Trazodone withdrawal symptoms

I started taking trazadone 8 months ago and I have been itching all over my body ever since. My doctor told me trazadone doesn't make you itch but I did deeper research and it can, so now I am tapering off the drug completly.

I felt I had to add my comments although the most recent is 2006.
I had been taking 50mg of Trazadone for ten years. Seven days ago I quit cold turkey. My sleep has been disturbed all week. I slept but it was broken sleep and I was thrashing around in the bed, waking up several times and not feeling tired at all.
When I woke every day I felt terrible all day. It seemed to me that this was mostly caused by poor sleep. Sure I was irritable-I wasn't getting proper sleep. On the plus side I really didn't seem to be tremendously depressed. Sure I was unhappy with my situation but it just doesn't seem like serious depression.
I have also experienced a certain light-headiness but I put that down to lack of sleep too. Let's face it if you don't sleep properly you're going to feel very bad.
On the fifth night I slept a LITTLE better and had a better day the following morning.
On the sixth night the really disturbed sleep began again. Last night was the seventh and a had a relatively good night and I'm feeling quite well today.
At this point I don't really feel depressed and I'm hoping that normal sleeping will soon return. Some of the side effects that I always got with Trazadone have disappeared such as nasal congestion and constitpation have disappeared at least for now. Because the nose congestion is gone, I've stopped taking a steroid based nose spray given to me by my doctor.
That was great because now I don't get the side effects from the spray.
I've watched carefully for some of the withdrawal symptoms listed above such as dizzyness-which may be due to lack of sleep-and heart palpitations but apart from feeling light headed I seem to be doing ok.

I have an appointment with my doctor next week and will move it up if something worse occurs.
I have certainly heard that it is wise to see a doctor before stopping and I-although not a doctor-suggest you do this.

No matter what, I'm getting this monkey off my back.

My wife has been on 250 mg of trazedone daily for 10-12 years now. She ran out on a Sat. recently and stated to get "the shakes". On suday they were even worse. Monday morning she went to her chiropractor for a 10:30 appt. as she got occasional back adjustments. At 11:45 I got a call from the doctor asking that I come pick her up as she was too wozzy to drive. Here is where the trazadone horror begins. It took me about 20 minutes to get there and when I arrived there were ambulances and police. I walked in and my wife did not respond to me - she was in a coma like state and severly shaking as if she had a seizure or stroke. The perimedics did preliminarly test and I heard them say, she is not responding. She was rushed over to one nearby local hospital as I followed the ambulance. This hospital supected a seizure or stroke but they could not find anything in CT's and they could not help her. She was then med-flighted to a larger city hospital. She was still not responding and immediately underwent a test where dye is inserted and scoped starting at her groin to her neck, then into the brain. They did not find any clogged arterties. Testing continued from EKG's to blood work ups, cat scans, MRI's etc. Eventually she was placed in ICU with a breathing tube and hocked up to multiple monitors. After a couple of days, the doctors said, we do not know what is wrong. On the 3rd morning, she woke up. Thank you God. She of course was confused not knowing where she was nor did she remember what happend. She could answer questions and her speech was clear. More test, still no answers. Then eventually the doctors informed us of their thoughts. Trazedone is not addictive like cigaretts, but your body does become dependent on it. The doctors seemed in agreement that her body's system reacted this way since she was without trazedone for 2 days. Her body WAS DEPENDENT ON TRAZEDONE. It is know that you should never get off this drug all at once, as this is what can happen. We are all searching for something else, something better.

i take 100 mg...and i want off :-(

i have currently been on 100mg trazodone 2 times a gay for 8 months, my psycologist told me that it IS addicting .even if i miss only my night time pill, the following day for me is a horror. I become angry at every little thing, depressed and extremely anxious. i dont not recommend just stopping. Talk to your prescribing DR if they are a good dr they will help u ween off through other varying meds depending on the reason for you taking it.

tremor, disorientation, loss of thoughts, and "zombie" are all possible side effects of 100+ mg a day.

Hi all, been prescribed Traz 10 days ago (50mg)...after reading these posts i think i should start tapering off already!.....while I will consult with my doc..do you think cutting that dose in half at this early stage will be better for me?

Initially he wanted me to go to 100mg....

