Tapering Trazodone (150mg) - Advice?

[szuko000]

My girlfriend was on a highish dose, like 200-300mg to help her sleep. She eventually got bad side effects, lack of emotion extreme indifference toward life, it was actually so bad she was losing the point to living. When she finally chose to bring that up her psychologist said it definitely could be the trazodone and she cut her does down to 100mg. When I tell you the last 2 weeks were pure hell, I mean it. Every day for 2 weeks she battled with mind numbing depression and wild aggression. Most of it was directed toward me, I ruined her life, its my fault she has no emotions etc. Then suddenly like 10 days after she dropped that much she had a great day, which was started 2 days ago and fully came to be yesterday.

The difference is absolutely amazing. She is happier then I have seen her in a while and she is so full of life and is back to wanting to take care of herself and planning for the future etc. It makes me so happy and I realize how much it must have meant to her because there were plenty of times i wanted to tell her just to take the pills so she can stop trying to make me upset but she stuck to it, it must have been so hard for her to not feel happiness regardless of how hard I tried.

I am glad it doesnt seem to be that hard for you guys, I am hoping that it was because of the amount, Trazodone acts different at 50mg then it does at 300mg so hopefully when she goes down to 50 it wont be as hard.

 

[3dmusic]

My girlfriend was on a highish dose, like 200-300mg to help her sleep. She eventually got bad side effects, lack of emotion extreme indifference toward life, it was actually so bad she was losing the point to living. When she finally chose to bring that up her psychologist said it definitely could be the trazodone and she cut her does down to 100mg. When I tell you the last 2 weeks were pure hell, I mean it. Every day for 2 weeks she battled with mind numbing depression and wild aggression. Most of it was directed toward me, I ruined her life, its my fault she has no emotions etc. Then suddenly like 10 days after she dropped that much she had a great day, which was started 2 days ago and fully came to be yesterday.

The difference is absolutely amazing. She is happier then I have seen her in a while and she is so full of life and is back to wanting to take care of herself and planning for the future etc. It makes me so happy and I realize how much it must have meant to her because there were plenty of times i wanted to tell her just to take the pills so she can stop trying to make me upset but she stuck to it, it must have been so hard for her to not feel happiness regardless of how hard I tried.

I am glad it doesnt seem to be that hard for you guys, I am hoping that it was because of the amount, Trazodone acts different at 50mg then it does at 300mg so hopefully when she goes down to 50 it wont be as hard.

Hi

Thank you for sharing your girlfriends experience.
I am down to 75mg, I was at 300mg in october.
I have been feeling really bad depression and have had blaming thoughts regarding people in my past.
I don't know if it is my personal circumstances, as I have a lot of problems that i cannot do anything about.
I dont want to eat, I don't want to get up, etc.

 

[szuko000]

...I have been feeling really bad depression and have had blaming thoughts regarding people in my past.I don't know if it is my personal circumstances, as I have a lot of problems that i cannot do anything about.
I dont want to eat, I don't want to get up, etc.

How long have you been on the dose you are on? Are you taking any other substances be it legal or illegal? We are by no means doctors and no one should recommend you cut your doses or anything other then a trained medical professional but with all the shared experiences here someone might be able to help.

I know it can be hard, at sometimes almost impossible, but you can elicit the changes in your life to fix the spot you are in. Sure we dont get to change the past and our decisions but you can try to fix things around you. My girlfriend struggled with suicidal depression her whole life basically and it would appear that the changes she has made recently may have set her up to be the happiest shes been in a very long time. My point is if you dont give up eventually it will change, this time for her has been 3 years coming and she literally had to go to hell to get to this point. The last 2 weeks if I hadnt been the man I am, I probably would have left or hit her, the things she said and physically pushing me out of her house and slamming the door claiming i got her addicted to dope and ruined her life and made her family hate her. Now its like that never happened and I am still in amazement, I know you can be there too.

 

[3dmusic]

How long have you been on the dose you are on? Are you taking any other substances be it legal or illegal? We are by no means doctors and no one should recommend you cut your doses or anything other then a trained medical professional but with all the shared experiences here someone might be able to help.

I know it can be hard, at sometimes almost impossible, but you can elicit the changes in your life to fix the spot you are in. Sure we dont get to change the past and our decisions but you can try to fix things around you. My girlfriend struggled with suicidal depression her whole life basically and it would appear that the changes she has made recently may have set her up to be the happiest shes been in a very long time. My point is if you dont give up eventually it will change, this time for her has been 3 years coming and she literally had to go to hell to get to this point. The last 2 weeks if I hadnt been the man I am, I probably would have left or hit her, the things she said and physically pushing me out of her house and slamming the door claiming i got her addicted to dope and ruined her life and made her family hate her. Now its like that never happened and I am still in amazement, I know you can be there too.

I've been on 75mg a couple of weeks, it's hard to divide the pills.
I take pregablin some days, codeine other days, and phenibut once a week and I also smoke cannabis.
I can't do anything about my problems as they need money, alot, and i haven't got it and I dont know how to get it. I have a leasehold flat and the problems are related to that.
I see a bleak future, possibly homeless.

