Trazadone for sleep?

[Destiny?]

Anyone tried Trazadone for sleeping? Dr. prescribed it along with Strattera, because I hadn't had a good nights sleep since being on the S. She said I could just take it when I needed to. Not every night.

Any inupt would be great. I'm a little nervous to try it, it's a cyclic anti-depressant.

[Ian]

This is a drug I'm looking at for sleep, but haven't got a perscription yet. There was a fellow here a while back (Brooker?) that I think used it in combination with a stim. You might try a search for that.
Cheers!

[livinginchaos]

I was on Trazedone, on an as needed basis (and I'm on Adderall). I liked it, for the most part.
I took it and 30-45 minutes later I was out like a light! It's a great night sleep and non-habit forming.
The only side effect I had from it was grogginess when I woke up. A low dose is only what's needed to get someone to sleep, so I don't think you have much to worry about the anti-depressant part of it.

oh, yeah - when I first started taking Trazedone, I had very vivid dreams (not bad dreams, but I was easily able to recall them). But, that stopped after a while.

I think I took Trazedone for 5 years. As adderall settled better and the longer I've been taking it (6 years+), the less sleep aid I've needed.

The problems I had were:
(1) grogginess for the first hour or so when I woke up
(2) you have to take it when you can sleep at least 8 hours

The #2 is the reason why I stopped taking it, because by the time I couldn't sleep, I had to wake up 4-5 hours later. I usually only sleep 6-7 hours a night, so Trazedone was difficult for me to take.

I take Ambien now. When I have to wake up in less than 8 hours, I cut the pill into 1/3 and then I don't need to sleep as long. I usually don't wake up too groggy. The only thing I'm wary of with Ambien is that it's habit forming. Luckily, I only take it usually 1-2x month.

If I could get 8 hours sleep everynight, I'd still be on Trazedone, but that's just not possible with me

[Ian]

Sounds like a dream come true to me. I'd take 8 every night if I could. Thanks a heap for the feedback.
Cheers!

[roses4julie]

I was perscribed this medication with dexidrine. I like it because i fall asleep fast and i am not groggy in the morning.....I wouldn't be worried about it....just made sure you can get at least 5 hours of sleep though or you will be tired and groggy when you get up

[kimmacvb]

I have tried all of the sleeping meds - trazedone, trazedone + ambien, Lunesta, and now I'm on Ambien CR.

I liked Lunesta - it let me sleep 4-5 hours with no hangover, but towards the 4-5 hour time period I woke up too easily and would have to get up and go do something and then go back to bed. I was also awake just enough that I was doing and saying things, but not remembering. (I was ordering things on the internet and not remembering!) Not too good.....

trazedone alone - was not enough. I found that if I took a 1/2 of a trazedone and half of a regular ambien, I could do pretty well for the night. Ambien put me to sleep and the trazedone kept me asleep longer. I felt hungover in the a.m. - from the trazedone, I think.

Ambien alone - gets me to sleep but I wake up like clockwork in 4 hours

Ambien CR - I really like this. I sleep about 6 hours without waking up. Warning: Do not take it unless you are in bed. You can fall asleep real fast with this med. When I wake up in the a.m. I am refreshed with no hangover.

It seems like I am very sensitive to medications, so my experience may sound a little odd. I have also tried every natural alternative with no luck.

Good luck - Kim

[Ian]

I'm looking for something I can take over the long haul without having to always be so prudent about frequency of use. I take lorazepan but like all the benzos I don't have any interest in having problems with it building up in my system.

Ambien appears to be a benzo and from what I've read it's recommended use is similar to the lorazepan in that it's for short term use. I'd be in the same boat with the Ambien that I am with the lorazepan in that it's half life is just too long to use on a regular basis.

If I take lorazepan more than twice a week, it begins to loose it's effectiveness. It doesn't leave me hung over or dopy in the morning, but the tazedone seems to do that for a lot of folks. I'm not looking forward to that. I'd like to wake up refreshed, but I may have to learn to sleep drug free for that.

The dimenhydrinate leaves me thick in the morning too.

[lars]

Originally Posted by Ian

I'm looking for something I can take over the long haul without having to always be so prudent about frequency of use.

You may want to talk to your Dr. about Rozerem. It is a new sleeping pill that was approved by the FDA last year. It is the first and only prescription sleeping pill ever approved by the FDA that is non-controlled. It is a melatonin agonist, and is essentially a prescription form of melatonin if you will. I find this drug to be very effective, and very therapeutic for treating my periodic insomnia. I'm not sure if it's available in Canada or not, but it is certainlly worth looking into. I have taken trazadone among other things off and on for years, and I did not find trazodone as effective.

It's still a relatively new drug here in the states, and as a result your Dr. may have some samples available (if it's available in Canada that is). My Dr. still has samples as of last week.

[VisualImagery]

I took trazodone for 14 years, until we discovered I was having a rare side effect called Serotonin Syndrome. It only occurs when taking trazodone with any type of SSRI or SSNRI such as Zoloft, Prozac, and other related medications. Otherwise, the trazodone works very well the grogginess goes away after the first few weeks and you won't have it anymore and you get a good nights sleep. I wouldn't hesitate to take it if you doctor thinks the work. Plus it is very inexpensive.

If you're taking any kind the newer antidepressants, talk with your doctor not everyone has a side effect I had but be aware it can occur

Good luck with your decision, Becky

[bunny0271]

I took trazadone for several years and it worked well. I then built up a tolerance for it and was put on Ambien which I absolutely loved! I have now built up a tolerance to that. I've tried Ambien CR, Lunesta, and Rozarem and none of them have worked for me. I've always had trouble sleeping. I recently went to a sleep clinic and will be meeting with a psychologist that specializes in insomnia (I dont have sleep apnea) at the end of September. I can't wait to see what comes of this. I would be happy with 5 hours of straight sleep. I can sleep if I take Ambien 20 mg, but I'm trying to wean myself off of this. If I don't take anything I could go all night without sleeping or I could sleep for maybe an hour, get up for 1-2 hours and then go back to sleep for an hour. I've been on Strattera for about 2 months now, but I haven't noticed any change in my sleep patterns.

[lars]

Hey Melissa, have you ever tried Remeron? i found it to be wonderful for sleep. in fact it was a little too wonderful for sleep since it caused me to sleep for a very long time.

There is a generic of Remeron available now, and even though it is not as affordable as generic trazadone, it is much more affordable than Ambien, and i found it to be much more effective than Ambien. Good luck.

PS i had to use lower case letter i's in my above post for some reason. i'm currently in a hotel room travelling at the moment, and i guess the hotel's internet connection is maybe unable to use upper class i's for some reason.

[bunny0271]

Hi Lars! I have tried Remeron and it gave me nightmares, how weird is that? I'm wondering if it is actually because I got into a deep sleep which I don't normally do, so I don't dream; but I have never had that problem with Ambien. Very strange. Thanks for the idea though.