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Looking for positive experiences with Trazodone for insomnia (also vs. Mirtazapine)

Posted , 5 users are following.

gillian62018
gillian62018

Hi all - I'm looking to hear about others experiences on Trazaodone as I'm considering switching to it. I've been on MIrtazapine for 15 months for primary insomnia - I have severe "episodes" of insomnia where I don't sleep at ALL and insomnia now triggers for me panic and anxiety attacks the next day which then mean it's impossible for me to sleep the next night. Mirt saved my life last year during a huge crash (Z drugs didn't work) - it sedated me and enabled me to break the cycle. But after 15 months it has now not having the same effect - it does still help me get a better/longer sleep on regular nights than I might if I weren't taking it, but when I have one of my "episodes" of severe insomnia and next day severe anxiety it doesn't then sedate me the next night so I can break the cycle, like it did in the beginning. I'm considering switching to Trazodone and wanted to hear if anyone has had positive experiences with this drug for insomnia, particularly in the long term. I'd also love to hear of anyone who has also tried Mirtazapine and the differences they found between the two. My other option is Amitriptyline but I know that has a lot of side effects. Part of my issue is that I can't seem to get down low enough on the Mirt through a slow taper to even cross-taper to something else, because then I have another episode of insomnia and in desperation raise the Mirt up again. Really feeling a bit lost with it all now and would love to hear of others experiences.

0 likes, 6 replies

6 Replies

  • john97668
    john97668 gillian62018

    Posted

    Find myself in exactly the same position as you for exactly the same reasons. I hope you managed to find a good substitute to ease the insomnia through your withdrawal process.

    • gillian62018
      gillian62018 john97668

      Posted

      Thanks John - there are no easy answers are there. I've somehow ended up on an even higher dose of Mirt, because of bumps along the road (not caused by withdrawal, just my "original" condition). I tried Amitriptyline briefly but it didn't help me (although I only tried 40mg) so at the moment I'm in the same spot as I have been for a while now: planning to slower taper off the Mirt (will take me years) and eventually possibly try Trazadone. I'm just in a position now of having to accept that 50% of my nights I'm ok and 50% I don't sleep at all. Mirt did work consistently well for my sleep for a good year though, it just doesn't have the same effect anymore.

      One thing I have noticed is that since I increased my Sertraline dose (I take it with Mirtazapine) I have found the "days after" no sleep substantially easier to deal with. I still feel yucky, but I'm not an anxious, hyperventilating, sobbing mess anymore because I feel so ill.

      One final thing is that I managed to get a prescription for Circadin which is the only licensed Melatonin in the UK, and it's extended release. I have found that to be of a marginal help too (every little helps!) and I have zero side effects the next day like I've had with every other "vitamin" form of Melatonin that I've ordered off the internet and comes from overseas. You need a private prescription for it in the UK and it's not cheap, but just another "it can't hurt" suggestion. Good luck - sending good vibes to you x

  • john97668
    john97668 gillian62018

    Posted

    Find myself in exactly the same position as you for exactly the same reasons. I hope you managed to find a good substitute to ease the insomnia through your withdrawal process.

  • Gareth51625
    Gareth51625 gillian62018

    Edited

    Hi Gillian hopefully you'll see my post as it's been a couple of months since you started this topic. But I've had similar experiences to you. I'm on 15mg Mirtazapine every night because of severe insomnia. My sleep problems started in 2017, out of the blue really after being a very good sleeper all my life, one night I struggled to fall asleep and then the same the next night so panic then crept in which then meant sleep anxiety. The next few months were hell on earth...I was having about 4 completely sleepless nights a week and the nights when I did sleep it was cat napping, a couple of hours here and there. It got so bad I moved back into my parents house as they was really worried about me. You can see how much of a predicament I was in because I was a 32 year old who left home 10 years earlier.

    Really not sure what caused the relentless insomnia but I'm sure the panicking while lay there made it a lot worse. I can see how intelligence agencies use sleep deprivation to crush peoples resolve. It sure did to me. You can't live a normal life without getting decent sleep. So I went to the doctors who prescribed 15mg Mirtazapine for insomnia and anxiety. It took a few nights of trying it because of panicking again but eventually it began to work on the anxiety and insomnia and since being on it for a few years I do sleep good for the most part. The only issue I've had is weight gain (I've gained 3 stone) and residual drowsiness all the next morning. So like yourself I'm willing to try Trazodone as it's supposed to be good for sleep but you don't gain weight on it. I'm going to ask my GP soon to see if I can switch, really don't see why they would object.

    • gillian62018
      gillian62018 Gareth51625

      Posted

      Gareth your experience is so close to mine - my mental health spiralled so badly due to severe sleep deprivation that I also had to temporarily move back to my mum's - I was 39! It really was a kind of psychosis for me, I was getting the same sleep as you describe for about two weeks - barely anything at all - and the memory of how traumatic that episode was will haunt me forever.

      As you say, there is a reason real sleep deprivation is used as a torture method.

      Two years into the Mirtazapine and it's no longer helping me at all - my problems have completely changed in that I have no problem getting to sleep but I'm wide awake at 1am and then don't get back to sleep. This kind of insomnia is something I've never suffered with before and I have this sneaking suspicion that Mirtazapine is now contributing to it. I can't find any evidence to back this up, it's just a gut feeling I have. I am SO tired by about 9pm (an hour before I even take the Mirt) that I could fall asleep sitting up- it's a really unnatural feeling for me. I push my bedtime to as late as I can (about 10:30) and fall asleep instantaneously but then am wide awake at 1am and don't get back to sleep. I have some sense that somehow the Mirtazapine is contributing to me not falling into a normal sleep cycle somehow. But I can't stop taking it as I get withdrawal and rebound insomnia so feel completely stuck. I'm no longer looking at Trazadone as have read some dodgy things about it but am hoping my Psych will give me another option as things aren't sustainable the way they are. Mirtazapine undoubtedly saved my life two years ago, but I have this feeling it's become counter productive now xx

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