Trazodone

Hello, all. I went to my PCP yesterday and asked for two things: 1) for a referral to a sleep study as I feel that my constant waking up throughout the night is a huge source of my anxiety and 2) to work hand-in-hand on setting up a benzo taper schedule as the 10 months or so that I've been on benzo's is having bad psychological and physiological effects. Instead, she said my insurance most likely won't cover a sleep study and that she won't work on a taper plan for me. Instead she gave me a prescription for 50mg Trazodone to see if it positively impacts my sleep. I'm skeptical, but wondering if any of you have taken trazodone and klonopin simultaneously and if so, what types of experiences you had. Thanks!

I've taken Traz at the tail end of my taper.  I found that when my insomnia was at it's worse, Trazadone didn't really help.  I had many completely sleepless nights even with Trazadone and to this day I have the early morning wake ups even with Traz.  I think it might help a tiny bit which is why I went back to taking it but not much.  Also, I find 50 mg to be really mild.  100 mg works better.

Thanks for the reply. I usually take a mild dose of Melatonin or a Melatonin/Valerian Root combination and have no trouble falling asleep. My problem is that I wake up every 2-3 hours pretty much every night so I'm not getting good, quality sleep. Maybe Trazadone will allow me to sleep for a solid 7-8 hours straight.

Give it a go.  I took it for a while, stopped, and started taking it again when my sleep went down the toilet again.  I went down from 100mg to 50 mg and than to zero about a month or two apart and didn't have much trouble coming off it.  You won't know how well it will work for you until you try it. 

I began taking Trazodone last night due to almost a week of insomnia. My doctor prescribed it because she says it's soft and will help me sleep and relax. I gotta say I slept much better last night after taking 25 mg of Trazodone. Hope it helps you as well.

Thanks! I'm going to try 25 mg tonight as 50 made me too drowsy the next day and hopefully get into a healthy sleep pattern.

I was on Trazodone before my taper and still am.  It helped me tremendously as I was able to sleep almost all of the time.  I take 200mg (down from 300mg) which is a lot but it works.  That being said, I do plan to taper off soon or at least get down to a minimal dose.  Hope it helps you too!

 

Thanks man. Glad to hear your tapering went well. I'm about to start tapering myself (been taking .5 mg klonopin twice daily for about 3 months and xanax as well as ativan before that). How did you find the method of decreasing by .5 weekly went? Any tips/suggestions you could offer? Thanks again!

Make sure you pay attention to the side effects and which ones are dangerous with trazodone.  In my case, I found that .25 was good enough to help with sleep.  I tried 50 and 100 too, and didn't notice too much of a difference (other than a worse head ache).  However, I started noticing a brief heart arrhythmia which scared me a bit.  So I looked it up and basically the data said if you get this seek medical help immediately.  Well, I had it a couple of times and it went away, and it had been a few days since I noticed it, so I just made a note to contact my PCP and discuss at our next appointment. 

 

It was something minor it seemed that I might have overlooked, so I was glad I was really paying attention to my body and looked up that this might be a dangerous (infrequently fatal) condition.

 

I wouldn't worry mind you, like I said, the only other thing I noticed was a killer headache and some sweating maybe.  Nothing major.  Even the heart thing wasn't that bad, but still scared me a wee bit. 

Thank you I will, and congrats on kicking the booze and good luck with everything moving forward. I think .25 will be enough for me.

Trazodone is great! Sleep like a baby and the only side effect is dry mouth for me.

Trazadone not available it Aus = sucks

Thanks man. Glad to hear your tapering went well. I'm about to start tapering myself (been taking .5 mg klonopin twice daily for about 3 months and xanax as well as ativan before that). How did you find the method of decreasing by .5 weekly went? Any tips/suggestions you could offer? Thanks again!

 

Sorry for the late reply.  I did my .5 a week taper of K before coming here and learning about a slower taper.  I ended up okay but can't really recommend it to any one else.  Slower is better.

Thanks man. Glad to hear your tapering went well. I'm about to start tapering myself (been taking .5 mg klonopin twice daily for about 3 months and xanax as well as ativan before that). How did you find the method of decreasing by .5 weekly went? Any tips/suggestions you could offer? Thanks again!

 

Sorry for the late reply.  I did my .5 a week taper of K before coming here and learning about a slower taper.  I ended up okay but can't really recommend it to any one else.  Slower is better.

 

Im just finishing week one of a .5 K taper. Im hoping for the best...

Many good wishes for quick painless healing. :thumbsup: