I'm a pharmacist and I can honestly tell you that you're right. I'm going through this myself right now and I WAS scared to death that my sleep would never come back. But these boards have helped, even though a lot of them are horror stories. In school, I was taught that there is no related withdrawal syndrome/dependence issues. I had a bad reaction to an anti-depressant (intense anxiety and tremors)and I thought I was being responsible by requesting trazodone to help me sleep for a couple nights instead of Xanax or something. Well...here I am 5 weeks later with a bunch of insomnia problems...AND NOT ONCE DID I LINK IT TO TRAZODONE. I kept thinking it was my anxiety even though I had worked through that problem. It's just been in the last couple days that I've discovered all of these accounts...but this has made me focused and I now know what I need to do to get myself back. Suck it up and hopefully my wife and 2 year old can handle me and I can be a loving father and husband to them until I get back. Coming from a health professional, sorry guys. Obviously some of us knew, but I was taught that at "insomnia" doses, there should be no prob. This has definitely made me a better pharmacist and a more empathetic person.
P.S. Can all the other posters please tell me how long before their sleep came back. I know everyone is different and I'm seeing ranges from 3 days to 2 months. More numbers would be helpful. Thanks
It is hard to say how long the insomia from Trazadone lasts. Certainly 2 or 3 weeks of really bad insomia. Slowly gets better over several months. I cannot say when it is totally over because I still need sleeping meds for the same reason I had been on Trazadone. So, in taking Lunesta, not sure when Trazadone withdrawl ended.
This has taken me a few days to type. I will never ever touch this drug again once I am off of it. It's
not the fact that it didn't help me sleep. I can just try something else. It's the misinformation about withdrawal.
I am on only 50 mg.
I took it for 10 days with no real help in my sleep but no side effects. I planned on contacting my doc after the holiday (when he returns) to increase as we discussed but would still continue as prescribed.
One day (the 11th day on the mediation) I was out all day and came home so exhausted I actually fell asleep on my own meaning I didn't take the pill.. The next day turned into hell. I woke up and began feeling ill. Emotionally messed up. I hardly ate. By evening I couldn't get a full sentence out. I knew what I wanted to say but it wouldn't come out. I was constantly peeing and my bladder was jumping. Then the worse part, anytime I tried to speak I lost my breath and felt like I couldn't get air in. My insides were jumping, I couldn't stop yawning, it was bizarre and scary. I was fine the day before missing my dose.
When I was given the medication I specifically asked if there would be withdrawal symptoms if we decided it wasn't working or caused adverse effects so stopping it. He said NOPE, no problem just stopping if we needed to. So now my husband and I had no idea what was going since the only change in my life was missing that one stupid pill.
As I was laying in the bedroom my husband hit the internet and (before actually going to the hospital) he looked up and said "take your trazadone". Gasping for air I asked why. He said my doctor was wrong. He had read the stories and warnings, including this thread. So I took the pill which by this time was night time and time for my regular dose anyway. Within one hour of taking the pill I could breath again and speak better. All the craziness started to ease. NO withdrawals huh?
It's been two nights now that I have been back on the med as perscribed and I'm still having trouble. I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I itch from the inside, get the chills sometimes when I move and have some nausea. I am snappy and get frustrated easily. Before my missed dose I was happily shopping and having a great time preparing for the holiday. No issue.
I've already missed my mother's birthday, this whirlwind of misinformation of "NO WITHDRAWAL POSSIBLE" is going to make the holiday extremely difficult too. I don't know why my body hasn't bounced back as before but I am tired of waiting. I want to feel better and I want to start tapering off. I want my life back!
Doctors need to get this straight and pay attention to the mass amount of information. Unbelievably I've read some "online doctors" answer questions and still tell people there is no withdrawal possible. Yet, if you type withdrawal into google you get page after page of withdrawal warnings about this drug.
I feel for you all as I understand the struggle for sleep too.
Ambien used to be my wonder drug for sleep but it eventually stopped working. Lunesta gave me wicked migraines by the third day so I had to stop that. Elavil worked but I gained weight and after years being on it I tapered off of it quickly with no problems.
