TRAZODONE user's. I need some advice

[*GG*]

I recently switched from Trazadone, was up to 150mg, also take 3mg Melatonin and generic Ambien when I cannot fall asleep. Was sleeping pretty well on 150mg but seemed to have to stop working. I usually take my meds 2 hours before I want to be sleeping, sometimes they kick in within an hour, depends upon how fatigued I am.

I recently had a couple of sleep studies done. I have obstructive sleep apnea. Now sleep with CPAP machine, since end of November 2009.

Recently had follow up with CPAP dr and he made some adjustments, not my medicine Dr.

Saw another specialist that is supposed to help with our condition, and he is working on my sleep. Stopped Trazadone and started Mirtazapine of 30, did not keep me out for 7 to 8hours is what I am aiming for. Split tab the last 2 nights so dosage is 22.5 of Mirtazapine and I am only supposed to increase when I am not getting 7 to 8 hours of sleep up to 30mg a night. Will see the Dr in a month from now.


I am sure our meds are going to need to change with time since our bodies get used to them!

 

[Lily]

Lily, I have just been prescribed Trazadone in the last few days and my doctor told me that it would take about a week to kick in. Maybe a couple of nights wasn't long enough for you to have a chance for it to work?

Thanks for the info Sasha, I hadn't heard that before. It may be worth another try, especially if I do it in combo with Ambien this time. I dream of good sleep - oh what a blessing that would be

 

[juniemarie]

Sasha I'm glad it worked for you. Isn't nice when something so simple resolves a problem.

 

[Sushi]

Juniemarie,

I haven't read from the beginning of the thread, so I obviously have missed some stuff. I just want to add, anecdotally, that I used to need prescription sleep meds (for years) and have been able to stop them now that I am up to the full strength on low dose naltrexone (4.5mg)--I am thankful. It seems to reduce excitotoxicity. I don't notice the feeling of "getting sleepy now," I just find that I go to sleep fairly normally--that is unless something weird happened that day and I am totally wired. In the beginning LDN causes a few days of insomnia for many. This was true for me and used to happen every time I upped my dose--but the higher the dose, the less insomnia until finally there was none at all. It is cheap and non-toxic.

Sushi

 

[juniemarie]

Sushi

I have never heard of it, but now you have me curious. I'm going to do some research on naltrexone. I do understand that when in a low dose it is used for a variety of different conditions that it was not intended for originally. Looking forward to learning more about it. How would it interact with the adderall I take for increased energy?

 

[Sushi]

I have never heard of it, but now you have me curious. I'm going to do some research on naltrexone. I do understand that when in a low dose it is used for a variety of different conditions that it was not intended for originally. Looking forward to learning more about it. How would it interact with the adderall I take for increased energy?

juniemarie,

There is a thread here on low dose naltrexone and a pretty good website: http://lowdosenaltrexone.org . It should be OK with a low dose of adderall, though it would be good to check with a pharmacist who is familiar with using LDN. The most knowledgeable one I know is at Skip's Pharmacy in Boca Raton--they have an 800 #. The main drugs they want you to avoid are opiates, as it blocks the opiate receptors for a few hours after taking it and you would not be able to use any opiates you were taking.

For me and others I know who take it with CFS, it acts as both an immune modulator (studies have shown an increase in killer T cells and a shift from Th2 to Th1 (this is good--particularly if you have a retrovirus), and also a lowering in excitotoxicity and an increase in energy. One friend who is taking it has gone from being house bound to being able to go out and "be normal" for a few hours, a few times a week. Others have also reported help with sleep.

It is worth checking out. You can either get it compounded low dose, or many dissolve the generic 50 mg tablet, keep it in a brown glass bottle in the fridge and take out the dose they need. It will keep for a month in the fridge.

Sushi

 

[juniemarie]

Sushi
Thanks so much for the links and extra info. Have you every noticed a difference between the generic and non generic? I will make an appt to talk with my doc and see if he will give me a prescription ,after I read more.

 

[Sing]

Hi Everyone!

I used to take the combination of Trazodone (3/4 of a 50 mg. tab) and one pill (25 mg?) of Benedryl when in my late 40's. Then I needed to reduce the Benedryl to a 1/2 tab with the same Traz and now I only use the Traz, of that combo. However, I need to add in more pain pills, in my case Gabapentin (same as Neurontin). I will wake up once around 3 or 4 am feeling sore again and it is best to take Tylenol then to get back to sleep. This all works well and I get about 8 hours of sleep this way.

