# Trazodone?



## Guest (Dec 29, 2000)

I've been having trouble sleeping lately due to anxiety and my doc prescribed Trazodone for me. He says it can also help with gut symptoms if exhaustion and stress are a big factor. Thus far, the only side effect I've noticed is feeling dried out, especially my mouth, but that is supposed to go away over time. It seems to help me sleep a little, but my doc upped the dosage so I could get my full eight hours and wake up feeling refreshed. My IBS is actually pretty good today (could be calcium?) And I'm mostly just feeling tired from only getting about 4 to 5 hours of sleep a night. Anyone else use Trazodone? Success or failure? Any gut help? It can also be a mild anti-depressant which is nice, but I've not taken it long enough to tell if it's working. Just getting enough sleep should be a help in that department.


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## dina (Nov 17, 2004)

Trazodone is great for helping you sleep. It is also a pretty easily tolerated medicine. It can help with depression if taken in the right dose. I personally had a great experience with Trazodone and if it's helping you I would keep taking it. Good luck. Adina


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## vikee (Feb 5, 2000)

I used to take Trazodone to help with sleep. It worked well for that. I was not using it for IBS. It is my understanding it's an old time antidepressant that is now being used to induce sleep. ------------------vikee


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## Andy M (May 17, 1999)

Trazadone did wonders for me in terms of enabling me to fall asleep easier. The problem with it was, if I remember the right drug, was that it gave me dizziness any time I stood up too quickly. The job I worked at required me to sit down and stand up repeatedly. Naturally, you can understand why I quit taking Trazadone. On the positive side of my trazadone experience, I had no sexual side effects and none of the miserable side effects associated with SSRI's (likePaxil). Trazadone did not seem to make any big impact on my IBS, but I took a pretty small dose. I miss being able to fall asleep as easily as I did when I took the drug, though. Good luck.


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## Guest (Dec 29, 2000)

How long did it take you to feel the effects of the Trazodone in really giving you a solid 8 hours. I find that I can now fall asleep but I'm up and twitching by about 5AM and then when I try to fall back to sleep, just as I'm crossing over to unconsciousness, I jolt awake again. The doc said to up my dose to 100 mg from 50mg over the course of a couple of days and last night I took 75mg with no appreciable improvement. I know it can take weeks for the effect to really happen, but I wanted to see what others have experienced.


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## Lefty (May 18, 1999)

How long have you been taking it? Anti-dpressants take 4-6 weeks to take full effect.


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## Guest (Dec 30, 2000)

I've only been taking it for about a week, but it's less for the antidepressant function and more to help me sleep through the night. I'm getting some other help like Mike's tapes and relaxation therapy with a psychologist and yoga master, so maybe between all of these I'll chill out and sleep well. I'm pretty certain that 90% of my gut issues stem from depression and anxiety, so that's what I'm getting a handle on. Add a pretty severe phobia/aversion to food and you've got a recipe for a very unhappy camper, but I'm plugging along and think I'm improving a bit day by day. I'm hoping to be a success story soon.


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## bunged up (Nov 15, 2000)

Before I found Elavil to help me sleep, I tried Trazodone. It helped sleep, but I had some side-effects that I didn't like. I felt achey and fatigued during the day, and I was itchy and tingly and nauseous all the time. I liked Elavil much better.. (now, if I can figure out a way to lose this weight...). The therapeutic dose of Trazodone to treat depression starts at 200mg, I can't imagine what kind of a zombie I would be on that dosage.


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