Thanks for this forum

A family member was on 50mg of this dose and when she ran out(Friday) the pharmacy informed her that they didn't have anymore in stock it would be Monday(small town). That weekend we happened to be taking her on a trip out of town. She started acting a little anxious then was extremely upset about how she had wronged people. We later verified that the things she said she did never happened. We got the pharmacy to refill the trazodone in the visiting city and in about 12-24 hours she was doing much better. She continued taking the meds for another month but was unhappy with the way they made her feel(anxious, heart palpitations) her doctor said this wasn't related to the trazodone nor was the earlier episode because the dose was so low, she inadvertantly missed another dose(maybe more because after that first missed dose she became confused about things) during this time she stopped answering the phone would not verbally communicate and was convinced she was being watched. Her anxiety level was through the roof....she was hospitalized(high blood pressure/heart palpitations) and after receiveing trazodone for a couple of days there were vast improvements. At this time the doctor is still saying that the trazodone is not the cause of the mental breaks. I don't know if it is or not but she takes this medication for sleep and nothing else so I think she should be completely weened off of the med. if it something else then it will still be apparent once the trazodone is completely out of her system. We will see what the doc says.

I've been on 50 mg of Trazadone for over 12 years. Originally prescribed for fibromyalgia. I made it clear with my doctor that I would not take anything that could be addicting and was assured by my original doctor and by others throughout the years that this would never be a problem. Nothing ever mentioned about the body's dependency. Six - eight months ago I spoke to my doctor about getting off the drug and he said I was on a low dose so just taper off. I assumed cutting it in half for a few weeks was reasonable but was so wrong. After 3-4 weeks of arryhthmia, I ended up in the hospital for a complete cardiac workup. I told the doctors about the Trazadone but they didn't put it together and said I was having cardia issues. After my release from the hospital, I called my doctor and he was sure that it was Trazadone withdrawal and said I was lucky I did not have a seizure. He said to go back on the full 50 mg dosage and then try again after awhile and go off very slowly. It has been six weeks and every night I shave a little big off the pill. I am currently down by about 1/8 and will keep it there for another couple of weeks before "shaving" a little more off. I am tired, often fuzzy thinking, and the weird anxious dreams and nightmares are driving me crazy. I can't wait to get up and out of the house in the morning to interact with people and have a distraction from the symptoms. I am determined to get off the drug and will plan on taking at least a year to do so. I would rather deal with the fibromyalgia pain since I can't really say the Trazadone has helped since I have daily muscle pain all the time anyway. I would never have gone on the drug knowing what I know now but I was assured over and over again that this was an affective drug for fibromyalgia and that it was not addicting. I have had sever leg pain for two years, have seen literally a dozen doctors, and none of them have any experience with drug withdrawal. Everyone has said "not addicting" but go off slowly, never addressing any side effects or withdrawal symptoms. Even my pharmacist has said shouldn't be a problem, just taper off slowly. I have asked several times if there are specialists in advising regarding going off various medications and the answer has been no.........just go off slowly. No other advice or sympathy regarding what we go through. The medical profession is very lacking in this area. Really appreciate reading everyone's feedback and information. Thank you.

I have been on 50 mg Traz at bedtime and trying to withdraw. I take the 50 mg tablet, cut in half and then cut that in half which brings me to 37.5 mg which is what my doctor suggested. Have many of the symptoms previously described and not doing well with any of them. Some of you have said you are down to 10, 6, 5 mg. How do you cut the pills to know that you are at that level. It has taken me two months to cut 12.5 mg by just shaving a little of that 1/4 tablet each week. Hoping for a clarification on how you are cutting it down. Thank you for any suggestions.

I would avoid this medication at all costs. It will make you sick if you stop taking it. Everything that I have read on this forum is so true. I wish I had known about it my self before I started taking it over 10 years ago.

I have been taking trazodone for about 5 years, 50 mg. I have just decided to cut down one-fourth, I am ok, but I have a terrible pain in my thigh and hip, only one side, also a weakened muscle feeling. Has anybody experienced the same?? I suppose it will go away, but after some months I want to reduce my dose another one-fourth, so I will end up with only 25 mg. Any advice? No, a doctor didnt tell me to do it, but I know enough to go gradually.

I have been taking 25-50 mg trazadone for over ten years at night for sleeping. I am trying to get off it cold trukey. Have had insomnia and horrible night sweats, crying spells. Has anyone felt like a choking feeling and anxiety sensation in their throat ? Is there any danger ?

I just registered and would appreciate a response to my first posting as a guest. As stated before I have been on 25-50 mg Trazadone over 10 years and just quit taking it. I am having insominia, crying, night sweats, and a physical feeling in my upper chest and throat like there is a lump there, kind of a choking sensation that does not go away, a heaviness or tightness there. It is hard to explain. Has anyone had this symptom? How long does it take for symptoms to go away ?

If you stop taking trazadone cold turkey how long does it take for withdrawl symptoms to go away ?