Trazodone and Anxiety: What Users Say (Page 2)

• Sur...
• November 17, 2016

For Insomnia "Took 50 mg to help me sleep. Woke up after about 4 hours of sleep. Heartbeat fast and thumping, thinking about anything and everything. Couldn't go back to sleep for a couple of hours. The day after, I felt amped, jittery, and like I was in a fog. Took for two nights, don't plan on taking again. Need some sleep. This drug may work well for you, it's just not for me. I recalled trying this medication a few years ago, had the same results then."

• eli...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 18, 2019

For Sedation "This drug trazodone has truly injured my life. It was prescribed to me by a mental health professional for sleep after my parents died a few days apart years and years ago. I was told it was tried and true for helping with insomnia. It did for a while. Over the years, I thought it fairly harmless, as did my doctors, evidently, to whom I went with a constellation of distressing symptoms over the years. No one looked at trazodone. I have been weaning myself off trazodone, and the arc of healing is positive, but day to day can be debilitating. The symptoms of withdrawal are distressing to say the least. Global weakness, profuse sweating, anxiety, headaches, rash, pins and needles, numbness, poor concentration, lack of focus, labile BP to stroke levels, rapid heart rate, heavy breathing. Just awful. I have asked our research hospital to do a comprehensive study on this drug. It is not benign."

• Jan...
• December 27, 2019

For Insomnia "After 30 years of taking Tylenol P.M.s to sleep, my doctor put me on trazodone. 100 mg made me sleep! Yeah! But the night terrors! I accept them, but after reading reviews, I'm having second thoughts. I have never had anxiety so bad, and breathing has been a chore. I have stomach aches every day, right under the rib cage. I'm so paranoid also to go out because of no self-worth. I've had these issues always to some degree, but thinking now trazodone is emphasizing them! Thank you all for your reviews. I'm not crazy!"

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 23, 2017

For Sedation "I am able to fall asleep within a half hour and stay asleep at least seven hours. Prior to taking Trazodone, I would wake up every two hours, so it has allowed me to finally sleep after months of insomnia. Cons: I have new anxiety, sweating during the day, awful short-term memory that is worsening, tremors, and amnesia."

• Avi...
• March 14, 2020

For Depression "Was on trazodone for a year for severe anxiety and mild depression, 50 mg for 2 months, then upped to 100 mg. Went off them a month ago. They helped with the anxiety a lot, associated with therapy (I was agoraphobic and now only have very occasional easily manageable spikes of anxiety), but made my energy levels drop and made me feel like a zombie. I was also sleeping too much (9+ hours a night, still feeling tired in the morning, nearly impossible to wake up most days). I went from mild to severe depression as the complete lack of energy prevented me from doing anything. Was relying on energy drinks/caffeine/supplements to get through the day. I stopped cold turkey as I couldn't stand them anymore, the withdrawals are truly horrible during the first week: hot flashes, high anxiety, irritability, etc. Feel a million times better now. Only rating 3 because of significant help with anxiety."

• Anonymous
• March 11, 2012

For Insomnia "Trazodone is the greatest thing to happen to me. A neurologist had me on Xanax nightly for 2 years to help calm anxiety in an attempt to calm migraines. Xanax eventually caused horrible dependency and increased anxiety, and the withdrawal was horrible. Trazodone has helped me sleep and helped my overall anxiety level. I never feel groggy in the morning. I am on a very low dose of only 25 mg/night, and it has done wonders."

• Mel...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• September 9, 2019

For Insomnia "Response to poster 'Recovering Addict' and a general review of Trazodone. I'm taking Trazodone for insomnia, 50 mg at night. Maybe you should ask your doctor to back down your dosage, Recovering Addict. I'm also in recovery, 17 years clean and sober, and I'm finding that 50 mg works for me. I fall asleep about an hour after taking it. Even if I awaken in the night, I usually fall back asleep in about 10 minutes. As a side note, depending on your prior usage habits, pangs of anxiousness, restlessness, etc., could last for years. Hang on for the ride, use your support group, and don't use no matter what."

• ask...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 11, 2015

For Insomnia "Lowers nightmares and promotes straight-through sleep that is more deep sleep than what can be gathered with insomnia without medication. Highly recommend for schizophrenic patients in my experience due to trazodone does not promote hallucinations. I do not suffer from anxiety or feelings of fear when waking."

