I Want to Get Off Trazodone
6February 8, 2013 by Rex
Blurred vision,constipation, decreased sexual desire or ability,dizziness, drowsiness, headache, lightheadedness when sitting up or standing, muscle aches or pains, nausea, nervousness, tiredness.
Now, if you had anyone of these symptoms you might seek medical help. If you had multiple symptoms on this list you would DEFINITELY seek medical help. But these are possible side effects of the drug Trazodone, which I have all of. (I left off the above list side effects I don't think I have.)
So what does one do? You go to the doctor and he/she will prescribe yet another drug, to try and counteract the side effects you are having on the first drug. But! This drug too comes with side effects of it's own. So another drug is prescribed to counteract that one, and so on…
I have been on Trazodone for 10 years now, I would say. I had forgotten most, if not all, of the side effects. After all, my sexual desire comes and goes, but I never really thought much of it. Weight gain is a big one for Trazodone too. Again, forgot about that. But the one that got me yesterday morning, when I read the prescription sheet for the first time in 10 years, was the dizziness when standing up. I get that BAD now. This is a VERY common side effect as they tell you more than once about it in the prescription sheet and even caution to “get up slowly, especially in the mornings.”
Now there is one group of people I regularly connotate with HAVING to get up from a sitting position slowly. Old people! (When I think about it more I realize injured people, and pregnant women in the 8 and 9 MONTHS!!!) as I am neither of the later group I can only then fall back to the first choice. (True, I am not part of that group either, but I want to feel sorry for myself, and angry about this. So let me have my pity.)
In looking back over that sheet, I remember the prescribing doctor telling me I would gain weight and lose muscle mass or feel weaker. WOW! Two of things that I have been fighting for awhile and just simply forgot about Trazodone being a cause of them.
I started this whole journey 10 years ago, or there abouts. I always fought with restless sleep and then a VERY stressful time came when I practically begged my psychologist to send me to someone to put me on SOMETHING. She had had me try St.John's Wort, melatonin, I took Sleepytime tea each night. I tried and I tried. She finally gave in and agreed to send me to a psychiatrist to prescribe drugs.
I Started with 200mg at night.
The Trazodone was for sleeping. And it worked. I slept and slept well. I used to be SUCH a light sleeper I would wake to any and every sound being made in and or around the house growing up. The dorms in college were BRUTAL.
Then I found ear plugs!! And they helped greatly. But as I got older, I wasn't able to turn my mind off when I went to bed and so I was VERY hard to fall asleep. And when I would wake up at 2:30am every-single-morning to go pee-pee, I had a TERRIBLE time falling back asleep.
I would have almost panic attacks in the middle of the nights worrying about things. So the sleep I was receiving now on the drugs, was a HUGE-welcomed, relief! I would sleep so deeply that I started snoring! I could NEVER snore before. I would wake myself up! But now it was Deb shaking me to stop me from snoring.
Deb tells stories of having mini-conversations with me in the middle of the night that I can't recall AT ALL!
They tell you Trazodone is non-addictive. Don't believe them. There are a couple of times I had to go without because I forgot to pick up the refill and I had a HORRIBLE time sleeping. There were nights I tried to go without it, because I was feeling super tired. “Hey, let's give it a shot.”
NOPE!!! I mean you go into a mini-panic attack. You sweet. You having trouble catching your breath. You go and grab the drug.
There were nights that I was so tired I forgot I didn't take them. Well, my body remembered. I would toss and turn and have a terrible time trying to fall asleep. (And I was exhausted!!!) Then, I would think about and realize I HAD forgotten to take them. Go into the bathroom, take them and fall right asleep.
Trazodone IS addictive!!!
Now… Present day. I have gotten myself down to 100mg a night without any sleep issues.
But I stand up quickly, ANYTIME, and I feel like I'm going to blackout. When I bend over to pick something up and then start to come up??? Oh WOW!! Talk about dizzy. And VERY hard to lift heavy things that way. But also, fatigue during the day. And then I read other people talking about a “fogginess” they go through the day with.
Wow! Yeah, I have had that for a while, but didn't really think about. Just thought I wasn't on my game that day. Ask my family about my forgetfulness and drifty mind. (They complete sentences for me ALL THE TIME because I'm busy searching for words.)
