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Dear Bill and PIENet members: When I first read in a newspaper about tremor relief with Remeron (mirtazapine), I contacted Akzo Nobel, the company who produces it. Joe Bruman is accurate with his information. However, the producer cited an article in the journal *Neurology* (Sept. '99) by V. Pact, and T. Giduz, "Mirtazapine treats resting tremor, essential tremor, and levodopa-induced dyskinesias." According to the article, initially, this unexpected side effect of the drug was observed when a 73 year-old depressed woman with PD was started on Remeron for her depression. Due to her PD, she also had a tremor that interfered with her ability to hold and deal cards while playing bridge. Within days of starting Remeron, she happily noticed that she experienced resolution of her tremor and could hold her cards steady. The article also discusses four other patients who experienced clinically significant relief of tremor without sedation. The authors and the drug company indicate that further study is warranted. It's too early to say for sure, but we can hope it's in the cards that this effect plays out positively for other PD patients. Len Zunin 64/60 > Bill Bell wrote: > > > > Dear friends, > > Has anyone had any experience with the drug Mirtazapine. It is promoted as > > an anti-depressant but supposedly also helps tremor. It had not heard of it > > and am always a little leery. > > Thanks in advance. > > To my knowledge, only two drugs are FDA-approved for tremor (other than > PD): Inderal (propranolol) and Mysoline (primidone). Inderal, I believe, > is a beta-blocker that lowers heart rate and blood pressure. Mysoline > is an anticonvulsant that is used to reduce frequency of epileptic > siezures. Mirtazapine (Remeron) is described in its PDR entry as an > unconventional antidepressant, and carries a warning about neutropenia. > Cheers, > Joe