• ask...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 11, 2015

For Insomnia "Lowers nightmares and promotes straight-through sleep that is more deep sleep than what can be gathered with insomnia without medication. Highly recommend for schizophrenic patients in my experience due to trazodone does not promote hallucinations. I do not suffer from anxiety or feelings of fear when waking."

• Blo...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 8, 2019

For Sedation "Omg. This is one of the worst meds I have ever taken. If you never had a diagnosed mental illness, you would after trazodone. And no, you’re not going crazy. Those horrific side effects are really happening: feeling like you’re being pricked by “pins and needles,” they call it nervousness, but it’s really an immense feeling of agitation, extreme sluggishness upon waking, which lasts most of the day, and feeling like you’re going to vomit all day. No kidding! Never again!! Did put me to sleep, but good does not outweigh the bad."

• Jus...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• February 2, 2021

For Insomnia "About 20 minutes or so after I take trazodone, I get anxiety and a weird feeling through my head. About an hour after taking it, I feel my heart thumping. And I have it prescribed for insomnia. Well, it keeps me awake all night. Tried it 4 times, and it's a no. I would rather 4 hours of sleep than 2! Makes me eat and a metallic taste in my mouth. 30 mg is what I took."

• Coc...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 24, 2016

For Insomnia "Couldn't sleep. Dr. prescribed 50 mg, and 10 minutes after taking this medicine, I felt extreme anxiety and felt panic. Heart racing. Looked it up immediately and saw it was a side effect with some people. But it is not scarier than not sleeping. Will tell Dr. next time I go in what happened. Now just up when I can't sleep and hoping there is something that will help. I tried Ambien, which worked for a while but had an episode of sleepwalking on it. I don't know what else there is to try. Did all the natural OTC stuff and exercised more, but I still wake up in the middle of the night and can't fall asleep again. Healthy 54-year-old woman, 110 lbs, 5'4. Widowed, started happening after my husband passed away, tried antidepressants too."

• Sle...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 6, 2016

For Insomnia "I was prescribed Prozac for clinical depression, the unfortunate side effect of Prozac is insomnia. So I was prescribed trazodone. The awesome: I fall asleep within 20 minutes of taking it. 25 mg = 4 hours of sleep, 50 mg = 8 hours of sleep. If I have a potty break in the middle of the night, I can fall back asleep in short order. The not-awesome: I feel like I'm slightly drunk, high, or off the next day. I mean, I guess that's awesome if you don't have a job that requires critical thinking in a B2B environment, but since I do, I can't continue to take it and function at the level I need to at work."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 4, 2017

For Insomnia "I came down with an awful virus. I soon could only sleep 5 hrs per night. Trazodone worked well the 1st two nights, but I needed a kick start (Ativan or Benadryl) thereafter. But it definitely kept me sleeping through the night. It's difficult to tell which of my symptoms were the virus and which were Trazodone, but the faint headaches and prominent dizziness have definitely been the Trazodone. I also noticed I was becoming more forgetful and losing my ability to focus. Anxiety may or may not be attributed to this drug also. The final straw: I was watching a concert online, but when I paused the video, I kept hearing the music. It was a pretty effective scare. I'm done with this drug!"

• Sle...
• March 25, 2015

For Insomnia "I have been on Trazodone for about 5 years. I started at 25 mg and have gone up as high as 150 mg. Before taking Trazodone, I needed wine to fall asleep. I could not sleep. I suffered from bad insomnia and anxiety. I took a mixture of Klonopin and Trazodone prescribed by my sleep doctor. It is a wonder medicine. Since starting to take it 5 years ago, I have had about 2 nights where I couldn't fall asleep in 15 minutes. One thing to note: when I used to be on my phone/iPad before bed, I had a hard time falling asleep with it. Once I started reading before bed, I would take the medication, read, and pass out in 15 minutes or so. No night wakings. I would allow yourself at least 7 hours of sleep after taking the medication."

• San...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 18, 2021

For Anxiety "At the beginning, I was scared to use this drug, as many people with anxiety are when they start new medications. I started with trazodone 12 mg with lorazepam, and then 25 mg with lorazepam, then finally 50 mg without lorazepam. The 50 mg really helped with my sleep! I can finally fall asleep and stay asleep. You really need to give this medication time to work. It took about 1-2 weeks for it to work for me. At 50 mg, it doesn’t help much with my anxiety, but for sleep and appetite, it’s been amazing. Life-saving drug!"

