Trazodone experiences?

[Singout]

@juniemarie @Sasha @JT1024 and others:

I read this thread http://forums.phoenixrising.me/index.php?threads/trazodone-users-i-need-some-advice.1652/ from 3 years ago with interest, as my doctor put me on Trazodone yesterday. I haven't needed sleep help until this fall, so I'm new to this. Tried Zopiclone in November but it gave me anxiety the next day. I've been using melatonin, but am concerned about what some sources say about altering my body's hormone balance?

My sleep isn't terrible, but I've been waking up really early, often several times in the night sometimes for long stretches. I think improving my sleep is a good step toward improving other things. I don't usually have problems falling asleep, but my first night on 25 mg had me up till 4:30.

I also started 300 mg of magnesium citrate about 2 weeks ago.

What do you think of Trazodone 3 years later?

 

[heapsreal]

I wouldnt worry about melatonin putting your hormones out of whack as they sound like they probably are already if your not sleeping. As long as your taking melatonin at night when body normallly produces melatonin i dont see an issue with it??

Not sure what else u have tried but if not alot start with antihistamines like diphenhydramine/benadryl or doxylamine, they can work quite well, some get a hangover from them but worth a shot, maybe use melatonin with them??

Everything over time can stop working, for sleep alternate a few things, even if u get trazadone, use it every second or third night cause if used nightly u may find after a few weeks it can stop working.

 

[minkeygirl]

I have been taking trazodone for 19 yrs. So far it is the only thing I can take that doesn't drug me up or make me feel like I'm on speed. For me, it actually initiates sleep.

I also have never had a tolerance issue but I continue my search to find other things to switch off with.

I do know some people are really sensitive to meds and have different reactions. If you were up and felt speedy, I'd wait a few days and try again. If you still have the same response then it's not for you and try something else. Baclofen is like speed for me.

There are so many things to try to sleep. I just started experimenting with Doxylamine, an OTC antihistamine. It drugs me a bit but it works. You have to worry about tolerance.

I think Heaps is right. Find a lot of things to switch around with. It's all trial and error and everyone's experience is different.

 

[Soundthealarm21]

I've taken Trazodone (50-100mg) every night for the past 6 months and it works fine for me. I take more than just trazodone every night though.

50-100 mg Trazodone
1 mg Klonopin
200 mg Theanine
1000 mg Inositol
750 mg GABA
1 mg Melatonin (sublingual)
.1 mg Clonidine (Most effective med by itself, for me)

I take Teitelbaum's advice on this and take multiple lower dose medicines instead of taking big amount of one thing. If I wake up in the middle of the night and find it hard to fall asleep I just take more GABA and Inositol and I sleep through out the night.

 

[Sparrow]

When it comes to any medications or supplements, I'm sort of of the opinion of try it and see how it feels for you personally. There are so many little differences between people's bodies or situations that it can be hard to know what will help or what might do damage. But generally, I think if something is really harming you, you'll probably notice. Likewise if it's really helping.

I would give it a try and see how you feel. If you feel much better, I'd go with it.

For what it's worth, I take melatonin and once I'd found the right brand, it's made an incredible difference in my sleep. My husband does not have ME, but does have sleep issues and took Trazodone for a while, but had extreme rage as a side effect (not something that we could live with). His sleep was great, though...

 

[Beyond]

Actually Trazadone gave me flu-like symptoms and an horribly sore throat that lasted days. And no help with sleep! I wouldn´t take that ever again, it made me sicker in a rapid way and that was scary. Melatonin sublingual Douglas Labs fixed my sleep onset insomnia as well.

I need 6 mgs of melatonin and waking up everyday somewhat early for it to work really good. I know I am overdosing in melatonin. I don´t give a toss, of course, better sleep means a less horrible life, plus melatonin is actually an antioxidant and antinflammatory substance so is not that bad to take a little too much.

 

[vamah]

Trazodone alone does not help me, but taken in combination with either seroquel or xanax (I switch off which I take) has been the best formula to help me sleep.

 

[SOC]

Trazodone is a huge help for me. For most of my life I was a poor sleeper. I'd get 5-6 hours of sleep total, woke up 5-6 times at night, so less than an hour of straight sleep at a time. Trazodone changed that almost immediately. Now I sleep deeply, stay asleep all night, and get a good 8-10 hours every night. What a relief! It has given me no trouble at all. I wouldn't want to go without it.

However, I am not sensitive to medications, nor have I had trouble going on or off SNRIs or SSRIs. That's not true for everyone.

 

[IreneF]

I took it for years. It really helped my sleep. I went off it when I took an incompatible antibiotic earlier this year, but I'm thinking of starting it again because I can't get to sleep until 4 a.m. I never had any problems at 25/50 mg.

 

[Singout]

Thanks, everyone, lots of helpful ideas and input. I think I'll wait till after my home OI test on Saturday and cardio visit on Tuesday and then give it another try. What I really want is to make sure I'm getting enough deep stage sleep, and sources say traz and zopiclone are both good for this.

My doctor--who is very good, but new to me and doesn't know much about ME--is booking me for a sleep study, so maybe that will help too. She's not a big fan of benzos, as they're addictive, although she's give me a small amount of Lorazepam for anxiety.

The only other things I've tried--because they were lying around--have been Robaxacet and Gravol. But I'm skeptical about whether they're good for deep restorative sleep...

 

[Sasha]

@juniemarie @Sasha @JT1024 and others: [...] What do you think of Trazodone 3 years later?

Hi @Singout - I honestly can't remember anything about it! I switched to Lyrica (Pregabalin) a long time ago and can't remember why. Sorry! Hope you get some sleep one way or another!

 

[soxfan]

A few years back I tried taking the liquid form of Trazadone. My husband is a pharmacist and would mix it for me. I just couldn't tolerate even the smallest dose and it wouldn't put me to sleep but I would wake up terribly hungover. So if you want to try tiny doses the pharmacy can order and mix it into a liquid form.

 

[Seven7]

I cannot live without trazadone, best thing I ever did for my health, I do not go into stage4 sleep. So other stuff did not work for me. The issue was that I have to read my own sleep study because they only look for sleep apnea in those results so One has to be your own advocate. Once I pointed out the issue then they treated me for it.

 

[Grigor]

So besides sleeping better on Trazadone . Does it with either energy or brainfog or something else in ME?

 

[SOC]

So besides sleeping better on Trazadone . Does it with either energy or brainfog or something else in ME?

Not that I've noticed. Better sleep can mean less daytime sleepiness and tiredness, but that's an entirely different beast from ME exhaustion and PEM.

 

[Grigor]

Yeah. At the moment I keep it to a very low pace. Cause well no other choice . But I have no idea anymore when I'm exhausted or tired . PEM is obvious though. So if I were to lose a bit of tiredness it would be cool , And most of all some brainfog and derealisation.

 

[maddietod]

I tried a half dose of Trazadone and got such loud ringing in my ears that I couldn't sleep. I also had to increase the amount of magnesium I took that night (for restless legs).

 

[SOC]

Yeah. At the moment I keep it to a very low pace. Cause well no other choice . But I have no idea anymore when I'm exhausted or tired . PEM is obvious though. So if I were to lose a bit of tiredness it would be cool , And most of all some brainfog and derealisation.

It's worth a try to get better sleep and see if better sleep improves some symptoms. It's sometimes hard to know how much is poor sleep and how much is ME until you've got the sleep fixed.

 

[seaflower]

50 mg will make me sleep through the night but it's not worth it because I am sick and dizzy and tired the next day. 3/4 of a pill won't make me sleep at all--not enough. So for me, it just doesn't work. Clonopin is the only thing that works for me.