 

[szuko000]

I can't do anything about my problems as they need money, alot, and i haven't got it and I dont know how to get it. I have a leasehold flat and the problems are related to that.
I see a bleak future, possibly homeless.

I know it may seem like you cant do anything to fix these problems due to a lack of resources and you may be right in the sense you cant fix them directly but you must be able to do something to start things. Even if it is writing up a resume or trying to develop a hobby or skill that may be profitable down the road. Picking up a hobby, as hard as it is when your depressed, will help. My girlfriend tried and gave up on many things in the past few years but the point was she was trying. You must not give up on yourself because you are the only hope you have.

If you are prescribed trazodone you must have a doctor, have you tried talking to them? If you dislike your doctor have you considered changing to a different one? Having a psychologist that you trust and see regularly is important as you need someone to map your progress. I know you can do it I fully believe we all have the ability to fix things. Please dont give up and as I am sure you know we have forums to help you when you in the dark as well as ones for when your doing well, make use of them we are here for you

 

[3dmusic]

I know it may seem like you cant do anything to fix these problems due to a lack of resources and you may be right in the sense you cant fix them directly but you must be able to do something to start things. Even if it is writing up a resume or trying to develop a hobby or skill that may be profitable down the road. Picking up a hobby, as hard as it is when your depressed, will help. My girlfriend tried and gave up on many things in the past few years but the point was she was trying. You must not give up on yourself because you are the only hope you have.

If you are prescribed trazodone you must have a doctor, have you tried talking to them? If you dislike your doctor have you considered changing to a different one? Having a psychologist that you trust and see regularly is important as you need someone to map your progress. I know you can do it I fully believe we all have the ability to fix things. Please dont give up and as I am sure you know we have forums to help you when you in the dark as well as ones for when your doing well, make use of them we are here for you

Hi thanks for your reply. The depression has taken it out of me. I have got gifts and talents but I am a 48 year old woman who has done nothing with her life. My mood is so low I cannot sing a note. I cannot eat at the moment, unless I force food down. I just feel so deflated. I have made so many silly mistakes in my life.
I have doctors but they cannot help. I dont have access to psychologists. I have a private counsellor but I only speak to her once a month for half an hour.

 

[Bagseed]

update here!

couple of weeks ago, I went down to 25mg, had a stressful time since, falling in and out of love and shit , because of my emotions being already very chaotic, it was hard to tell, if the taper effected my mood or not...

anyway, since I planned on getting off it this summer, preferably before festival time, 3 days ago, I decided that I will try it without taking the medication. felt slightly off since, but I smoke a hell lot of hash at the moment, so again, hard to tell. slept really shitty last night, but nothing I couldn't manage at the moment. hopefully better sleep tonight...

I will keep you updated, and would also like some news from 3dmusic

greets!

 

[3dmusic]

update here!

couple of weeks ago, I went down to 25mg, had a stressful time since, falling in and out of love and shit , because of my emotions being already very chaotic, it was hard to tell, if the taper effected my mood or not...

anyway, since I planned on getting off it this summer, preferably before festival time, 3 days ago, I decided that I will try it without taking the medication. felt slightly off since, but I smoke a hell lot of hash at the moment, so again, hard to tell. slept really shitty last night, but nothing I couldn't manage at the moment. hopefully better sleep tonight...

I will keep you updated, and would also like some news from 3dmusic

greets!

Hi Bagseed

I was a bit lazy with my taper and jumped off at 25mg.
I did have some anger issues, but, again, it's difficult to tell if it was the trazodone, as I also had some stressful things going on in my life.
My sleep has been a bit all over the place also, as trazodone helped me to sleep, but I have always been terrible for going to bed really late and getting up really late.

Best of luck with getting off trazodone.

 

[Bagseed]

hey, it's good to hear that getting off it worked well for you! I stopped taking it almost a week ago, and besides my sleep still not being a 100%, I feel okay really. no strong anxiety to deal with, very manageable. tomorrow I will travel and in a few days I'll be at a beautiful music festival.
I'm really reliefed that discontiniung the medication worked that well.

 

[Bagseed]

okay one last bump!

now, more than three months after I stopped taking Trazodone, I still feel okay about the decision. some depression every once in a while, but I couldn't say that the episodes occured more frequently than while I still was medicated. I'm super glad this worked out. I still hope to see an update from 3dmusic!

greets

 

[T. Calderone]

Hey Bagseed thanks for the update! I was actually thinking of trying some of last year's trazodone to help me sleep. (mirtazapine has causing me wicked headaches in the morning) Do you think 25 mg would do the trick?

 

[Bagseed]

I'd say try it out... I'm not opposed to Trazodone at all. from what I know, it is less likely to give nasty side effects than SSRIs. I never had any real problems while taking it, I just wanted to live without medication again. I gues 25-50mg might help to get some sleep.