Mental Health Trazodone for insomnia

[thegreenhand]

Can anyone speak their experiences with this? I've been prescribed 100 mg nightly for sleep. Initially it was to counteract SSRI stimulation that i was experiencing. i discontinued the ssri after 9 days and am now free of it from my system (as far i can perceive).

i've opted to keep the trazodone, though 50 mg is a better dose to avoid morning grogginess i've found. i've struggled with insomnia for as long as i can remember, even as a small child. this medication works wonderfully for me. i'm curious if anyone can speak to their experiences with it long term.

withdrawals/dependency if stopping i'm sure? waking mood alterations? etc. it's action as an SARI antidepressant at higher doses is quite peculiar and it causes me a bit of worry.

wiki

 

[SKL]

It typically works well. Many people do get morning groginess so you will want to go with the minimum dose that works. It is an under-rated thing but there will be withdrawals if stopped abruptly.

Remeron (mirtazipine) is a similar drug (broadly speaking at least) and used for sleep as well. Some people get better results with it and find it a little less heavy, although I'm sure you can find people who prefer trazodone too.

 

[Burnt Offerings]

I was prescribed this medication as part of a sleep medicine routine. IME it's basically not psychoactive at all, for a sedative effect you'd be better off taking benadryl. It did give me shockingly vivid, intense lucid dreams though, so I kept taking it for that reason for a bit. But it also gave me weird sexual side-effects so I eventually stopped taking it. Did not work well at all as a medication to induce sleep.

 

[deficiT]

They always loaded me up with trazodone anytime I got sober. It helps to some extent, but I hate the amount of dry mouth it would cause me. Once I got on quetiapine or hydroxyzine I'd usually ditch the trazodone. But it definitely works in a pinch.

Oh and be careful of the priapism thing, it's apparently somewhat not completely rare. Other than that though there isn't too much about it that is too worrisome. But I've never used it in high doses as an antidepressant. 100mg usually did the trick for me.

 

[thegreenhand]

Thanks everyone,

@SKL if/when I decide to stop I’ll definitely consult a doctor or pharmacist for help. In terms of grogginess, I either take it 1 hour before bed and sleep 8 or I plan to sleep for 9 hours. That seems to be right around the length of action. I’ll ask my doc about that other drug, but since I’m having no major issues I see no need to switch right now

@Burnt Offerings i do get a very strong and useful sedative effect so that isn’t an issue for me at least. I don’t like Benadryl since it normally leaves me feeling confused the next morning. The dreams can be intense but I’ve always had intense dreams so kinda hard for me to differentiate

@deficiT I do get some dry mouth but that’s generally at 100 mg doses. If I split the pill and take 50 it’s barely noticeable. I’ll keep an eye out for priapism but so far nothing of concern. The ssri had very quick onset of sexual side effects so this is a nice change lol. And yeah couldn’t imagine taking the 300 mg or so doses that are considered antidepressant level. 50 mg is my sweet spot I think


I’ll probably stick with it for a while. Like i said, insomnia has always been an issue for me and while I would eventually like to live “chemical free” in my daily life, I’m not at a point where that is achievable yet. Right now it seems the benefits outweigh the risks, so onwards it is

 

[Snafu in the Void]

I hated trazodone. With no tolerance it does produce a very "drugged" and/or artificial sense of tiredness, enough for me to lay down, yet gave me such bad tinnitus I had difficulty getting to sleep anyways.

It's just a low quality drug. Used it a few times and threw it away.

 

[thegreenhand]

I hated trazodone. With no tolerance it does produce a very "drugged" and/or artificial sense of tiredness, enough for me to lay down, yet gave me such bad tinnitus I had difficulty getting to sleep anyways.

It's just a low quality drug. Used it a few times and threw it away.

Yeah I’m terms of BLer definitions it’s a shitty drug - you can’t get high on it lmao

it’s been a big help for me in maintaining something of a regular circadian rhythm, I have no complaints so far

 

[Snafu in the Void]

Yeah I’m terms of BLer definitions it’s a shitty drug - you can’t get high on it lmao

it’s been a big help for me in maintaining something of a regular circadian rhythm, I have no complaints so far

If it didn't make my ears ring at an extremely annoying level of volume, I would use it for sleep occasionally. I just couldn't even use it.

It was rather tragic to be honest. It definitely made me drowsy but the tinnitus would be so loud I couldn't fall asleep, lol.

 

[thegreenhand]

If it didn't make my ears ring at an extremely annoying level of volume, I would use it for sleep occasionally. I just couldn't even use it.

It was rather tragic to be honest. It definitely made me drowsy but the tinnitus would be so loud I couldn't fall asleep, lol.

Yeah if I had that effect I wouldn’t use it either

 

[Flynnal]

Hell, another OTOTOXIC drug? Jesus, the list goes on and on.

 

[AlphaMethylPhenyl]

Used for depression at higher doses (like 500mg) until realization that the therapeutic effects didn't make up for the sleep-inducing effects. Used in like 100mg these days for insomnia. Likely effective, non-narcotic, as opposed to benzos/benzo receptor agonists. Has an interesting metabolite to speak of, gnarly.

 

[WellThisSucks]

Rx'd for insomnia. Induced and improved sleep somewhat. Most vivid dreams ever, some good, some unsettling. Stopped using because dry mouth led to inability to swallow while sleeping. Very frightening to jolt awake gasping to swallow. Not an uncommon side effect.