Trazadone

[Summer123]

Anybody have any suggestion on how to get off this med?  

[Ash003]

Hello all, I've been on trazadone for years now and I wish I could find another option. Sadly the only things I can do to get to sleep are not good...ie. Pot, beer, or Xanax, and I would not recommend doing any of those things. The strange thing is that no matter how much trazadone I take, it only lasts a few hours. Then I wake up seeing trails & ****. I was planning on tapering down slowly also something that has worked for friends of mine is drinking "sleepy time tea"(at ur grocery store), also taking saint john's wart B4 bed. You can even open the capsule of the wart and put it in ur tea. Ive had to do this for two nights in the past as I forgot my meds at home...seemed to work pretty well. I just didnt fall asleep as fast as usual. Good luck to you Summer!

[badmofo1877]

I really don't like to take medications.  I just don't like to take something I probably don't need.  But after I moved and was in a different bed with a different pillow and my new place was just so quiet I couldn't sleep.  I had some trazadone that my dr gave me that I had only tried a couple times and started using it.  At first it would put me to sleep but I would wake up in a couple hours or so.  But after a few nights I actually started sleeping through the night.   This is the only medication I take, apart from something over the counter for a headache once in a while.  I'm really so grateful for this drug to help me sleep.  I've battle insomnia all my life and I'm so happy to finally have this silver bullet that knocks me out.  I used to actually wish I had a tranquilizer gun that I could have someone shoot me.

[xanweaner]

Very interesting....In my personal experience, trazodone can't even compare to the efficacy of Ambien....but, we're all different in our reactions to drugs.

I know that Ambien is available as a generic now, but I wouldn't recommend that route. Again, the generic couldn't compare to the effectiveness of the brand.

Summer.....what do you think?

[TrayCee]

quote/First approved by the Food and Drug Administration 25 years ago, trazodone is categorized as an antidepressant. Nonetheless, psychiatrists prescribe it off label to treat insomnia, because it works so well. Trazodone carries no risk of addiction; its half-life is long enough to keep patients asleep all night; it has a long safety record; and it is cheap, costing as little as 10 cents a pill. (Ambien and Lunesta can cost $3 a pill or more.) And in the only sizable study to compare trazodone with Ambien as a sleep aid, the two drugs performed equally well./quote

Source: New England Journal of Medicine

I must admit, I have never heard of Trazodone being addictive

[xanweaner]

I am so sorry that you're having such a rough time...I hope that your biopsy comes back negative or at the least, something that can be easily addressed...

Back when, my internist rx'ed traxodone for sleep - didn't work and made my sinuses stuffed up...hated it. Is it possible to get something else for sleep - like Ambien, for example? I find it incredibly effective - I  use only 5 mg. (break the 10 mg. in half) and it works like a charm...If your Dr. isn't adverse to writing this for you, I'd give it a try.

It's hard to feel good when your sleep is deprived like yours is.....

Re: xanax - yeah, the rebound anxiety is a big drag, but if you hang in there and suffer - it eventually evens itself out. I'm certainly not advocating that everyone needs to stop taking their xanax, as I've always said that it was the ideal drug for me at my crisis time.  Have you thought about valium? It got such a bad rap, when it actually is a good drug for long-term management of anxiety...

Thanks for the support re: my xanax saga of weaning....earlier today, it was terrible - the irritability I felt was high; I couldn't motivate myself to shower and wash my hair, but fortunately, it quieted down after I took my afternoon dose. I just wonder if I'm going to be able to stop completely in 10 more days.....I may have to resort to cutting my morning and afternoon doses in 1/2 again...but we'll see....

I hope you feel better soon.....

[Summer123]

Hi xan,
Nice to see your response.  Hey, I'm just getting off to get off.  I've been on it so long no one can remember why I'm on it.  I think it was just for sleep anyway and I don't sleep anymore.  It puts me to sleep, but I wake up anyway after an hour or so and can't sleep, so why stay on it?  I went from 150 mg to 100 mg to 50 mg yesterday.  Last night I couldnt' sleep, but no worse than without it.  Think I'll stay on it a few days more and then stop it.  

No, I don't feel any better.  In fact, I'm suicidal.  Well, not really, so don't call the internet police.  Just they did a mouth biopsy on me that may be cancerous and I don't even want the results cause I won't do anything about it anyway.  Maybe I should have stayed on some antidpressant.  Was on paxil, trazadone and xanex.  Now, I'm going down to just the xanex.  Don't know if I can ever be like you and go off of the xanex, just cutting back causes unbelievable anxiety.  I am so proud of you though.

[xanweaner]

Definitely consult your treating physician; you can also call the pharmacist and ask for input. Also, do a search here on the forum - there may be some posts already with some advice.

May I ask why you're getting off? Do you feel better now and don't think that you need it any longer?

Good luck in getting the answers to help you with your next step...

[JKJ]

Hi...I used to this med as well and I tapered off of it VERY SLOWLY.  Summer is right, cold turkey is not the way to go that is true of any of these psych meds.

Good luck!

[Summer123]

Thanks for your response.

[RicardoODurnin]

Talk to your doctor, when I tried to quit meds cold turkey in the past I end up trying suicide, this meds are not a joke and also everyone reacts differently to them.
Good luck.