trazadone

[[co...]]

Does anyone use Trazadone for sleep during benzo withdrawal. Is it compatible?

[[Ch...]]

Hi concerned,

 

I did a search in the search box in the upper right corner and found some results for Trazadone.  You might try that option since this thread hasn't gotten any responses yet.  My response will bump it back to the top of the board and someone who has some knowledge may respond.

 

Challis

[[an...]]

Trazodone is an old antidepressant used for Major Depression. Because of it's sedative properties it is now mainly used as a sleeping pill. I was prescribed 100 mg's/night for sleep while on Xanax and Klonopin. All three were prescribed by my psychiatrist, (head of psychiatry dept.). If you're one of the lucky ones that it works on, it might add to the sedative properties of benzos and knock you out, but as far as I know, there are no interactions with meds. Some people have luck with it putting them to sleep but does give a hangover effect the next morning IF it works. Personally, even 250mg's didn't put me to sleep. Just made me feel as if my eyelids were heavy, and this was while I was still on my benzos. So I got to enjoy insomnia and the hangover effect from this. It can also cause nasal congestion real bad. IMO, Seroquil would be your best bet. Or possibly Phenergan if you can get a doctor to prescribe it. That's the only thing that worked for me other than benzo hypnotics. 

[[ce...]]

This drug was awful for me.  It was really scary actually. Felt like I wasn't in my own body and then had horrible nausea and vomitting.  I'd suggest researching it a lot before making a decision.  Plus, there are so many other ways to combat insomnia without adding drugs that have so many unpleasant (and scary) side effects. 

[[an...]]

Pleez give some examples.

[[ce...]]

Here's a thread I started awhile back that shares what has helped me with sleep. 

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=53261.0

[[an...]]

Very informative thread. I personally learned all those things from books on insomnia and trial and error. I guess when you have insomnia not caused by drug w/drawal, it can be a little harder to get a handle on. Just a suggestion? Something that works for me instead of earplugs, (tinnitus is a bitch), I use a fan for "white noise" 365 days a year. Also, just like Goldilocks, make sure your room is not too hot and not too cold, but just right.

[[ce...]]

I used the fan too.  It's soothing and keeps the air cirulated.   

[[Me...]]

Trazadone did not work for me but I only used it for 6nights while I was in rehab.  I think the dose they gave me was 50mg.  At the time I was trying to jump off 50mg of Ambien/Zolpidem and 4mg Loprazalom so I doubt anything would have worked.  I am attaching a link of a buddy who has had success with Trazadone.

 

http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=46455.0

[[...]]

Hi Concerned,

 

I am the buddy that Meee posted.  I am on 300 mg of trazodone.  I have had great success with this drug.  I was given this to help me with depression, anxiety and sleep.  I had to get used to what it did.  I also had to keep playing with the dose until I was able to sleep on it.  I started at 100 mg.  I asked the doc if I could split it in half and he chuckled and said ok you can try that but it probably won't touch you.  I was on 15 mg of ambien at this time.  He was right.  50 mg didn't affect me.  So I kept trying.  I increased it by 25 mg over the course of a month until I got to 300 mg.  Finally I slept. 

 

I am so calm on this stuff and i guess I was suffering from depression from a major lack of sleep.  Another positive thing...and this is skating on risky...my sex life has improved dramatically.  Gotta be the serotonin. 

 

One draw back.  When you take it go right to bed.  Because it took so long to hit I bust the pills up into thirds.  It usually takes about 15-20 minutes to take effect.  You may feel a bit dizzy.  Try to lay calmly because I noticed if I got up in a panic my heart would race.  I just lay calmly and breathe and it goes away.  It takes about 6 hours to lose its effect.  I have a cup of coffee first thing in the morning and I feel great.  I am sure people are different but I thought I would try and give you an estimate on time.  I know I would appreciate that because I have such an active life.  Over time, the dizziness becomes less and less.

 

Wishing you sweet dreams!!

 

DG

[[co...]]