Trazadone NEVER AGAIN. Google was all we needed to save me a trip to the hospital, the docs need to use more care especially since they have the same way of researching a question in their office. My doc googles things all of the time. This never should have happened to me.
Best of luck to you all. I feel for you and I hope that your holidays are wonderful. If you are well please enjoy it as much as possible. For the ones who are struggling and can't themselves.
I am on only 50 mg.
I took it for 10 days with no real help in my sleep but no side effects. I planned on contacting my doc after the holiday (when he returns) to increase as we discussed but would still continue as prescribed.
One day (the 11th day on the mediation) I was out all day and came home so exhausted I actually fell asleep on my own meaning I didn't take the pill.. The next day turned into hell. I woke up and began feeling ill. Emotionally messed up. I hardly ate. By evening I couldn't get a full sentence out. I knew what I wanted to say but it wouldn't come out. I was constantly peeing and my bladder was jumping. Then the worse part, anytime I tried to speak I lost my breath and felt like I couldn't get air in. My insides were jumping, I couldn't stop yawning, it was bizarre and scary. I was fine the day before missing my dose.
When I was given the medication I specifically asked if there would be withdrawal symptoms if we decided it wasn't working or caused adverse effects so stopping it. He said NOPE, no problem just stopping if we needed to. So now my husband and I had no idea what was going since the only change in my life was missing that one stupid pill.
As I was laying in the bedroom my husband hit the internet and (before actually going to the hospital) he looked up and said "take your trazadone". Gasping for air I asked why. He said my doctor was wrong. He had read the stories and warnings, including this thread. So I took the pill which by this time was night time and time for my regular dose anyway. Within one hour of taking the pill I could breath again and speak better. All the craziness started to ease. NO withdrawals huh?
It's been two nights now that I have been back on the med as perscribed and I'm still having trouble. I feel like I've been hit by a truck. I itch from the inside, get the chills sometimes when I move and have some nausea. I am snappy and get frustrated easily. Before my missed dose I was happily shopping and having a great time preparing for the holiday. No issue.
I've already missed my mother's birthday, this whirlwind of misinformation of "NO WITHDRAWAL POSSIBLE" is going to make the holiday extremely difficult too. I don't know why my body hasn't bounced back as before but I am tired of waiting. I want to feel better and I want to start tapering off. I want my life back!
Doctors need to get this straight and pay attention to the mass amount of information. Unbelievably I've read some "online doctors" answer questions and still tell people there is no withdrawal possible. Yet, if you type withdrawal into google you get page after page of withdrawal warnings about this drug.
I feel for you all as I understand the struggle for sleep too.
Ambien used to be my wonder drug for sleep but it eventually stopped working. Lunesta gave me wicked migraines by the third day so I had to stop that. Elavil worked but I gained weight and after years being on it I tapered off of it quickly with no problems.
Trazadone NEVER AGAIN. Google was all we needed to save me a trip to the hospital, the docs need to use more care especially since they have the same way of researching a question in their office. My doc googles things all of the time. This never should have happened to me.
Best of luck to you all. I feel for you and I hope that your holidays are wonderful. If you are well please enjoy it as much as possible. For the ones who are struggling and can't themselves.
Sorry to post again but I didn't put this in the post above because it was already long and difficult to type but I feel it's important.
The day I had my first start with these withdrawals and as I explained above my husband got the pill in me and I could breathe again, I eventually went to sleep. The following day I had a completely skewed view of what happened the night before. I ended up having such vivid dreams that entwined with what was happening to me.
For instance I swore that we did in fact go to the hospital when my husband dressed me and got me ready but like I said he got online to check my med and we didn't go, it was him that got the traz in me which helped me get my breath back but I swore it was a doctor. I also swore I was convulsing but my husband says I had the shakes incredibly bad, I couldn't control it until I took the pill and went to sleep when my breathing was stable.
It felt so real to me. It took most of the day of him repeating himself until the fog cleared. I was even on here trying to find information on convulsions with trazodone.
