Mirtazapine-induced restless legs

Abstract

Two cases of restless legs syndrome in association with mirtazapine treatment of 5–6 weeks are presented. Rather than akathisia related to serotonine reuptake inhibitors, which usually emerges during the first weeks of treatment, our cases resemble previously described mianserin-induced RLS cases. This suggests that although blockade of 5-HT2 receptors by mirtazapine may be protective against acute akathisia, it does not protect against slowly developing restless legs syndrome similar to that induced by mianserin. © 1997 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.