Experience with Trazodone?

[sailawaygrl]

Hi everyone,

I have been taking Trazadone for quite a while for my IC but have let my Dr know in the past that it causes me to be exhausted all day, no matter how early in the evening I take it or how long I sleep. I only take 50mg (from reading older posts, I saw that some take up to 100mg!) so we tried going down to 25mg, which required me to cut the pills in half. That turned out to be a mess, they are the kind that don't "cut" they "explode"! So I gave up and took the 50mg and slept all day, everyday. Ok, getting long here sorry.. To the point, I was out of them the other night and went without, of course I didn't sleep very much, but I also had to pee ALL NIGHT long as well as had increased pain in my bladder at the end of voiding all day the next day and generally hurt all day! But I was AWAKE, none of that awful dragging, can't get up out of the bed feeling. I know the trazodone is a very old anti depressant that is now used to help people sleep as well as it helps with pain. My aunt takes it to help with horrible knee pain (she needs knee replacement). My Dr said before he could give me something else for sleep, but now I see all the other benefits I was getting from the Trazodone I am not sure what to do. Does anyone, have any other combos that they take I can ask about. I basically just need to sleep at night, but also not have that pain during the day with the constant voiding just a little and hurting each time I do. Errrr, I think I am stuck. BTW, I have tried Ambien, doesn't work for me and I really don't like taking "a sleeping pill" I need more than just the sleep, like the trazodone gives me. I guess if there is nothing else, I will have to stick with what works and deal with side affects.

So sorry for the very long ramble... I seem to get panicky when I think I might have to change a med. I DO NOT deal well with change at all.

If you have any ideas that might help me tolerate the Trazodone, or something else that works for you, please let me know.

Thank you all for just being here, I check this sight several times a day just to see if someone has something I can offer help with or if a question has been asked and answered that relates to me-but mostly just to know that there really are others that are in the same "boat" with me! It helps with the isolation of this disease.

Sandra

[Mrs. Peel]

Hi, Sandra.

I was also prescribed Trazadone for sleep (before IC), but I didn't have any trouble getting the pills broken in half. Maybe your pharmacist can find you a generic that is scored down the middle.

Since my uro and I have been experimenting with other meds, I've wound up on Elavil. There's no way to know for sure whether it's helping more than the Trazadone did, but it is definitely making me sleep more and crave simple carbs.

I hope you get it worked out, soon.

[Diamic65]

I tried to take it one time. I told my URO that I had hard time getting awake in the morning. It made me feel like I was out in space. Have you tried Vestiral? I took and for awhile and it helped me get some rest. Plus it helped with the IC FLARE. I have not been taking it for awhile and now I'm having more flare ups. So I'm thinking about going back on it.

[Briza]

Hi
I don't have experience with trazadone but I take Elavil at a very low dose of 10 mg and that helps me sleep and helps me a lot with frequency. Has not helped me personally for pain but I know that it does for many others. I take it early evening and have no problems with morning groggies. When I am flaring I take up to max 30 mg and as long as I take it around dinnertime then I have few to no problems with morning groggies.

So maybe Elavil or the vistaril (atarax) like someone posted above might be options to discuss with your dr? Since both seem to have a pretty good record for helping with both sleep and at least some of a patient's IC symptoms. I haven't tried vistaril (atarax) b/c it is an antihistamine and I am one of a few who get the wide awake jittery effect from antihistamines rather than the sleepy effect...but for most it seems from the posts here that it helps with sleep and often for other symptoms as well.

Ambien and such sleep meds don't work for me either.

Hope you find what works for you! oh, maybe a tablet cutter thingy would be of help to keep your trazadone tabs from exploding so that you can see how you do on a lower regular dose?

[Jo Jo]

Hi
I take (desyrl) that is the name brand of Trazodone . Trazodone the generic did not work very well for me it did make me very tired. I take 150mg desyrl at night and I am fine in the morning. I also take Elmiron 3X a day and HRT they all work together for me . I have to order the name brand in Canada I was told they don't make it here in US anymore. My dr did say there was a difference in the name brand. I have been taking it for 6 yrs now with no side effects but I can sleep on a weekend for about 10 hrs . During the week I get 8hrs and feel fine. Good luck hope this helps.

Jo Jo

[ophelia33]

Hi, I too used to take trazodone for sleep before IC and didn't do so well on it. There are other options you can explore. There is elavil, sinequan, tofranil, just a few tricyclic anti-depressants. There is also Atarax or Vistaril which is an anti-histamine. Also remeron, another anti-depressant can also help w/ sleep. There are many other meds that could fit what you are looking for w/o the fear of dependency. Talk it over w/ your dr. and I'm sure you can find one that doesn't make you so groggy in the a.m.

hugs,
Ophelia
P.S. Be weary of anything that could cause dependency if taken on a continual long-term basis for sleep such as valium, klonopin, xanax, ativan, restoril, ambien (which you mentioned), lunesta, etc. They may help you get to sleep initially but may not be helpful long-term.

[ophelia33]

Originally Posted by Briza

Hi
I haven't tried vistaril (atarax) b/c it is an antihistamine and I am one of a few who get the wide awake jittery effect from antihistamines rather than the sleepy effect...but for most it seems from the posts here that it helps with sleep and often for other symptoms as well.

Sandra, I too had a hard time sleeping on Atarax and I did try it's "sister" Vistaril. I can sleep on benadryl but am very irritable and groggy in the a.m.

Atarax/Vistaril worth a try though and not very expensive if it doesn't work out.

hugs,
Ophelia

[sailawaygrl]

I think I have tried most of those the have been mentioned, my dilemna is that as far as relieving the frequency, urgency and general bladder pain, nothing works as well as trazodone has for me. I just wish I weren't such a zombie the next day, I do know that with some types of these meds higher doses actually lessen the hangover effect. Maybe I will ask my Dr about that. BTW I know what you mean about the benadryl, I am so tired and snappy the next day. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Sandra

[ophelia33]

Originally Posted by sailawaygrl

I think I have tried most of those the have been mentioned, my dilemna is that as far as relieving the frequency, urgency and general bladder pain, nothing works as well as trazodone has for me. I just wish I weren't such a zombie the next day, I do know that with some types of these meds higher doses actually lessen the hangover effect. Maybe I will ask my Dr about that. BTW I know what you mean about the benadryl, I am so tired and snappy the next day. Thanks for all the suggestions everyone.

Sandra

Hi, Sandra,
You're welcome. I have that zombie thing going on w/ the remeron/tegretol mix I am on and I'm hoping it'll pass but at the moment I have to weigh the costs and benefits. I can tolerate this now. I could not tolerate that post-benadryl state. Sometimes its just choosing between what stinks less after you've exhausted other options. It is true that some meds have different effects at higher doses. For me something like Seroquel knocked me out cold up to 250mg but 300mg+ gave me insomnia. That is crazy and dr. was shocked but true. I don't recommend that for pain though. Just an example.

I do hope you can find a happy medium. Best wishes and hugs,
Ophelia

[Mrs. Peel]

I switched back from Elavil to Trazadone the other day. I was sleeping through my alarm in the morning and also insatiably hungry all the time. We'll see if the pain returns, but I can probably function better through pain than I could on the Elavil (and sleep better, too).

[Grammy]

Caused me to feel totally drugged and made my legs weak. It also caused arousal and I hated that feeling. Side effect for men can be prolonged erections that can be very painful.