# Can you take Trazodone prn for sleep?



## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Does this work? 
Or do you have to take it all the time every day?

And how's it compared to remeron? Does it also make you hungry?

I need something potent for sleep. :frown2:

I want something which you can take whenever you want to and then you fall asleep within a few minutes.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

You can take it prn no problem.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Awesome.

Do you take a small dose when you use it for sleep?

And what does it feel like? And how fast does it work?

And does it have any serious side effects? What worries me a bit is the priapism side effect.

What if you get priapism but you're too sleepy to get up and go to the ER?


And can you take it when you're at the same time on another full-time antidepressant?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

Priapism is rare but certainly possible. I've only taken it about half a dozen times over the past 5-6 years. It's a mild sedative and won't have that knock you out feel to it like Seroquel. It did leave me feeling groggy the next day. I've only been on as much as 50-75mg. I'd say that's a good starting dose.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

If it's mild then it might not be what I am looking for. I want something whit a very fast onset and a nice buzz. Any suggestions?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

Seroquel oddly enough is what comes to mind. Kind of gives you a buzz at doses of 75mg-200mg. No more, no less though. Has to be in that dose range.

Trazodone won't cause weight gain. Remeron isn't a bad choice either I suppose.


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## Noca (Jun 24, 2005)

butterz said:


> If it's mild then it might not be what I am looking for. I want something whit a very fast onset and a nice buzz. Any suggestions?


Zopiclone
Eszopiclone
Zolpidem
Zaleplon

All of these have fast onset, will give you a buzz, and work well taken prn. Zopiclone has an onset of about 10 minutes. Not sure about the others but they are similar. Zopiclone is great in that it only lasts 7 to 8 hours, unlike Trazodone or Remeron that can leave you hung over.


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## Abbeh (Jul 23, 2015)

I've been on Trazodone when I was younger, at 200 mg. It worked sometimes, but you kind of have to be a little sleepy to start with. For me, Saphris puts me to sleep fast (I'm not on it for sleep though). It's a sublingual so it get into your system faster than a pill.


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## rockyraccoon (Dec 13, 2010)

I was on Trazodone for about 6 months. I started off at 50 mg and went up to 400 mg rather quickly. I came off it because I was getting to many erections and was worried about priapism. It did work excellent for sleep, but did nothing for my depression.


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## GotAnxiety (Oct 14, 2011)

Man, your playing with fire taking trazodone prn will surely kill you, heed my advice.

Anal suppository it only
_Posted via Mobile Device_


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

Lol, I think he's gotten over his fear of taking drugs because they might kill him.


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## peytonfarquar (Feb 8, 2011)

Yes, you can take Trazadone as needed or daily. It really works if you are already a little sleepy and will hit your normal sleep cycle. You'll feel it in 20-30 minutes and should be asleep in 40-50 minutes. Don't have simple sugars after dosing. For me, having fruit cancelled Trazadone's effect. It doesn't do anything to my appetite or mood, just puts me to sleep and usually helps me stay asleep. One side effect of note: off-balance and a little dizzy once onset occurs. If I am hungry, I have only complex sugars (a simple sandwich lately) after dosing. I lay in bed lights off and listen to music until it kicks in. Sometimes I even fall asleep with the music still on.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

There is also Ambien. I was just prescribed this for sleep. I'll let you know how it works.


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## kageri (Oct 2, 2014)

First I'd say get a belsomra trial. It is pricy so some insurance companies refuse to pay for it but I think the company still has trial coupons out for a free 10 day supply of each dosage and they have a very high cutoff income for their free/discounted med program if you go to the website. You can start and stop belsomra all you want. Take it for weeks, months... all in a row, and then just not take it and nothing happens except the same thing that did before you started taking it. It's awesome as a sleep aid that avoids tolerance, addiction, dependence, and withdrawal. However, it doesn't work for everyone and depending on your income and insurance you may not be able to get a steady supply.

If you are looking for a mild medication to not take often then the list of z-drugs supplied in a previous post (ambien is zolpidem) are one of the best options. They are similar to benzos which also work relatively well for occasional use. Tolerance builds easy so neither class of drug are suitable for very frequent use. With occasional use they are far better than slow acting meds like trazadone. If you need something with more kick then the z-drugs or most benzos ask for flurazepam capsules (a highly sedating, long acting benzo) but you might wake up 15hrs later. I use it to fix my sleeping schedule because it's the only fast acting med that still impacts me.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

The problem is that pdocs (at least those I went to) seem to be scared of z-drugs cause just like benzos they can cause addiction.
My pdoc only prescribed zopiclone once and it was a tiny package. How does getting 10 tablets help me!? Shall I take 1 every few months?

I need something which could be taken regularly.

