trazodone question...

Is there anybody who takes trazodone? I am curious about the side effects and any general info other than what is listed on the patient sheet. It was prescribed by my doctor to help with insomnia.
-mazzy

According to my drug guide, possible common side effects to trazodone are: anger, hostility, agitation, night mares, vivid dreams, hallucinations, delusions, hypomania, confusion, disorientation, decraesed concentration, impaired memory, impaired speech, dizziness, incoordination, drowsiness, fatigue. hypertension, hypotension, shortness of breath, syncope, tachycardia, palpitations, abdominal gastrc disorder, decreased or increased appetite, bad taste in mouth, hypersalivation, nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, flatuence, constipation, decreased libido, edema, allergic skin conditions.

-takes hortly after a meal or light snack to enhance absorption
- avoid alcohol, sleep-inducing drugs, and Over the counter meds.
- Report dizziness, light headedness, faintness, blood in the urine, fever, chills, sore throat, rashprolongd or inappropraite erection.

I am not sure if this helps but I hope it does!
Good luck
Kel

Mazzy-

I have taken trazodone before... I found that it worked for my insomnia for only a short while, and then my body adjusted to it and I continued to have insomnia once again.

I have tried something else that did work, but I found that it did have some side effects- headaches, rebound insomnia etc... its called clonazepam. However, I try not to take it too often, only when i haven't slept soundly for more than 3 or 4 days. I have found that the homeopathic route has worked best for me... valerian root or melatonin. I also listen to music or a meditation tape of some sort while I am falling asleep, it helps to relieve the constant chatter and thinking that my mind does in middle of the night.

[Scott]

yeah i agree, go with valerian root or melatonin

i was on trazadone for a while for sleeping, took it at night and it definitely put me right to sleep. however it made me exhausted all throughout the day too.

my pdoc told me to take 3mgs of melatonin a few months ago so i've been doing that and it works much better. helps me sleep without the grogginess the next day.

[mjm]

Watch your mood with melatonin. It can make some people depressed.

Thanks for the help guys. I decided against taking the Trazodone. I am going to try the Melatonin. I figure...what's the harm in trying it. If it works, great...if not, I'll go with the Trazodone or try something else.

[emily]

One thing my Dr. recommended for insomnia is Benadryl, the cold/allergy medicine; i take 1 or 2 every third night or so about an hour before bed. I wouldn't recommend taking anything every nite--even if not physically addictive, any pill can become psychologically so--but i find Benadryl really helpful--more so than Ambien, which is a heavy-duty addictive sleeping pill, or Xanax, which is of course also highly addictive: i actually sleep MORE with benadryl than with those prescription drugs!

[hope]

I had really bad insomnia with the Paxil withdrawal. I tried a ton of stuff. The natural stuff didn't help at all with the sleep so I tried some of the prescription stuff. I tried the trazodone 1 night and I was extremely dizzy for 2 days, but then I have wierd reactions to stuff. I'm not pushing drugs but I did try a bunch of them. I tried Ambien and it made me feel like I was not in my body, scary. I was given Ativan and Xanax which I took for a month but then I was losing my memory so I stopped those suckers. The benadryl made me hyper. I was tried on Vistaril (which is not addicting so that's why I tried it) and it was like the Benadryl. What finally worked was Restoril, or temazepam. But it is addicting so I wouldn't recommend it. I was going for days without sleeping at all so I was kind of desperate. I'm tapering off it now and doing ok.

However, when my mom was trying to quit smoking the doctor gave her trazodone because she was tensing up at night and couldn't sleep. It worked well for her.

My withdrawal was a nightmare. I'm not into prescription drugs at all but I was so sick I tried lots of stuff.

I agree Hope, sometimes a person may need to take a prescription sleeping aid when things get really bad. In an earlier message I wrote about an article I had read that mentions benzodiazepine use...longer than 10 days can cause rebound insomnia. However, if you take it as needed and don't take more that the prescribed dosage, I think they can really help in those moments of desperation. Moderation is the key with most things. Everybody is different though and like you mentioned, some people react differently. I have a prescription for Lorazepam, but I don't take if very often because it makes me really tired during the day.

I may try the Benadryl. Thanks emily.