Did you have any side effects from the trazadone such as constipation or nausea or acid reflux. If not those, any that you did have?. I am trying to wean off of ativan and if i use trazadone i may be spacing out the doses in a way that concentrates the ativan only from 7am to 6pm with too much of  a gap> if i stop the trazadone, will i experience withdrawal from that such as increased insomnia?

 

currently i am able to sleep on approximately 100mg, sometimes 75 however i don't know if you become tolerant and you need higher doses over time.

 

Thanks for your input!

[[jr...]]

I tried Trazodone for insomnia, for which it worked great.  Unfortunately, it also caused a lot of nausea.  Remeron has worked well for me for insomnia and nausea.  I take a very low dosage, 7.5 mg, and now only need it a few times a week.

[[...]]

Sorry Concerned, I forgot about the nausea.  Yes, at first I had a little.  So that was about 1 month of that.  Then once I stabilized my dose at 250 I was fine.  The little jumps from 250 to 300 I did not experience nausea.  It was kind of like a bad drunk feeling.  lol.  That is what I thought of when I first started taking it.

 

Not sure about withdrawal from traz since I am still taking it. My pdoc said it was a good choice because it is not addictive.  So shouldn't experience tolerance.  I did however one person on here that did feel that they needed to increase their dose because it quit working.  People are different.

 

DG

[[re...]]

I currently take 50mg of Trazodone at 9pm every night to help with sleep and have since February of this year to help with insomnia which started because of menopause, never had this issue before, always slept very well but the night sweats and hot flashes were keeping me up everynight but I have not had a problem since I started taking the Trazodone, so I guess you could say that it is working for me.  I don't have a problem getting up in the morning or any other problem and haven't the entire time I have taken it, but everybody is different. 

 

Renee

[[an...]]

Only side-effects I felt were grogginess in the a.m. and sexual side-effects. Sure, all AD meds can cause them, but Trazodone is the only one I've been on that warns about priapism and anorgasmia, (I'll let you look that up. Kinda graphic). First time that happened to me, my gf and I didn't have sex for a week I was so scared. As for any drug, YMMV.

[[ra...]]

Insomnia was the reason I got addicted to Ativan.  As I posted in the mirtazapine thread, I tried many other meds for insomnia, but it is hard to judge them because I either took them while still taking Ativan, in which case the Ativan was dominant, or I took them and stopped Ativan, in which case the withdrawal was dominant.

 

The only side effect I recall from Trazodone was a sharp drop in blood pressure.  The reason I know this is that I had sexual side effects from long term Ativan, and Trazodone made them worse, so I took Viagra to have sex.  Ooops!  Viagra drops your blood pressure, and I fainted.  I fainted a few times after that (without Viagra), and figured Trazodone was not for me.

 

I was actually considering starting it again because the insomnia on my taper is BRUTAL, but then I read the post on Mirtazapine, and I think I will try that first.

 

I am glad for those who have had success with Trazodone.  Everybody is different, but I just wanted to throw the blood pressure thing out there as a caution (especially for those who use Viagra!)

 

I have read posters who have not slept more than a few hours a week for years since their taper and in some cases after they jumped, and I could not endure that.  I do not know how they do it.  Sleep is as necessary as food as far as I am concerned, and it is the only symptom of benzo withdrawal I truly fear.

 

Good luck to all.

[[Ra...]]

I'm quitting Trazodone 25Mg tonight because it makes me feel awful the next day, all day long. I feel very sick to my stomach and don't feel like I'm in my own body. I have to work and so this one is not good for me. It did however make me sleep better as it calmed me down. I guess it depends on the person. My doc now believes I'm very sensitive to drugs, and now I'm looking into natural remedies.

[[ce...]]

Just last night someone I know and love had a psychotic episode from Tazodone and was in the ER.  I think it's important for people to understand this isn't some light-weight sleep aid and like other psych drugs can have horrible consequences.  And, of course the doctors in the ER wanted to give my friend a high dose of benzo to "help" the situation.  Thankfully that didn't happen.