And then there was the blurry vision. I just thought I was getting old. (I hate that thought. But it's one that circles around in the back of my head ALL the time. Just waiting each and every opportunity to lash out.) it was getting harder and harder to read things. My eyes would REALLY hurt in the mornings, lately, looking at the iPad screen. But I NEVER even came close to thinking this vision issue was MUCH more than my eyes getting older.
I want off!! NOW!!
I feel Trazodone is one of things holding me back from my health goals. And really, it makes no sense to try and put together a healthy lifestyle that we are here, and then going in each night and pop pills.
Once again, it doesn't SOLVE the issue, it only covers it up, as we have heard some many times about prescription drugs. If something happened tomorrow and these drugs were not available any longer, where would I be?
The goal is to get the body to heal itself. To be the best it can be. And it can't be that if it's being held back, or tethered down.
So… it's time to get off!
I won't force myself tonight, it's my daughter's birthday party tomorrow night. (We are doing a Host a Murder Party, and I have a part. So, I don't want to be out of it.)
Also, I'm hoping that when the Mass HGH gets here it will help me sleep, like all the reviewers said it did for them.
Next up… Getting off Citalopram!
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The Health Obsessed Homesteader 
Hmm good for you. Question, have you ever read “Clean” by Dr. Junger?
I think you would really find it useful if you haven’t. He talks about our societies dependancy on drugs such as Trazodone, and how doctors have forgotten to look for the source of the problem and instead just prescribe something to pacify it.
The problem with medication like this, is as you’ve said you’ve been on it for 10 years, nothing ever gets better.
I think you’ve made a wise decision, and definitely check the book out if you haven’t read it!
Thanks.
I’ve got it on hold at the library as we speak. I look forward to reading and receiving some mental ammunition for this battle. And the bigger one looming in getting off Citalopram.
Thank you for this post I relate on all levels and I hate it. My Dr prescribed me Trazodone my freshman year of college bc I developed insomnia. I would lay in bed and my thoughts would take over not letting me sleep. At first I was so happy to be sleeping finally. Then I began eating in the middle of the night, gaining weight, lost sex drive, major fatigue, and definite lack of motivation. I went to the Dr to get off and they told me to keel a journal of how I slept. I did this for a month not knowing what it would do…it did nothing at all I was upset. I have started tapering off but I want to get completely off, I hate how it makes me feel and how I have become. Any suggestions?
Hi Amber,
First take a deep long and steady breath, it’ll help. I know that having my iPad and being able to journal has helped. The iPad is the PERFECT thing for me. And the App I use for journaling is great! I do think it sucks for people like us that can’t shut their minds off at night to need a drug that has such terrible side effects.
I’m down to 3/4 tablet and 1/2 tablet of the Citalapram. Now, one HUGE thing that has happened for me over the last year is that I was able to sell one of our apartment buildings. (The biggest of the headache ones.) I also handed over the keys to the other two to a property management company. I no longer get phone calls or e-mails with problems. All of this has helped a LOT!!!!
No my biggest problem to sleeping is what it ALWAYS has been, MONEY! I just always worry about it. Also my dislocated pelvic has gotten a LOT better and stronger.
Now… As far as the sleep. I have actually gotten back to something I grew up doing. When I was growing up I would set up about five or six Bill Cosby comedy albums on my automatic record player and so I would fall asleep to them each night. Now I’ve taken about 4 albums that are my favorite of his and put them on my iPhone and they play all night long on repeat.
Something I did before that was come out to the couch and put on one particular SpongeBob DVD. It is one I really like, but also know really well, so I can just shut my eyes and fall asleep to it playing. I would rarely get past hearing the first episode.
Something else that I think about each night as I’m trying to fall asleep: I relax and know, no matter HOW anxious I am, the Trazadone is going to start taking effect on me in about 20 minutes. That really helps. I’m a LIGHT sleeper so I sleep with ear plugs and turn the speaker blutoothed to the iPhone up and it blocks out ALL other noises.
College is stressful. BUT it is NOT the end of the world. It is only going to be the SMALLEST of parts of your life. The sex drive stuff, I found looking up on Pinterest like fitness people and sexy people really gets me thinking and the juices flowing. I keep trying to think good things about myself and body. I enjoy going downtown and hitting a place call Matador for happy hour and then go over to club/bar type place and play pool and watch people on the dance flow and just have that way. That keeps the sex drive going as well.
