Got diagnosed in July 2025. Male 54 years old. Have mild parkinson’s. Tremor in right arm. Body stiffness, also now struggling to type using right hand
Mentally not coping very well since diagnosis. Was first given propranolol 10mg to help with anxiety which I am still on ( 2 times a day). Just recently been given mirtazapine to help with sleep, depression and anxiety. Not helping with sleep although it’s only day 2 taking them. Haven’t noticed mood improvement either. My question is it worth taking them has anyone had any experience with them ? This is my 3rd different antidepressant as the first 2 knocked me for six
Hi @Amir, welcome to our forum, and thank you for posting your note.
We know that being newly diagnosed can be tough, and it’s common for the emotional impact to feel as hard as the physical changes you’re noticing. This especially when changes start affecting everyday things like typing and work.
We think that support for mental health is just as important as managing physical symptoms.
Your Parkinson’s nurse or GP can help you access support to talk through how you’re feeling and look at ways to manage anxiety alongside care for your Parkinson’s diagnosis.
Connecting with others who understand can also make a difference. We hope this forum can be useful for that. And if you ever feel like speaking to someone in our team, we’re a phone call away. You can reach us on freephone 0808 800 0303.
You’ve done the right thing by reaching out. This is a lot to carry on your own, and support is there to help you through it.
It can take a couple of weeks for mirtazapine to really show benefits especially for mood and sleep so day 2 is very early.That said everyone reacts differently definitely worth keeping your doctor in the loop if side effects or lack of benefit continue.
I have some experience. Not massively depressed but a bit low and the PD nurse said to try Mirtazapine. for her the side effect of sleepiness was a plus.
I took a 15 mg dose for a few weeks and think that it did have some benefits in terms of mood, and had very significant and immediate effect in terms of helping with sleep. However, one of the other side effects is weight gain which I didn’t want to happen and I felt was slightly happening. Probably because I felt happy I was just eating well I wanted to. So I came off it.
I really missed the benefits of the sleepiness because my sleep is so terrible, so I’ve gone back onto the mirtazapine. I have not told them that the tablets in half so only getting 7.5 mg but has significant help with my sleep. I’m also taking some melatonin. I was on 6 mg but I’ve reduced that to 4 in the last week and the benefit is still substantial.
I do think you have to take this for a little while, to get the benefit, but for me the sleep benefit was pretty much instant
Hi @Jay_Clock, thank you for sharing your experience. It’s helpful to hear how adjusting the dose made a difference for you.
Sleep issues are common with Parkinson’s, and it’s useful for others to hear what’s helped. We have more information about sleep issues here: Sleep | Parkinson's UK
