I am prescribed ambien and trazadone for insomnia I only sleep for short periods of time? Now when I got the ambien I was told that it was the strongest sleep aid available - it was also a controlled substance. Now my trazadone isn't but i feel like ambien doesn't even come close to making me fall asleep. Now my doctor said to only take one when I told her one wasn't working she said that you can't take two at a time. Do you have any opinions on theses meds or what I've said?
What is best for sleep, Ambien or Trazadone or both?
Question posted by Anonymous on 18 Oct 2010
Last updated on 25 January 2025 by Dinajean
This question has also been asked and answered here: Ambien or trazodone - which is best for sleep?
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12 Answers
Having taken both of these medications in the years prior, I personally have to throw my hat in here & just give you somethings to think about...
trazodone for me caused severe chronic whole body muscle restlessness- if that makes sense.
A painful, frustrating & overall uncomfortable night. All night.
Now, night 2, I took the Ambien 10mg. Let me just say this my!
I use trazodone 100mg and many times pair it with just 5mg of Melatonin which is the supplement found in any pharmacy or vitamin section of a store. It starts at 3mg and goes then 5 or 10 and higher. The pills are tiny in capsule, pill or chewable/dissolve forms.
Trazadone cause many,many muscle problems and did not help me sleep. It may be different for you but it did'nt work for me.I also have to take 20mg of ambien not many people do but as for me I take it go to bed and go to sleep, most of the time. lol
I take 300 mg. of Trazadone at bedtime, but some times when I wake up I have uncontrollable muscle movement, like jerking back and forth, it only last about 2 minutes, I'm just wondering is this normal?
I told my doctor that 10 mg of ambien dont make me sleep anymore like it has in the past 7 years the pharmacy gives me a different colored ambien which is a Taven 74 and once a peach color and it doesnt make me sleep even on an empty stomach but when i was in the nursing home or in the hospital they gave me 2 5 mg tablets and it made me sleep without a problem but i took 20 mg of ambien and it put me to sleep without a problem but the dr said i can take no more than 10 mg so he changed me to Trazodone 50 mg and i havent took it i hope it dont cause me any serious problem I looked it up on google and its an antidepressive not a sleeping pill but it cause drowiness which i hope it will make me sleep like Ambien I need a sleeping pill to make me sleep immediately without me knowing it and make me sleep
I have been told by my doc NOT to mix those two meds. Ambien mixed with other sleep meds will seize your breathing. I tried Ambien short time and I experienced strange eating habits late pm. Did not recall eating but the evidence was in the kitchen next AM! Scared me what else I might do and not recall. Trazadone if/when it works inconsistently for me !!! I experience 3 or 4 hrs sleep with it and feel in fog next am for hours. Horrible hangover... I have hit a brick wall still cant sleep. Anyone pls commit... I do the dark room, nothing but try to sleep in my room, music/silence etc... cant sleep...
I have Bipolar and take lots of meds but I am on 20mg of ambien and I go to sleep most of the time and wake up early with no after effects.
I to have taken 50 mg of trazodone, but I swear I am starving with in 15 minutes?
Trazadone I've found to be a better long-term sleep aid. Ambien is great for occasionally, but it is addictive and it's effects will taper off with time. I have been taking Trazadone for the past 12 years. I occasionally take Ambien when I need to get to sleep earlier when I have to get up very early, e.g. 4:30 a.m. My doctors have had no problem with me taking both of them in this way.
If you don't get sleepy from the Trazadone, you may need a larger dose of it. Talk to your doctor in that case.
Trazadone has by far been much better a sleep aid in the long-term. Ambien stops working well if you keep taking it. And often one wakes up early after taking it. On the other hand, Trazadone lasts much longer. I have been taking Trazadone for the past 12 years. And I add Ambien when I need to get to sleep a lot earlier when I have to get up at e.g. 4:30 a.m. which is NOT my usual time.
No need to worry about taking both of them--but just short term on the Ambien. I am followed by a herd of doctors at a very respectable University medical system that have had no problem with me taking Ambien as needed in addition to my Trazadone.
If you're not getting good sleep with Trazadone, then you may need a higher dose of it.
Hi all i was perscribed ambien 10 mg and it was horrible i was sleepwalking and sleep eating and once sleep driving my girlfriend woke up one night to me on the middle of the floor with the vacum and a remot controll she said i told her i was fixing the vacume so i did not like the ambien ive tryed trazadone and it didnt work so my doc put me on restirol and it works wonders ive been sleeping all night and wake up refreshed
Ambien used to make me go in the kitchen and gooble up food and i would have minor indigestion i told my mom to watch me go to sleep and not grab no food or tie it up in a plastic bad and not able me to open it so it worked and i dont sleepwalk and eat
Hi, I was prescribed trazodone 100mg and it my heart race something terrible! My psychriatrist replied that he never heard of that side effect. trazodone did work but the racing heart scared me so I stopped taking it. So I was prescribed ambien 10 mg and it did not work at all. I would say it is NOT the strongest sleep aid available. I don't know if it is controlled or not. I will look it up. I am bipolar and was prescribed Seroquel 800mg and it worked great. Of course is has side effects. Then my psychriatrist took me off and now I am on Restoril 30mg (benzo) it is ok but I wish I had my Seroquel. My advice is ask your Dr. for ambien cr or maybe try Restoril 15mg or better yet 30mg. Good luck and best wishes. Dee088
I hated trazadone it didn't work for me. I've been on Seroquel and Ambien for over a year now and I love it... except I feel like I need the seroquel to be upped from 200mg to 400mg because it helps me out better in the day... but my dr put me on Wellbutrin and I can't sleep anymore... so she changed me from Ambien to Restoril and I HATE restoril. All I've had was hallucinations and nightmares and not even sleeping the whole night... constantly waking up and seeing things... I even was yelling in my sleep and cursing someone out and my neighbor thought I was in trouble and had to bust into my door... It was the scariest thing ever. If the trazadone works for you better stick with that. Stick to what you know and how you feel. Don't let the doctor over power your decision. Hope it helps.
I take 50mg trazodone and 150 mg of a generic version of Effexor about 30-45 minutes before I go to bed. Sleep all the way through the night and wake up with no groggyness. I was told trazodone is not addictive.
i hated trazodone it didnt help me anyway at all and sometimes it made me feel bad ambien however works great for me and i feel good when i nd off to sleep
I take ambien 10mg and trazodone 150mg.
I have been on this combination for years. I sleep through the night and wake up refreshed and not feeling groggy. Except now I wake up sick in withdrawal since my methadone is not stabilized.
I used ambien and worked great! even after my surgery they gave it to me to sleep and thought it was wonderful takecare!
I would say to weigh the pros and cons. On this website, check out each medication, read its side effects... the most obvious are that Ambien is a Controlled Substance, meaning it has a potential for addiction. Trazodone, on the other hand, is a great med for falling asleep and staying asleep. I would choose the Trazodone, personally. I have read a few reports about people doing weird things while they sleep on Ambien, like eat, drive, or do things that just don't make sense. I hope this has helped! Good luck, let me know what you decide to do!
Related topics
ambien, peri-ds, depression, insomnia, sleep disorders, trazodone, sleep
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