Sing

 

[Sasha]

Thanks for the info Sasha, I hadn't heard that before. It may be worth another try, especially if I do it in combo with Ambien this time. I dream of good sleep - oh what a blessing that would be

A few hours after I posted I spoke to my doctor again with some questions after my first week of Trazadone and he told me that it can really take 10-14 days to get going! So a bit longer than I told you. It's effects are clearly changing - for the first three days I was staggering rather than walking around my flat within about half an hour of taking it but that wore off (phew!). The doctor told me that these anti-depressant drugs, even when used at such low doses that they don't have anti-depressant effects, do take a while to build up and start their action.

Having read the useful comments on this board I also suggested Ambien to him if I don't get to sleep quickly with Trazadone after the initial try-out period and he agreed. This board is great! You're all so helpful!

 

[juniemarie]

Sasha
Keep us updated on your experiment with finding the right combo for sleep.

 

[Sasha]

I thought it might be useful to recount my first 14 days on Trazadone because I'm going to forget what it was like! Over the last 3 nights I seem to have settled into going to bed at 11pm as usual, getting to sleep between midnight and half past, then waking up between 7 and 8 am. I feel tired on waking but not horrible and exhausted as was the norm for me, and I'm now able to get up straight away without lying there for hours waiting to feel well enough to get up. That's a big plus! I'm certainly not bursting with energy but I think I may have just got my mornings back. I have just started with a bad cold so I'm surprised that the good effects aren't being masked.

It's worth knowing that the effects of Trazadone changed a lot for me over the two weeks I've been taking it. For the first few days I'd literally be staggering, not walking around my flat about half an hour after taking it and would have to go to bed to be safe and not fall over. That wore off after a few days (though it still makes me feel tired within about half an hour). After a week, I had three nights in a row not getting to sleep until 4 or 5 in the morning and waking up after about five hours. Then things started to settle into their current pattern.

Early days but in case anyone was considering trying Trazadone for insomnia (and apparently it's highly thought of by many ME specialists) I thought you might like to know that your sleep and some side effects might be all over the place for the first 10-14 days (as my doctor warned me) and that it is expected to take that long to kick in.

I think I'll phone my doctor this week about Ambien to get me to sleep in the first place. I'll let you know how it goes (thanks for asking, JunieMarie!).

Incidentally, here in the UK at least Trazadone is available in liquid form which makes it very easy to adjust your dose. My pharmacist sold me a syringe for 1 so I could measure out my 2.5ml dose accurately (you can then just squirt it into your mouth!) and you could of course easily use the scale on the syringe to fine-tune the dose. Much more accurate than mucking about with teaspoons and spilling it all over!

Sweet dreams, fellow Trazaone users! :Retro smile:

 

[juniemarie]

Wow Sasha Looks like its going to workout for you. I am very curious how the addition of Ambian will be. I too was up until 4 or 5, and I just cant deal with that. Thanks for the update. Look forward to your Ambien report.

 

[Julia Rachel]

Hi There:
I used Trazadone for sleep and other issues....it was not effective with my sleep issues related to CFIDS. I had to switch to a stronger "Sleep Aid"......My doctor warned me about mixing Trazadone with other meds before our consult. Blessings.Julia

 

[Sasha]

Thanks, Julia Rachel - I've had a rougher week on my third week of Trazadone so maybe it's not working as well as I thought. I'll try upping the dose slightly. I'm sorry it didn't work for you. Did you try it for a few weeks and try adjusting the dose? It is supposed to take a while to kick in.

 

[Sasha]

Wow Sasha Looks like its going to workout for you. I am very curious how the addition of Ambian will be. I too was up until 4 or 5, and I just cant deal with that. Thanks for the update. Look forward to your Ambien report.

Hi JunieMarie - I phoned my specialist and he said to give it another couple of weeks to see if I started to fall asleep faster with just Trazadone and I think I have been getting to sleep earlier this week - in which case I probably won't be getting Ambien. However, I'm again waking up for a couple of hours in the middle of the night or very early so not quite as there yet with the Traz as I had thought. Still, so far it's better than nothing!