At this point it's been two full days and I am going into my third night. I didn't have any vivid dreams last night but I am still having symptoms from the withdrawals which is disheartening. Tonight it's still itchy pin prick feelings all over, not hungry, feel like my blood pressure is very low so moving around isn't easy. It's just disheartening that I've been on it two full days, I expected to feel better then this. My withdrawal reaction was so severe though, I guess I need to be patient. At least that is what I keep telling myself.
Since it's been two days back on and I want off this stuff so bad we started to taper me tonight. I took a tiny amount off my pill. Less then a half of a half. We figured it's 10mg off my 50mg pill. I will taper slowly and get the heck away from this stuff for good. Right now I feel like it will never end.
Whoever runs this site, thank you. It's been a real comfort to me since no one but you guys really understand.
The day I had my first start with these withdrawals and as I explained above my husband got the pill in me and I could breathe again, I eventually went to sleep. The following day I had a completely skewed view of what happened the night before. I ended up having such vivid dreams that entwined with what was happening to me.
For instance I swore that we did in fact go to the hospital when my husband dressed me and got me ready but like I said he got online to check my med and we didn't go, it was him that got the traz in me which helped me get my breath back but I swore it was a doctor. I also swore I was convulsing but my husband says I had the shakes incredibly bad, I couldn't control it until I took the pill and went to sleep when my breathing was stable.
It felt so real to me. It took most of the day of him repeating himself until the fog cleared. I was even on here trying to find information on convulsions with trazodone.
At this point it's been two full days and I am going into my third night. I didn't have any vivid dreams last night but I am still having symptoms from the withdrawals which is disheartening. Tonight it's still itchy pin prick feelings all over, not hungry, feel like my blood pressure is very low so moving around isn't easy. It's just disheartening that I've been on it two full days, I expected to feel better then this. My withdrawal reaction was so severe though, I guess I need to be patient. At least that is what I keep telling myself.
Since it's been two days back on and I want off this stuff so bad we started to taper me tonight. I took a tiny amount off my pill. Less then a half of a half. We figured it's 10mg off my 50mg pill. I will taper slowly and get the heck away from this stuff for good. Right now I feel like it will never end.
Whoever runs this site, thank you. It's been a real comfort to me since no one but you guys really understand.
Trazodone withdrawal can ABSOLUTELY be that severe and even more severe!! I was on 50mg for only a few months and when I tried to wean myself off slowly I had to go back up to the full dosage because I thought I was going to jump out a window the anxiety attacks got so bad.
Rhonda,
Ur a life saver! I have been taking trazadone 50mg. For years and forgot it on vacation. I feel what I imagine a heroin addict must feel like. I did think I was having some kind of breakdown. Any doctor who says you can stop cold turkey (mine said it shouldn't cause problems for 5 days) on low doses is mistaken. Never mind I can't sleep-to be expected. I have been sweating profusely, nauseous, shaking and last night got really angry and then had an hour of indescribable crying. Does feel like a panic attack and I was worried I might have a seizure.
My husband is filling it for me now. Thank you SO much for everyone that posted. I had no idea it could be this severe. I hope taking it again gets rid of these horrible symptoms. I am going to think twice about this as a sleep aid and try to cut this back slowly when I return home. It is concerning to me that a medicine that is often used to treat insomnia can cause such extreme withdrawal symptoms. Anyone who thinks the withdrawal sxs are from an anxiety disorder is sadly mistaken.
Thanks again to those who posted-I was ready to go to the ER. Grateful reader.
Thank you so much for writing. I ran out on a trip also and couldn't believe the catastrophic side effects. I have taken this drug 50mg. successfully for sleep for over 8 years. After this experience I want to try to get off it. I am in recovery and I assure you these withdrawal sxs are equal or worse then what I experienced in rehab. decades ago. I did not even think the shaking, nausea, sweating and dizziness had anything to do with not using such a low dosage. So glad for the info. On here and hope when I ingest it I will feel better before my plane ride tomorrow. Very frightening realization.
