Indigo Blue Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) Ds went to the doctor for insomnia because it’s pretty bad. He prescribed Trazodone. I looked it up to see that it’s an anti depressant for major depressive disorder, anxiety, bi polar, etc. Ds has none of these. I know things are often prescribed off label, but this is also intended to be something you start taking, wait two weeks to see effects, and taper off under doctor guidance when stopping. It has the side effect of suicidal thoughts. Ds lives alone. The doctor was giving him instructions for using this in a random way, not as intended from what I can tell. He also walked out of the exam room and left his prescription pad lying on the counter with ds in there alone. This concerns me, and ds is taking what I’m relating to him about this seriously. He doesn’t have the healthy (or maybe not so healthy) skepticism for medical profession that I do after years of lived experiences. He, like a lot of people, just take everything they say at face value without doing their own due diligence . This is concerning me. Isn’t there something better for insomnia than an anti depressant? Update below Edited February 4 by Indigo Blue Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drama Llama Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 What do you mean by “use it in a random way”? What were the instructions? it’s commonly used for insomnia and has less side effects than many other treatments. 7 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
teachermom2834 Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 It was many many years ago but I took trazadone for insomnia at much lower doses than used for depression. It worked well and I have often thought I should ask for it again. 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrs Tiggywinkle Again Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 (edited) I think more people use trazadone for insomnia than an antidepressant. I almost never see it prescribed for depression. I actually think it’s pretty much a first line drug for insomnia now and fewer side effects than something like Ambien. DH took it for a while for insomnia. It helped a lot. He just doesn’t like taking meds so he stopped. Edited January 31 by Mrs Tiggywinkle Again 6 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pawz4me Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I know someone who takes trazodone for insomnia and raves about how well it works for her. If I ever need anything prescription I'm definitely going to ask about it. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Katy Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 It’s a very common sleep medication and I don’t think it causes dependence the way others do. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PeterPan Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Is this ds a minor or a legal adult? Even if the person has disabilities, and probably especially if the person has disabilities that affect their ability to advocate for themselves and understand things, I would still want to empower the person with choice. In our house, teens get guided choice where they get to diverge from maybe what *I* would have chosen and I talk through with them the idea of choice, self awareness, that it's ok to try things and say it wasn't good and stop. That's self advocacy and how we learn. If the person is over 18, even if they have disabilities, unless they are so severe that they need a guardian (and even then), I would lean strongly toward letting them choose/self advocate and helping them know it's ok to self advocate based on how it goes. This is how we learn. I'm guardian of some adults with disabilities and I go through the same process with them. The doctor might suggest something I disagree with or that wouldn't have been my first choice, but I ask for an explanation and I help my people to self advocate. For some people, it actually INCREASES anxiety to be told the prescription might not work or might make them sick or have untoward side effects. Sometimes it's actually better to just let it go forward, see how it rolls, and help the person deal with it. Sometimes, just being willing to talk with the doctor and try something is the bigger win. It's more important that the person feel empowered to say they don't like how it's going and ASK FOR ANOTHER MED than it is to pick the right med the first time. Unless you have evidence the med will be dramatically unsafe, harmful for their known issues/genetics. For instance, I would be slow to accept a *benzo* as the first line of treatment for some things when other options haven't been tried. That I would want a 2nd opinion on. But an SSRI, big whoop. Unless he has a family history of schizophrenia or known COMT (high methyl levels, high dopamine) issues. Even then they sometimes use trazadone. To make yourself feel better, look up the half life and discuss what is involved if he decides it's not good for him. That's what I usually do when looking at meds for my people, because I want to know how long the issues are going to last if it's bad voodoo. That way we go in prepared. Maybe the med will go well!! Think positive. 