trazadone for sleep

Hello everyone...has anyone tried or currently using trazadone for sleep? I am having terrible insomnia from abilify. My friend who is a therapist recommended trying it...she said it has helped her. I am going to mention it to my p doc. I have tried ambien and benedryl without success. I can usually fall asleep but wake up often and give up about 3 or 4 in the AM. Thanks for any advice.

Hi tluv,

I got up to 500mgs of trazadone which is ridiculous - it just didn't work for me like it does for others. It has a much longer half life than Seroquel, so I'd be totally wiped the next day. Seroquel has worked the best for me for sleep & as an anxiolytic slash antidepressant. Although for me it is mostly to stave off mania rather than keep me from being depressed.

I have gained a lot of weight since being on Seroquel for the past two years And I am now weening off of it & switching to Abilify as my anti-psychotic. I know this is going to seriously affect my sleep so I may stay on a small dose of it if I still have problems after a couple of weeks.

I'm surprised that ambien didn't work for you. I was going to take it but I feared that it would be addictive like benzo's.

Good Luck

Hi kumbaya,
Thanks for the reply. I have heard that the seroquel is good for sleep and dep. I may try that in a low dose to see how that works. I really think I need a true mood stabilizer so I am thinking of giving lamictal a try again. I got bad acne first time but maybe if I start slower titration it won't be as bad. To be honest it wasn't terrible but I have been blessed with good skin and getting the acne was a huge shock.

Good luck on the Abilify ...some people don't have sleep issues on it so you may do great. I was taking very low dose and it causes more sleep issues when taken in low doses from what I have heard. Good luck to you and thanks again for the reply.

Hey tluv,

I take Depakote as a mood stabilizer & have recently been put back on Wellbutrin. I wouldn't take an AD If I wasn't on a mood stabilizer due to my bipolar type 1 dx. I haven't tried Lamictal or Geodon. I have had problems with sleep forever it seems.

Anyway here are the meds I take.

I have taken Trazadone for sleep and it worked pretty well. Serequel left me with a hangover that lasted well into the day. Ambien is not addictive but you need to take it immediately before getting into bed as it has a window of opportunity to put you to sleep , somewhere between 10 and 20 minutes... did I miss anything? Can't remember who said what but I tried to address all the sleep meds questions.

I tried Trazodone a while back. Took it for a few days and it definitely knocked me out. However I got a sexual side effect which I wasn't prepared to endure so I stopped taking it. My friend takes it nightly and has been doing for a few months. It really helps him sleep and only sporadically doesn't work for him.

About the hangover, he finds the brand named version (Molipaxin i think) causes less of the grogginess in the morning.

I take Zopiclone for sleep. It works but it's not a noticeable sedative. I think something like that would help you because you say you can get to sleep but not sleep through the night. Hope this was of some use.