• Gac...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• July 27, 2017

For Insomnia "This is my experience with trazodone (everyone is different). I had auditory hallucinations, like music was playing in my head when no radio was going. I was on 100 mg, and I couldn't fall asleep at night at all on it, it actually made me hyper in a sedated way, so I was sleepy but full of energy and very hung over the next day. Flu-like symptoms, excessive sweating, and increased anxiety. No motivation to do anything, just felt like a zombie. I start myself weaning off tonight, I'm so ready to be off of the med. Not right for me!"

• kar...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 16, 2021

For Insomnia "I had this drug prescribed for insomnia (50 mg, after 3 days, 100 mg, and after another 3 days, 150 mg, so a very high dose), and it did not work. In fact, I completely stopped sleeping and became incredibly anxious and suicidal. This drug can be very dangerous."

• Xca...
• January 3, 2021

For Depression "I was put on Trazodone (brand name DESYREL) back in the late 1980s for depression and anxiety brought on by childhood trauma/abuse. Doc also had me take L-Tryptophan every 12 hours. Trazodone 150 mg at bedtime. Now I am an adult, 52, and a recent trigger plunged me back into nightmares/anxiety/depression with thoughts of suicide. I asked my family doc for Trazodone 50 mg before bed. I will start there and work up to a dose that puts my life back in order. L-Tryptophan is an OTC vitamin. 50 mg gives me about 4 hours of 'decent' sleep. The nightmares are still happening. I will work to slowly increase to 150 mg or to a dose that keeps the nightmares away. A good side effect is it tends to work kind of like Viagra with regard to morning erections. As a teenage male, I didn't notice this side effect. At 52, it is definitely a welcomed side effect."

• Dta...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 9, 2021

For Insomnia "Was taking a small dose of Xanax at night to help me sleep. It was working very well. But my doctor felt trazodone would be better, and the first night I took it, I could not get to sleep. I was wide awake! It was awful. The next day, I had anxiety all day. I won't take it again."

• Bos...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 29, 2021

For Insomnia "I've had insomnia for many, many years. I started with 50 mg, and it did nothing for me but make me feel jittery and wired. I explained symptoms to my doctor, so he bumped up the dose to 100 mg. It felt like I took 5 shots of espresso in 1 sitting. I explained this to the doctor again, and he bumped me to 150 mg. Mind you, I am 110 pounds. I flushed it down the toilet and am still suffering with insomnia. It's a terrible way to live. I can go days with zero sleep and not feel tired. I did go to several other doctors and just cannot get the meds properly prescribed for me."

• Gol...
• July 31, 2022

For Anxiety "Trazodone is the worst medication I’ve ever taken. I suffer from major depression and anxiety and insomnia. The very first dose I took increased my anxiety. I was wide awake and got no sleep. I’m glad it works for the majority of people, but it definitely doesn’t work for me. And I’ve attempted to take this twice."

• Duv...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 19, 2023

For Anxiety "I thought this might be good for sleep. Tried it once, 50 mg, and three hours later was wide awake for the whole night. Then tired and anxious for the rest of the day, threw the rest in the bin. It obviously didn’t work for me, and from what I’ve read in the forums, it doesn’t work for many others. It’s a shame as I only wanted it for sleep. I can see why it is not used as a first line for depression and anxiety, as it seems to be worse than a Benzo."

• Jef...
• Taken for 10 years or more
• October 22, 2019

For Insomnia "I've taken this off and on for over 20 years for sleep. While it does help, I find I eventually get next-day anxiety and have to stop for a while. I've tried most everything to sleep, and this works the best. But like many medications, the side effects can be hard to live with. While this drug is used to treat anxiety, if you look at the side effects list, it can also cause 'nervousness.'"

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• November 1, 2021

For Insomnia "I took 5 50 mg pills total over a few days, back in late August 2021. A half pill the first two nights, then a whole pill, then 1 1/2 pills two nights in a row. On the first night, 15 minutes after taking it, I felt like fire running up my neck and head, but 30 minutes later, I was drowsy and went to sleep for a few hours. The next night, a half pill dose didn't do much. I upped the dose as recommended by my doctor and got restless and panicky. The same thing happened the next night, so I decided to discontinue. Now I have a restless feeling and trouble relaxing and sitting down. After a minute, I get a feeling of restless agitation and stand up, that has persisted for two months so far. I didn't make the correlation between that and the medicine, but after I looked it up, I saw it was an uncommon side effect, and I think it may have caused or contributed to that effect. I also have new anxiety, panic attacks, and depression now. I would advise avoiding this med under all circumstances! Also, other side effects!"