🙂 3 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 28 minutes ago, PeterPan said: But an SSRI, big whoop It isn't an SSRI.It is a much older drug.. Maybe the med will go well!! Think positive. 🙂 I have bewn taking trazadone fo insomnia for about 10 years. And atctge dosw I take, 50mg, you don't have withdrawal dodek effects. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kassia Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 My neighbor has been taking it for many years for insomnia and is very happy with the way it works for her. She did say it has a mild anti-depressant effect and she's fine with that. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Blue Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 (edited) I’m glad I asked here. I will relay all this to ds. It sounds like a good thing for him to try. Thanks. Edited January 31 by Indigo Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maize Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 I'm glad to read these experiences. I have had terrible insomnia for years and have been reluctant to take anything other than unisom but I'm wondering now if I should try trazodone. I know one of my doctors mentioned it once. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WendyLady Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 Trazodone is on the list of meds that we avoid because we have a family history of bipolar disorder (SSRI's can cause issues with bipolar and though trazodone is not generally considered an antidepressant, it is still something to watch.) I don't imagine it's an issue for your family, but I just thought I'd throw that out there. 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MercyA Posted January 31 Share Posted January 31 My doctor prescribed trazodone for my insomnia and it worked very well. I had previously taken Ambien and trazodone did seem to have fewer side effects. As I recall, I was prescribed 1 to 2 pills and I found 1 1/2 was just right for me. It's considered a very safe drug, even for long-term use. It's used in nursing homes quite a bit, IIRC. Insomnia is a BEAST and I had already tried everything over-the-counter to no avail. I'd much rather take trazodone than an antihistamine. Super thankful such medications are available. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Blue Posted January 31 Author Share Posted January 31 (edited) 3 minutes ago, MercyA said: My doctor prescribed trazodone for my insomnia and it worked very well. I had previously taken Ambien and trazodone did seem to have fewer side effects. As I recall, I was prescribed 1 to 2 pills and I found 1 1/2 was just right for me. It's considered a very safe drug, even for long-term use. It's used in nursing homes quite a bit, IIRC. Insomnia is a BEAST and I had already tried everything over-the-counter to no avail. I'd much rather take trazodone than an antihistamine. Super thankful such medications are available. Thanks, Mercy. Yes, I agree about the antihistamine. It personally makes me very sluggish the next day and may not be safe long term. I hope this helps ds. He isn’t even stressed or anything, so I don’t think that’s the problem. It seems to have been going on for awhile, now. Edited January 31 by Indigo Blue 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I recently a started taking Trazodone myself. The only negative side effect I have experienced is having a harder time waking up in the morning. Once I’m up, I’m good. I can deal because I feel so much better overall getting good sleep. I will say…one of my DDs has figured out that it (Trazodone) causes her to have restless leg syndrome when she takes it. So that’s something to keep in mind. I am wondering if that could be mitigated by taking a magnesium supplement. There is zero chance she gets enough in her everyday diet—same as most young people in her position. Just something to watch for. It has really helped me. I also took it when I was much younger. At that time a lower dose was very effective—I think I was splitting a 50mg tablet in half and that was plenty. At my current age…53. 50mg hasn’t been quite enough. I just upped my dose to 100mg. My psychiatrist said 50mg is a “low dose”. Of course everyone’s mileage will vary on meds like this. It’s a drug that’s been around for a very long time and has an excellent safety profile. 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
QueenCat Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I take trazodone for insomnia. It's at a lower dose than what someone with depression takes. It's made a world of difference for me. I used to "think" for hours in bed. Now, I'm asleep within 20 minutes. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tap Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) Trazodone is used almost exclusively for insomnia. It was designed as an anti-depressant, The drowsiness side effect with minimal hangover feeling came the biggest benefit of this med. It is very, very common for it to be the first insomnia med tried. Some people who take it for insomnia, do feel a little bit of a antidepressant effect from it, and that is considered a perk of the med. The person wakes up feeling rested, less stressed and alert. Getting good sleep can help reduce the stress of anticipating insomnia, which can create a feed-back loop. The metaphorical snake eating its own tail of stress-insomnia-stress-insomnia. One reason it isn't used for depression is that benefits last about 10-12 hours then significantly wanes. For antidepressant, the patient needs to take it twice daily, which means not just at bedtime, but a morning dose as well. The drowsiness from a daytime dose can negatively affect a patients life and negate the anti-depressive effect. The nice thing about trazodone. He can try it for a day, two, weeks or months. It can absolutely just be used as needed or every day. Doses vary between 25mg and 200 based on the person so it can be easily modified for a sweet spot (unlike some meds like Ambien IR that is 5mg or 10mg pill). If it works for him, he can continue, If he doesn't....no loss! There are other meds to try, but it is a great place to start! What any medication is originally developed for, is sometimes not what it is best at. One example of this is Rogaine/minoxidil. It was developed as a blood pressure medication, but users discovered it helped them regrow hair. It isn't a good oral blood pressure med, and is almost never used for that, but is used topically world wide for the hair regrowth benefit! Edited February 1 by Tap 4 2 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gardenmom5 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 22 hours ago, Indigo Blue said: Ds went to the doctor for insomnia because it’s pretty bad. He prescribed Trazodone. I looked it up to see that it’s an anti depressant for major depressive disorder, anxiety, bi polar, etc. Ds has none of these. I know things are often prescribed off label, but this is also intended to be something you start taking, wait two weeks to see effects, and taper off under doctor guidance when stopping. It has the side effect of suicidal thoughts. Ds lives alone. The doctor was giving him instructions for using this in a random way, not as intended from what I can tell. He also walked out of the exam room and left his prescription pad lying on the counter with ds in there alone. This concerns me, and ds is taking what I’m relating to him about this seriously. He doesn’t have the healthy (or maybe not so healthy) skepticism for medical profession that I do after years of lived experiences. He, like a lot of people, just take everything they say at face value without doing their own due diligence . This is concerning me. Isn’t there something better for insomnia than an anti depressant? How was it being prescribed? What is the dose? it really matters. he is to take it regularly/every night? or just when he's having trouble sleeping? WHY is he having trouble going to sleep? is his brain refusing to shut down? or something else? Was he told to come back if he has an increase in/new symptoms? were you there for that exam? is there reason the dr might think he is having depressive symptoms? many antidepressants can help people sleep. one of the things 2dd was taught (by her professors) when dispensing antidepressants to MEN was to say "this will help you sleep". (she works in a hospital, so deals with medical personnel, not directly with patients) insomnia can be triggered by many things - some of them Rx will best help break the cycle the fastest. or finding an underlying medical cause. others respond better to lifestyle changes. - diet, exercise, no screens for two hours before bed, blue light filters over screens, etc. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Corbster98 Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 (edited) I was prescribed Trazadone for insomnia and though some side effects were too bothersome for me, I know several people who use it as needed for their insomnia and it works well. I was prescribed another antidepressant that works better for my insomnia so I use that now instead. Edited February 1 by Corbster98 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
annandatje Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 I have had problems falling asleep my whole life. My doctor prescribed Trazadone for sleep. My body couldn’t tolerate the nausea and vomiting it caused. Ambien didn’t help me either. Decades ago I decided to treat my insomnia by getting up for day if I could not fall back to sleep in 1 1/2 hours and start my day even if that meant arriving at work at 4 am. Usually the next night I could get a decent night’s sleep. This freed me of anxiety about insufficient sleep. I never got sleepy easily like normal people do. After the fails at rx meds, I reverted back to way had previously dealt with insomnia. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alice Posted February 1 Share Posted February 1 Trazadone isn't a SSRI, although it is very similar (it's a SARI) and works similarly. It actually isn't FDA approved for insomnia, but it is very commonly used. It was approved as a treatment for depression but the sedative side effects are considerable so it became something was used for insomnia. This is actually really common in medicine, there are a lot of meds that aren't technically FDA approved for the thing they end up being used for. Or that start as one thing and then people realize the side effect is actually more useful than the original usage. One of the more famous examples is Rogaine, which is a blood pressure medication. It just had the side effect of causing hair growth and then people realized there was a huge market for that use. 5 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 It bears saying that, yes, trazodone is not an SSRI, but it's adjacent. There is a syndrome called Post SSRI sexual dysfunction, and it's not just temporary lowering of libido. It can be an absolutely devastating, heart-breaking loss of normalcy and a deal-breaker for relationships. So with a young adult, I'd want to be really, really careful with SSRIs and SSRI-adjacent drugs because of the risk. In other words, I would exhaust every other measure first. They have a lifetime ahead of them. Here's a good general populace article: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/side-effects/202303/sexual-dysfunction-may-continue-even-after-ssris-are-ended https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10122283/ Israeli retrospective study estimating approx 1 in 200 incidence of PSSD, and yes, this study was specific to people who took SSRIs. Here's the kicker: we don't know what, precisely causes PSSD -- the brain and its biochem are complex, and many of the mechanisms have multiple effects or overlaps. There are individual reports of some people having PSSD from trazodone. But if you're that one person, it's a horror, a living nightmare for you. Trazodone had also been studied for co-administration with SSRIs and has shown modest benefits in sexual function. But again, that doesn't account for the person who is atypical. Anyway, I thought it would be good to speak up, so you can be truly informed. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 2 Share Posted February 2 On 1/31/2024 at 2:20 PM, maize said: I'm glad to read these experiences. I have had terrible insomnia for years and have been reluctant to take anything other than unisom but I'm wondering now if I should try trazodone. I know one of my doctors mentioned it once. I trief Ambien once, like one day. Never again. I was hallucinating and it didn't even help my more unusual insomnia- waking in the middle of the night. 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 13 hours ago, TravelingChris said: I trief Ambien once, like one day. Never again. I was hallucinating and it didn't even help my more unusual insomnia- waking in the middle of the night. Some people have this; it's well known, especially in people with diminished kidney function. (I know this b/c of an elder that I cared for.) Someone we were close to years ago had a neighbor who acted out in a criminal fashion while on Ambien; it was extremely out of character, and devastating, for them. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
popmom Posted February 3 Share Posted February 3 (edited) One thing to consider re the comparison with SSRIs. SSRIs only work if taken daily. And it often takes weeks to know if they will work for their intended purpose. Trazodone does not have to be taken daily to be effective for sleep, so it can be taken "as needed". That ((may)) lessen the the theoretical risk of post SSRI sexual dysfunction. For me it is a no brainer. The real/known health risks associated with poor sleep or lack of sleep outweigh the risks of the Trazodone--for me. (Also, Lack of quality sleep in and of itself is associated with sexual dysfunction.) Edited February 3 by popmom 2 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TravelingChris Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 On 2/2/2024 at 6:19 PM, Halftime Hope said: Some people have this; it's well known, especially in people with diminished kidney function. (I know this b/c of an elder that I cared for.) Someone we were close to years ago had a neighbor who acted out in a criminal fashion while on Ambien; it was extremely out of character, and devastating, for them. Fortunately, nothing like that. Just likr what I thought s bad LSD trip would be like. I knew i was hallucinating- so didn’t actvon it. And my kidney function was fine because w the meds I take, I have to be checked every 3 months or even sooner. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Halftime Hope Posted February 4 Share Posted February 4 3 minutes ago, TravelingChris said: Fortunately, nothing like that. Just likr what I thought s bad LSD trip would be like. I knew i was hallucinating- so didn’t actvon it. And my kidney function was fine because w the meds I take, I have to be checked every 3 months or even sooner. Oh, sorry, Chris! I wasn't implying anything about your experience. My FIL definitely had the hallucinating when he tried it! So I have firsthand experience with that side effect. But elderly and kidney disease patients are among those who have worse effects on the med, because it isn't cleared as well. However, there are also quite a few case reports of people sleepwalking and doing other activities while medicated, to the point that there are Ambien memes. 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Indigo Blue Posted February 4 Author Share Posted February 4 Update: ds says the Trazodone is working pretty well, but it makes his nose so stuffy and stopped up……..which makes it hard to sleep. 😐 He said he checked online and this is a known side effect. He is on 50mg. 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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