Anyway, what this is usefully telling me is that these drugs take a while to settle down! I hope this might be helpful to people who have maybe just tried it for a few nights and given up because it didn't seem to be working.

 

[FernRhizome]

Tradzadone made me SEVERELY Worse. If you have a mitochondrial problem trazadone and any of the drugs in that class are very very very bad!!!! ~FernRhizome

 

[Sasha]

Tradzadone made me SEVERELY Worse. If you have a mitochondrial problem trazadone and any of the drugs in that class are very very very bad!!!! ~FernRhizome

I'm sorry to hear you got really ill with Trazadone - I'm not worse so far, and am sleeping a little better (although I've had a rough week sleeping this week, it has been marginally less rough than a normal week!). Roll on the day when doctors can tell in advance what's going to work for each of us individually! I'm very optimistic about the next ten years in medicine generally in terms of all sorts of advances and being able to personalise the choice of drugs based on your genetic profile etc etc but I could just do with something to get me better sleep right now!

 

[Hysterical Woman]

I'm sorry to hear you got really ill with Trazadone - I'm not worse so far, and am sleeping a little better (although I've had a rough week sleeping this week, it has been marginally less rough than a normal week!). Roll on the day when doctors can tell in advance what's going to work for each of us individually! I'm very optimistic about the next ten years in medicine generally in terms of all sorts of advances and being able to personalise the choice of drugs based on your genetic profile etc etc but I could just do with something to get me better sleep right now!

Hi Sasha,

It's so hard to work thru this stuff. And yes, it would be wonderful if docs could know what would work for us before we take it. I was on elavil for years and it did help with both sleep and pain. But it made me hungry 24 a days, every day, for 18 years. At one time I considered switching to trazadone, but I read that the appetite increase thing was also a common side effect with it. As a result of all the elavil, (and not being able to exercise, etc.) I have gained a lot of weight over the years. I have recently been able to leave the elavil behind once I built up some magnesium levels. Magnesium is a relatively easy and relatively inexpensive to try out for sleep if you haven't done so. I know that both Dr. Cheney and Dr. Klimas put their CFS patients on magnesium supplements. It has changed my "sleep life". There are many different forms of magnesium, magnesium glycinate seems to work best for me.

Good luck with whatever you try,

HW

 

[Sasha]

Hi Sasha,

It's so hard to work thru this stuff. And yes, it would be wonderful if docs could know what would work for us before we take it. I was on elavil for years and it did help with both sleep and pain. But it made me hungry 24 a days, every day, for 18 years. At one time I considered switching to trazadone, but I read that the appetite increase thing was also a common side effect with it. As a result of all the elavil, (and not being able to exercise, etc.) I have gained a lot of weight over the years. I have recently been able to leave the elavil behind once I built up some magnesium levels. Magnesium is a relatively easy and relatively inexpensive to try out for sleep if you haven't done so. I know that both Dr. Cheney and Dr. Klimas put their CFS patients on magnesium supplements. It has changed my "sleep life". There are many different forms of magnesium, magnesium glycinate seems to work best for me.

Thanks, Maxine - I'll look into magnesium, I'd rather correct a deficiency than drug myself up. How long were you on Mg before you noticed an improvement in your sleep?

I've been feeling hungry lately, I wonder if that's the Traz - have been living it up a bit on Ryvita this week...

 

[Hysterical Woman]

Thanks, Maxine - I'll look into magnesium, I'd rather correct a deficiency than drug myself up. How long were you on Mg before you noticed an improvement in your sleep?

I've been feeling hungry lately, I wonder if that's the Traz - have been living it up a bit on Ryvita this week...

Hi Sasha,

It was a couple of months. I started slowly so that I didn't run into bowel problems. If you have questions about your magnesium (and other mineral) status, ask for an EXAtest. It's really the best way to get an accurate measurement of your magnesium, potassium, chloride, etc.

It could be the traz making you hungry. It is a common side effect, altho it probably doesn't make everyone hungry. And some people with CFS are actually too thin.

The magnesium was almost a miracle for me since it greatly improved my sleep, pain, noise sensitivity, light sensitivity, and lowered my blood pressure. It's just a fricking mineral - go figure.

Please keep us updated on how you are doing.

Take care,

HW