Remeron doesn't work well. I use really tiny amounts (3-5mg) and then I sleep 12 hours and still feel totally tired. This isn't very helpful.

Belsomra doesn't seem to be available where I live.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> The problem is that pdocs (at least those I went to) seem to be scared of z-drugs cause just like benzos they can cause addiction.
> My pdoc only prescribed zopiclone once and it was a tiny package. How does getting 10 tablets help me!? Shall I take 1 every few months?
> 
> I need something which could be taken regularly.
> ...


Wow remeron is that strong? By the way, some people say that increasing the dose to 30-45mg helps to alleviate the excessive sedation from the remeron.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Remeron supposedly is less sedating at higher doses.

I think in order to get tired you need only very little, like 7,5mg or even less than that. I just bite tiny bits off the tablet and then let it dissolve under the tongue for faster onset.


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## angelonyc (Sep 1, 2015)

Trazadone 150 works fine for me.. some less-some more.... I need to get in bed within 15 minutes, otherwise you can miss the 'sleep opportunity' window.. Not sluggish in morning.. Like all meds, different ones effect different people differently..

It is important you get some kind of schedule, of getting up, sleeping etc. Also slow down as you get near sleep time.. Don't get your mind racing thinking thoughts, watching a horror movie, action show.. 

Ambien worked ok at first.. then I started sleep eating.. Waking up in morning with my face in a plate of food in bed, with no reccollections of doing it.. I then got kind of addicted to to it.. couldn't sleep without it..


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## HIGHfrombeingSHY (Mar 9, 2015)

I take Trazodone 100mg since 2011. It's a good sleep aid, but does nothing for depression. The Problem is, if I don't take it one night, I'm not able to sleep an hour, so don't think you can stop this drug easily, it's addictive like everything else.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

butterz said:


> What if you get priapism but you're too sleepy to get up and go to the ER?


Call 911 I guess.

Very few things sedate me, but I recall taking trazodone about 15 years ago. I could barely stagger to my bedroom I was so severely sedated. I staggered to my bed like someone who was exceedingly drunk. It's VERY powerful.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

kageri said:


> First I'd say get a belsomra trial. It is pricy so some insurance companies refuse to pay for it but I think the company still has trial coupons out for a free 10 day supply of each dosage and they have a very high cutoff income for their free/discounted med program if you go to the website. You can start and stop belsomra all you want. Take it for weeks, months... all in a row, and then just not take it and nothing happens except the same thing that did before you started taking it. It's awesome as a sleep aid that avoids tolerance, addiction, dependence, and withdrawal. However, it doesn't work for everyone and depending on your income and insurance you may not be able to get a steady supply.


Belsomra did nothing for me even at 180 mg, which I told my GP. After knowing me 14 years, he knows this is the kind of thing I'd do. Did nothing for my mother even at 30 mg and she's a 120# 86-year-old woman who'd be expected to be quite sensitive to drugs.

I've never seen any drug with worse reviews, where may can be summed up as "good it's free, because that's all it's worth." http://www.drugs.com/comments/suvorexant/belsomra.html I'm not aware of any drug that gets a lower rating then the 4.0 which Belsomra scores at drugs.com.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

But if trazodone is so strong and knocks you out then what if you get priapism during the night? I mean think about this!
You will be asleep and not notice how your dick slowly starts to turn black and rots off. This seems really dangerous to me.

Another problem is that I read that trazodone cannot be mixed with other serotonergic drugs cause of serotonin syndrome.
This means if you take it for sleep you can't take any AD for depression at the same time.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> But if trazodone is so strong and knocks you out then what if you get priapism during the night? I mean think about this!
> You will be asleep and not notice how your dick slowly starts to turn black and rots off. This seems really dangerous to me.
> 
> Another problem is that I read that trazodone cannot be mixed with other serotonergic drugs cause of serotonin syndrome.
> This means if you take it for sleep you can't take any AD for depression at the same time.


The odds of developing serotonin syndrome are very rare. Trazodone has been used as an augmentation agent with other ssris for years and years. A prozac and trazodone regimen is a very normal regimen for doctors to prescribe for anxiety disorders and such.

If anything, adding the trazodone will help to increase 5ht1a receptor activity due to it's 5ht2a antagonism. Which would anecdotally help to improve depression even further. Honestly though, serotonin syndrome is incredibly rare from just an ssri and trazodone.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Okay, but even if SS is rare then priapism is still a really scary side effect.
Then every time you get an erection you have to be scared that it's priapism. Imagine you just got onto a transatlantic flight
which takes 14 hours and just when the plane takes off you notice that you're getting an erection.
What do you do then? I mean would jacking off like a madman raise the chances that the erection goes away again or is there
basically nothing which helps against a real priapism?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> Okay, but even if SS is rare then priapism is still a really scary side effect.
> Then every time you get an erection you have to be scared that it's priapism. Imagine you just got onto a transatlantic flight
> which takes 14 hours and just when the plane takes off you notice that you're getting an erection.
> What do you do then? I mean would jacking off like a madman raise the chances that the erection goes away again or is there
> basically nothing which helps against a real priapism?