I have been taking Effexor 150 mg, trazadone 100 mg and alprazalon 1mg for several years now. I was supposed to take the Effexor 2 times a day but one in am does fine for me, I have cut the trazodone and alprazalon by half, but if I dont take it at night I get no sleep, and I feel very jittery and under the weather the next day. I dont know which of the two at night I should focus on getting off first. But I want to quit taking these as I have glaucoma and I think they are making it worse. Should I cut them down at the same time or focus on one at a time and which one? Next Dr visit I will ask for 75 mg of the effexor that doesn't seem to bother me at all it is just the night meds. I know I have anxiety issues but I want to try and get off these meds if I can. My life is much simplier than it was when I started on these drugs.
I was an LPN, had a nervous breakdown 16 years ago. I've been on multiple antipsychotics, antidepressants, antianxieties, and hypnotics. I NEVER had a problem stopping a med. 8 years ago I was put on effexor xr. I am no longer depressed or psychotic. Still have anxiety/panic attacks. Sooooooooo, I weaned off the effexor over 3 months. That's when the brain zaps, hostility, and just generallized unusual behavior started, oh I should mention the dizziness. Psych told me it would last 3 days. hahahahaha It had already been longer than that. I spoke with a pharmacist I trust and she recommended a few antidepressants to ease the symptoms. Psych ordered Trazadone 25mg at bedtime. Well, this morning I woke up to a phone call, a very important phone call, and the woman commented about my slurred speach. Now, I'm reading about Trazadone disontinuation syndrome. I feel like I have traded one poison for another!!My husband is so upset that I am taking this. I don't know whether I should "wait out" the effexor symptoms or take the Trazadone. It does stop them. I just don't want to have to go through Trazadone disontinuance syndrome too.
To not that crazy...I am in trazodone withdrawal now and went through withdrawal with Effexor back a couple of years ago. The physical symptoms are far worse with Effexor than Trazodone but overall the withdrawal was easier with Effexor. If you have the capsules, you can take the little granules out to wean off as slow as possible. As you said, dont trade one for the other. My dr also prescribed me prozac for effexor withdrawal, which helped tremendously. The insomnia from traz withdrawal is the real killer for me since im bipolar 2...my sanity is linked to sleep.
Effexor is a serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (“SNRA”). Trazadone is a serotonin agonist and re-uptake inhibitor (“SARI”). These and other anti-depressants (SSRIs) are all generally “serotonergics.” The pharmacology of serotonergics is still unknown. These drugs can flood your brain synapses with serotonin.
Last year I went through Traz withdrawal, followed by sertraline ("Zoloft") withdrawal. Both were awful, but the Traz was worst, possibly because I discontinued abruptly. While I was withdrawing from Trazodone I was simultaneously overdosing on sertraline ( “serotonin storm” or “serotonin poisoning”) with a completely different set of symptoms, because my doctor increased my sertraline at the same time she prescribed Traz..
Physicians with no clinical training in psychology or psychiatry are prescribing serotonergics like candy because “they’re not addictive.” In actuality, they are addictive as the term is broadly used in the general public (strictly speaking—“dependency forming” using DSM-IV criteria) but no “street abuse potential.” The nuance between “addictive” and “dependency forming” was not explained to me, I was not warned about side-effects, overdose potential, and discontinuation syndrome. Doctors without clinical training in psychology or psychiatry should not be prescribing these drugs. I'm doubly amazed that your psych prescribed Traz for sleep-- that's an "off-label" prescription based on 50% of Traz users report "drowsiness" as a "side-effect."
The physical withdrawal from Traz lasted almost two weeks, round-the clock diarrhea, every muscle in my body ached, I was too mentally confused to work, exhausted and dehydrated from the diarrhea. Mental symptoms lasted another month or so. Physical withdrawal from sertraline was less severe, but the severe stage lasted over 2 months, after which symptoms tapered off after another 2 ½ months.
I found substantial relief from mental and cognitive symptoms using intermittent doses of diazepam (valium) at 5 mg per day for 3-5 days, followed by slightly more days without diazepam, to avoid dependency and tolerance issues, and repeated this pattern. I also find diazepam far more effective anxiolytic, and its hypnotic effects can be wonderful at very small doses if you know “self-hypnosis.”
