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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
Hi
Who has some experiences with trazodone ? I tried many ADs and my pdoc considers to try it. How is sedation comparing to other ADs ?
Can it be combined with Venlafaxine (efexor) and could it be a good combo ? Anyone taking it with Lithium for unipolar/monpolar depression ?
Posted by JGm on May 4, 2002, at 13:22:45
In reply to Desyrel (Trazodone) experiences ? -questions, posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
Hi, i'm interested on trazodone too,
in your experience, have you ever found Trazodone helped you against depression?
I've read lot of cases of insomnia treated using trazodone, but i've never read anything about its antidepressant effects.
Which side effects?
Thanks for your share.
Posted by johnj on May 4, 2002, at 19:29:47
In reply to Desyrel (Trazodone) experiences ? -questions, posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
Ben,
I take 300 mg 2X daily for unipolar depression. It does seem to stablize me and "boost" my AD. I also take the extended release(expensive) type called lithobid. The much cheaper lithium carbonate helped, but when I switched to lithobid it seemed much better. Take care
Johnj
Posted by Ella on May 5, 2002, at 1:37:40
In reply to Desyrel (Trazodone) experiences ? -questions, posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
I've been taking Trazadone at night for a few months as a downer AD. I'm taking it at a low dose, 50mg at night for sleep, so it's not likely I'm getting very much AD action from it because of the low dosage. I haven't had any problems with it, seems to go right along with Wellbutrin in the morning right now. La te da.
Much luck,
Ella Mia
Posted by cmcdougall on May 5, 2002, at 17:40:24
In reply to Desyrel (Trazodone) experiences ? -questions, posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
Dear Ben,
> Who has some experiences with trazodone ? I tried many ADs and my pdoc considers to try it. How is sedation comparing to other ADs ?
I've taken trazodone for years... It was the first AD I ever tried and was effective but I had to keep increasing the dose. It is VERY sedating. Only 50mg will make most people very drowsy. I eventually got up to 350mg per night and had a lot of trouble waking up in the morning. When the time came to increase the dose again, there was no way. Thats when I switched to Serzone. During the 2 years I was on Serzone, I didn't take any trazodone. I titrated down pretty quickly and experienced absolutely no withdrawal. Never had any trouble falling asleep either. My pdoc explained that a proper therapeutic dose of trazodone is very high - 400mg or more per day. That dose is so sedating that when it is used as a stand-alone AD, the patient is usually being treated in hospital.
> Can it be combined with Venlafaxine (efexor) and could it be a good combo
When my Serzone pooped-out, I started taking Effexor. The Effexor was very activating and I had a lot of trouble falling asleep. My pdoc again prescribed trazodone, but only 50mg at night. I never had ANY problems combining the two.
I now take Celexa, Adderal, desipramine, AND 50mg trazodone every night. Very rarely I will take 100mg if I'm too hyper to settle down properly.
IMO, trazodone is a great sleep aid that is safe to take in combination w/ other ADs. It is not addictive and I don't believe that a tolerance to its effects is common.
Love and luck,
Carly
Posted by Elizabeth on May 6, 2002, at 23:54:51
In reply to Desyrel (Trazodone) experiences ? -questions, posted by ben on May 4, 2002, at 13:01:13
Desyrel was really the first antidepressant used in the USA (not sure about other countries) that is neither a tricyclic nor MAOI. It's similar to Serzone in some ways, but trazodone has some effects that are entirely unique among antidepressants.
Trazodone never had a great reputation as an antidepressant. This might just be because most people couldn't tolerate it. The sedation really limits its use as an AD: many people use 50-100 mg at bedtime for insomnia, whereas an effective antidepressant dose will typically range between 300 and 600 mg.
Trazodone and Effexor can be combined safely. I don't know of anyone who's done this; as you've probably noticed, trazodone isn't used as an AD much anymore.
-elizabeth
p.s. It's "unipolar depression," not "monopolar." :-)
This is the end of the thread.
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