my anxiety worse, so I guess it's a moot point. I will put on what the doctor says
I got off of Mirtazapine about two years ago, after I looked on this website. When I got off of the medication, my leg, arm & hand pain faded. After about a month, I lost the excess weight this medication caused, but it took a little work. I also must have had excess water weight because I had to urinate a lot and I believe I lost about 10 pounds at first of just water weight. The benefits of sleep seemed to fade, it helped with my anxiety some, but not enough, depression - nothing really. I got on Wellbutrin, I was so worried I would have anxiety, because some people say it makes anxiety worse. Not me, no anxiety at all, in fact I get really relaxed for about an hour after I take it. I take one pill of 150 (24 hour rx) in the morning. I have a little insomnia, however, not horrible and I take Melatonin and it helps me get to sleep. I take an extended release Melatonin about 4 or 5 mg. I have taken 10 mg, and it seems to be too much, I have a bit of a hangover in the morning.
I have also been on Effexor XR for years, it does help me too, but adding the Wellbutrin has helped me so much! I feel happy again. I remember once it kicked in, I thought , "I feel happy like I did when I was younger." I handle stress better! It's amazing. I will say, Mirtazapine was not good for me. It made me want to sleep when I was awake and all the pain made me feel older, therefore more depression.It did not help the depression at all. I'm so glad I got off of this medication!!
Hi I have been put on Mirtazapine 15mg one at night only 2 weeks ago and the past week my calve muscles in both legs are really sore feel hard and look swollen. This morning when I got out of bed I struggled to walk with the pain I’m almost certain it’s the Mirtazapine so I have an appointment tonight to speak to doctor. They have really helped me sleep and gave me my appetite back so I really don’t want to stop taking them.
I started taking Mirtazapine 15mg earlier this year. A few months ago I noticed weakness in both legs and I went over on my right ankle. Since then my legs have become very painful, especially in my calves and I'm limping badly. I'm 62. This has caused me such anxiety. I spoke to my doctor last week who said it was muscular and it was up to me if I wanted to take Mirtazapine or not. I took it to help me sleep which it did. But I stopped taking it 3 days ago because my legs were just so bad, heavy, tight and painful. No improvement so far. I'm glad I've found this post as it's helped me a lot.
Yes i have this problem. I am 47 yrs old. After 13 days started feeling like my legs are heavy and I cant walk, stiff legs and my hamstrings are so tight, behind my knees ache, my feet feel tingly and like they are Curling and when i walk i feel like i am not able to w out taking small steps. I stopped drug immediately. I just want to know when ill be back to normal
It took about three weeks for my swollen right knee and fingers to get back to normal but my frozen shoulders is still going on into the fourth month. I received a second round of cortisone shots In my shoulders and feeling significant relief. I am feeling much less pain and have much improved range of motion in my shoulders. Good luck.
Hello my 77 year old friend has now got swollen fingers and feet and weight gain. She doesnt know if its the Mirtazapine as shes also on trazodone. If you think this has happened since taking them maybe stop them and go to something else. It's odd if it has happened since you started them. Good luck
Yes im having problems with my hands and feet swelling and gained lot of wait from this meds
Related topics
depression, anxiety, mirtazapine, side effect, knee, sores
Further information
- Mirtazapine uses and safety info
- Mirtazapine prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Mirtazapine (detailed)
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