Psycho-Babble Medication Thread 16420

Shown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.

 

Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!

Posted by LD on December 8, 1999, at 8:57:22

I've been taking Trazodone for about 6 months to sleep. I didnt sleep for about 2 years before I started taking it (honestly). Before that I tried Ambien, which did not work for me. I love the Trazodone, and if I do not take it, I go back to my insomnia. The problem is, I CAN NOT wake up in the morning, I just sleep and sleep and sleep. Not good, I am starting a new job soon and am worried about this. I have tried taking it up to 2 hours before I go to bed, and I still can't wake up. And i'm down to only taking 25mg to sleep. Does anybody know what else I can do?

PS. I'm also on Celexa 40 mg/day, in the morning.

Thanks!

 

Re: Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!

Posted by jamie on December 8, 1999, at 13:47:39

In reply to Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!, posted by LD on December 8, 1999, at 8:57:22

> I've been taking Trazodone for about 6 months to sleep. I didnt sleep for about 2 years before I started taking it (honestly). Before that I tried Ambien, which did not work for me. I love the Trazodone, and if I do not take it, I go back to my insomnia. The problem is, I CAN NOT wake up in the morning, I just sleep and sleep and sleep. Not good, I am starting a new job soon and am worried about this. I have tried taking it up to 2 hours before I go to bed, and I still can't wake up. And i'm down to only taking 25mg to sleep. Does anybody know what else I can do?
>
> PS. I'm also on Celexa 40 mg/day, in the morning.
>
> Thanks!

1) Try 7 1/2 mg to 15mg remeron. Sedating, quick to sleep, but not so heavyduty like trazodone. Trazodone was the only drug I've ever tried that I hated so bad I threw it away. The others are still in my medicine cabinet archives. I can understand your interest in finding something else!
2) Try one of the benzos. Addiction potential though. But for that matter, if you quit trazodone after 6 months you'll feel like you're addicted to it too. Xanax I think has the shortest halflife so should be good for sleep with little carryover into the next day.
3) Try one of the tricyclics. Nortriptyline, imipramine, amitriptyline. A low dose in late afternoon would probably do the job. Not as fast acting as trazodone for sleep. Not much carryover into the next day if the dose is low.

With any sedating drug, I think the trick is to find the right time to take it so it doesn't carry over into the next morning too much. A bedtime dose is too late for me. Just knocks me out in the morning. Usually dinner or afternoon is better. Though my evenings are a little groggy. Better the evening than the morning. Something else someone else mentioned a while back was to put a timer on your lights and your coffee pot so they wake you up.

 

Re: Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!

Posted by Noa on December 8, 1999, at 16:27:00

In reply to Re: Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!, posted by jamie on December 8, 1999, at 13:47:39

I found trazodone to be extremely sedating, but with an intense, but not long-lived effect. So, by morning, I could wake up. Its usefullness pooped out on me after a while. Then I started taking serzone, which has better AD effect, and also helps with the sleep. But it is a less intense sedation, and takes longer to begin working and to wear off. I found it hard to wake up in the morning if I took it at bedtime. So, I now take it around 5 or 6 pm.

Question: have you had a good sleep evaluation, as in a sleep lab?

 

Trazadone SCARED!

Posted by mystie on May 17, 2001, at 16:38:44

In reply to Re: Trazadone-Help! I can't wake up!, posted by jamie on December 8, 1999, at 13:47:39

Hi, I have just been given a prescription for Trazadone. It is meant to help not only with sleep but pain due to arthiritis and bursitis. Everything I read about this drug says nothing about this being a drug to help with pain. Am I being fooled here? If not what exactly does this drug do to help with arthiritic pain?

Thanks

 

Re: Trazadone SCARED! » mystie

Posted by SalArmy4me on May 17, 2001, at 23:57:37

In reply to Trazadone SCARED!, posted by mystie on May 17, 2001, at 16:38:44

I found some good journal articles that discuss the effective use of trazodone in various diseases for pain:

1. METULES, TERRI J. "When a simple fall turns into years of pain. RN. Dec 2000:

"Antidepressants are also successful in reducing pain and can quell the psychological problems that accompany CRPS. The most common include SSRIs such as fluoxetine, sertraline, and trazodone."

2. Godfrey, Robert G. MD. "A Guide to the Understanding and Use of Tricyclic Antidepressants in the Overall Management of Fibromyalgia and Other Chronic Pain Syndromes." Archives of Internal Medicine. May 96:

"...For pain due to vascular headaches, Diamond recommended the use of trazodone, a nontricyclic AD with strong sedating properties but with minimal anticholinergic effects and only mild to moderate cardiotoxicity, which may be used when regular tricyclic agents are poorly tolerated or contraindicated. Diamond recommended a 50- to 100-mg dose of trazodone to be taken "at bedtime" to a maximum 200- to 250-mg dose..."

3. Ravilly, Sophie MD et al. "Chronic Pain in Cystic Fibrosis" Pediatrics. Oct '96:

"TCA antidepressants were used for pain in seven patients, with varying success. Also, five patients were treated with Trazodone with varying degrees of success and no reports of complications."

 

Re: Trazadone SCARED! » mystie

Posted by Cece on May 21, 2001, at 15:03:37

In reply to Trazadone SCARED!, posted by mystie on May 17, 2001, at 16:38:44

Trazadone worked wonders for me for my fibromyalgia by promoting a deeper level of sleep than I had had for a long, long time. By allowing my body restorative sleep, it reduced my pain. Previously, I would wake up feeling like I had been run over by a truck. Unfortunately, it pooped out for me after about 2 years. Since then, Nortriptyline, and a later addition of Neurontin have helped accomplish the same results. It may be possible that the Xanax that I take is also helping.

Good luck,
Cece


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