And trust me, not doing things like for me this time of year in Boise Idaho would BLOW!!! It’s pouring rain today so there’s NO outside work I can do at all!!!
Anytime you want to hit me up to just ask for more suggestions DO IT!!! That would be awesome!
I think it IS possible for people like us to get off this stuff. But I realized last year that it is going to take longer than a couple months. And HEY!!! That’s okay.
Rick
I realize this post is from 6 years ago, but did you get off Trazadone? I have experienced the same that you described, however I got out of the hospital and starting having anxiety and panic attacks in the middle of the night. Doctor put me on meds because I begged for help to get out of it. Was on meds only a week as I was having horrible reactions and still having these weird episodes and didn’t sleep for a week. The ER doctor put me on trazadone but 100mg made me dizzy, falling over in the middle of the night when I got up to use the bathroom and had some side effects during the day. I went down to 50mg and although I don’t sleep perfectly, it’s getting better. I also take sleepytime tea at night but It’s only been 3 weeks on trazadone but I already feel scared to stop taking it like I’m not going to sleep without it. I tried one night and couldn’t stop my mind, it just raced. I got about 2 hours of sleep and decided the next night I wouldn’t risk it and took it. So, I’m very curious of you were able to stop and find a more natural remedy? I’m doing therapy and acupuncture as well as starting to work out more, hoping something will help with the restless nights and be able to drop Trazadone. Thanks and take care.
Hi Desiree,
I have not gotten off the Trazadone. We have started a Certified Organic Farm and we have grown exponentially every year and this year an explosion of growth on top of that. When I feel the tension, anxiety and stress during the days I take CBD oil and it works GREAT!!!! I also find that my BIGGEST issue is that since growing so much I have to spend a LOT more time in the office doing stuff. But if I can get outside and do some heavy farm work that is the best way for the headaches, shoulder pain and anxiety to just disappear. Therapy is going to REALLY help you, as it did me YEARS ago. As it just gives you someone to spew all of your mind out to at once. A lot of times just hearing my thoughts verbally stated made the anxiety of them or the answer to them happen.
I find that if I take the trazodone when I walk into the bedroom for the night. Settle into bed with nice music playing in the background and start reading whatever biography I happen to be reading at the time, that in 20 minutes the traz has kicked in. I settle in to go to sleep and I feel that I’m awake again (how the heck does THAT happen?) and so what works REALLY well for me is I start thinking about fictional story lines of my own creation. I play it almost in real time like a movie in my head. With characters and events, plot twists, etc… it distracts my mind COMPLETELY from the thoughts in my head and fall asleep almost right away.
I went through about 4-6 different types of meds before the psychiatrist hit on traz. So it may be that you need to find a different med that works well for your body. I have found that getting off wheat 100% COMPLETELY has been the number one turn around for me. I no longer have deep and debilitating thoughts at night and I am MUCH less scared to go to bed and try to sleep.
Finding a REALLY good nighttime routine is HUGE key to helping the traz just do its thing.
As far as the next day I wake up and get out bed when my body wakes up. The other morning that was 3:45am!! This morning it 5:30am. But in Both cases I rolled out of bed did my 50 push-ups, 25 sit ups and 1 minutes of plank plus some stretches. Then I go out to he kitchen and put a 1/2 teaspoon of Himalayan salt and two squirts of lemon juice into a 15oz glass and fill that up with room temp RO water and DOWN it. That immediately replenishes my water loose during the night’s sleep. Then after reading for an hour or so in the morning I go into an ICE COLD shower while blaring AC/DC music. Let me tell ya… that’ll wake you up for the day! 🙂
So while I have not gotten off the Trazodone, I have found accepting it in my arsenal of tools that I use to help me keep my body in very good health and resting my mind so I can be ready to take on the challenges of the day as REALLY helped me in the long run.
Also, it could be the Sleepytime tea conflicting with the Trazodone that might be causing some issues. I know my doctor told me to stop taking the tea when I was taking trazodone.
Oh also, try to get your bedroom as dark as possible. Play white noise in it. And try to make it as cozy as possible for you. A place you look forward to going into each night. No TV in there. Keep it as clean and minimalistic as possible in there. Put EVERYTHING back in it’s place in there before you get into bed. All this seems silly, but it really will calm your mind and that’s what you are looking to do at night.
Hope some of this helps 🙂