I’m amazed Traz is approved for any usage, and utterly astounds me that it is given as a sleep aid when only one in two people report "drowsiness" as a side effect of Trazodone. These drugs are idiosyncratic, affect different people differently and unpredictably. You won’t know what your withdrawal will be like till you actually go through it. Good luck.
Last year I went through Traz withdrawal, followed by sertraline ("Zoloft") withdrawal. Both were awful, but the Traz was worst, possibly because I discontinued abruptly. While I was withdrawing from Trazodone I was simultaneously overdosing on sertraline ( “serotonin storm” or “serotonin poisoning”) with a completely different set of symptoms, because my doctor increased my sertraline at the same time she prescribed Traz..
Physicians with no clinical training in psychology or psychiatry are prescribing serotonergics like candy because “they’re not addictive.” In actuality, they are addictive as the term is broadly used in the general public (strictly speaking—“dependency forming” using DSM-IV criteria) but no “street abuse potential.” The nuance between “addictive” and “dependency forming” was not explained to me, I was not warned about side-effects, overdose potential, and discontinuation syndrome. Doctors without clinical training in psychology or psychiatry should not be prescribing these drugs. I'm doubly amazed that your psych prescribed Traz for sleep-- that's an "off-label" prescription based on 50% of Traz users report "drowsiness" as a "side-effect."
The physical withdrawal from Traz lasted almost two weeks, round-the clock diarrhea, every muscle in my body ached, I was too mentally confused to work, exhausted and dehydrated from the diarrhea. Mental symptoms lasted another month or so. Physical withdrawal from sertraline was less severe, but the severe stage lasted over 2 months, after which symptoms tapered off after another 2 ½ months.
I found substantial relief from mental and cognitive symptoms using intermittent doses of diazepam (valium) at 5 mg per day for 3-5 days, followed by slightly more days without diazepam, to avoid dependency and tolerance issues, and repeated this pattern. I also find diazepam far more effective anxiolytic, and its hypnotic effects can be wonderful at very small doses if you know “self-hypnosis.”
I’m amazed Traz is approved for any usage, and utterly astounds me that it is given as a sleep aid when only one in two people report "drowsiness" as a side effect of Trazodone. These drugs are idiosyncratic, affect different people differently and unpredictably. You won’t know what your withdrawal will be like till you actually go through it. Good luck.
Hi,
I know you posted over a year ago, but I was wondering how you're doing, and how long for the bad sleep to go away. I was only on Trazodone for 2 months. I stopped too abruptly 5 days ago, and have had some horrible side effects. Last night (5th night off) my heart pounded and even a half of an Ativan didn't help much. I felt like I barely slept.
I would love to hear more about your experience going off.
Thank you for reading this.
Tammy
I know you posted over a year ago, but I was wondering how you're doing, and how long for the bad sleep to go away. I was only on Trazodone for 2 months. I stopped too abruptly 5 days ago, and have had some horrible side effects. Last night (5th night off) my heart pounded and even a half of an Ativan didn't help much. I felt like I barely slept.
I would love to hear more about your experience going off.
Thank you for reading this.
Tammy
I had the same side effects that you did. Vision issues, memory problems, confusion, but I did enjoy the sleep that I got just for a few weeks. I stopped taking Traz 5 days ago and have had some horrible depression, anxiety, and insomnia. I should have tapered down, but its too late now and I want it out of my system
How are you doing now?
How are you doing now?
I tampered off the trazadone but it was hard. I then tried Ambien and Lunesta. I have tampered off those and now I am using Melatonin. I tried Melatonin on and off for years but I didn't think it helped. Probably due to being on the stronger prescription drugs. I am totally off all prescription drugs except for Clonazepam (taken for stress at work). I take 3 mg of Meletonin plug another 5 mg of fast acting Melatnon. I think this might be too much but I need it now because I think I am fighting the withdrawl effects from being on prescription drugs. However, I only woke up twice last night which is good. Speaking of waking up at night. The prescription drugs worked well to prevent that for a while. But then I got used to them and was waking up 4 or 5 times a night, even on Trazadone or Lunesta. So I thought, what good is it? That is when I went to just taking Melatonin (with baby asprin and benedryl and Clonazepam to help). I think I am doing better but it has only been one week.