Yeah it is indeed a worrying possibility. Even though it is quite rare, it could still happen. If that is a concern, perhaps trazodone isn't the right sleep med for you. Would your doctor be open to ambien?


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

Ben12 said:


> Yeah it is indeed a worrying possibility. Even though it is quite rare, it could still happen. If that is a concern, perhaps trazodone isn't the right sleep med for you. Would your doctor be open to ambien?


My former pdoc (who is now deceased) never prescribed trazodone for his male patients due to that risk of priapism. He thought it was a fine drug for female patients.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I think not cause it's also a z-drug which cause addiction. 
Then I probably have to stick to alcohol. Maybe it's still the healthier choice. I mean we don't know what's healthier on the long run alc or sleeping pills.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> I think not cause it's also a z-drug which cause addiction.
> Then I probably have to stick to alcohol. Maybe it's still the healthier choice. I mean we don't know what's healthier on the long run alc or sleeping pills.


I got prescribed sublinox (ambien) the other day. I'm going to be taking it tonight.

It really sucks how doctors will play the "could cause addiction" card. I'd try getting it from your doctor anyways. Say that sleeping is still a big problem for you and that you've tried such and such without any lasting benefits.

I told my doctor that I had tried melatonin, 100-150mg of benadryl each night, doxepin among other lifestyle changes like limiting caffeine intake, not looking at computer screens late at night. etc. Nothing provided sustained benefits.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Have you tried small doses of mirtazapin? I think it does work but it doesn't feel like alcohol.
Alcohol simply kicks in faster. I wish I had something which feels like alc.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

butterz said:


> Have you tried small doses of mirtazapin? I think it does work but it doesn't feel like alcohol.
> Alcohol simply kicks in faster. I wish I had something which feels like alc.


One of many sleep aids I tried. And one of the many that failed. And it causes weight gain, the last thing I need.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> Have you tried small doses of mirtazapin? I think it does work but it doesn't feel like alcohol.
> Alcohol simply kicks in faster. I wish I had something which feels like alc.


Ever tried seroquel? Mind you I wouldn't use this option until you've exhausted all your other options.

No I've never tried mirtazapine. I asked for it from my doctor, but he was like, "try the ambien first, we'll meet back in 4 weeks".


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

No havent tried seroquel yet. I read that for sleep you need tiny tiny doses.

What dose would be suitable for sleep? I will ask my doc about seroquel but I'd want the smallest pill size possible.


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

The smallest pill size is 25mg. You could try cutting those tiny pills in half and take 12.5mg. Honestly though i would try out trazodone or preferably remeron. Or ambien if you can get a hold of it.


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## Lacking Serotonin (Nov 18, 2012)

I hated Trazodone. It gave me terrible headaches and nightmares the one time I took it. Trazodone is also marketed as Oleptro as an anti-depressant.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

I am on trazodone nightly for sleep (each night) 50mg, though it is getting a bit less effective for putting me to sleep so I may ask to increase it. It increases sleep quality very well. Sleep like a baby.


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## Caedmon (Dec 14, 2003)

butterz said:


> Another problem is that I read that trazodone cannot be mixed with other serotonergic drugs cause of serotonin syndrome.
> This means if you take it for sleep you can't take any AD for depression at the same time.


That is not true.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

Did your doc talk to you about priapism, caedmon?
If yes what did he say? Did he give you some guidelines? 

It would be cool if there was something like a tube which you wrap around your dick and in case you get an erection it stretches and a small computer attached to it notices that you've got an erection and in case the erection stays too long it starts to sound an alarm. Do such devices not exist?


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## Ben12 (Jul 8, 2009)

butterz said:


> It would be cool if there was something like a tube which you wrap around your dick and in case you get an erection it stretches and a small computer attached to it notices that you've got an erection and in case the erection stays too long it starts to sound an alarm. Do such devices not exist?


A women and her *****.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

I don't think you could sleep with your flaccid penor being inside of a woman. 

But you could hire a woman to watch over you while you sleep and in case you get priapism she could call an ambulance and do some first aid with her mouth.


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## UltraShy (Nov 8, 2003)

I'd note that the treatment of priapism is complicated if one is on an MAOI like Chris as the drugs that would be used to bring down an erection are contraindicated with an MAOI, which means surgery to drain blood from the penis becomes more likely.


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## butterz (Aug 8, 2013)

That's not good. This means being on a MAOI would make priapism much worse. :frown2:


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