Posted , 3 users are following.
i am on trazodone 150 mg for 2 days did not sleep at all faster heartbeat white flashing lights
headachce all day should i continue i was on clonazepam for 2years
please share yr experience will trazodone help for sleep
0 likes, 4 replies
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mike24933 n007
Posted
I was prescribed Trazodone for insomnia. It did not help me sleep at all. It might possibly have taken the edge off the anxiety though. I'm not sure. Some people seem to find it helps for sleep but it didn't for me. I didn't notice any of the other symptoms you mention but I know when the dose was increased (can't remember exact figure) I felt very ill and had to reduce it to around 50mg. I couldn't walk any distance. I also found I developed an extreme intolerance (almost allergy) to alcohol, which disappeared after I stopped.
n007 mike24933
Posted
hi mike thanks for yr answer no trazodone did not help at all for sleep i am on it for 4 weeks no sleep
at all.have you tried doxepin ,would you share yr experience what do you take for yr insomnia
i am desperate for sleep
mike24933 n007
Posted
Hi n007,
Have you any idea what started the insomnia? I don't know what started mine. Such a problem had never even crossed my mind before. It might have been a build up of stress for all sorts of reasons. Suddenly I couldn't sleep at all, day or night. I was really scared. Once it starts it becomes a vicious circle because you worry about not sleeping, and what is going to happen, and the worry stops you sleeping. I found the only way out of it was to find a way to reduce the worry or fear. That is much easier said than done. I got a pamphlet from the NHS which gave all sorts of advice. One thing it said was "Lack of sleep cannot harm you". I decided to focus on that. I also read a number of old fashioned books on worry and they all said "no one ever died through lack of sleep". I know that lack of sleep makes you feel lousy but I think now that the worry and fear associated with it makes it much worse. You have to accept that there is nothing you can do to "force yourself to sleep". The very act of "trying" to do something about it means you keep focusing on it, hoping it will go and get more anxious when it doesn't.
Do all the accepted things like dark, quiet room, comfortable bed, not too hot or cold, no TV or reading novels late at night, wind down for half an hour before bed, don't sleep in day or lie in in morning, don't eat too late, don't drink caffeine after say 2pm, and , very important, don't have a clock in the room. After that I kept on concentrating on and re-reading "Lack of sleep won't harm you" and "no one ever died through lack of sleep". I tried to think "what the hell, I don't care", and "let the bloody thing do its worst". Just getting a bit into that state of mind rather than the fear state reduced the anxiety very slightly. I realized after a few months that I was actually still alive and functioning after a fashion even though I felt terrible. I also realized that even when I was certain I hadn't slept for a second, in fact I might have slept a bit. (That is definitely possible.)
The problem gradually faded as I stopped trying to cure it . I still had really bad patches after I thought it had gone but I just tried to revert to "I don't care".
Sleep is a natural process. People have been sleeping for thousands of years. A vast number of people have had bad insomnia, They all survived. You will too. Bear in mind that it is actually impossible to force yourself not to sleep at all for very long.
I was actually in such a state that I told the doctor I thought I had a brain tumor or some problem that was stopping me ever being able to sleep again. The doc' knew that wasn't true.
I am sorry to be so long winded but I hope something in there might help.
MIke
Lolasmom n007
Posted
I was on trazodone and benzo (klonopin) for 18 months. Then I had to wean off of both. It took 9 months to wean off, and have been 2 years post withdrawal .NIGHTMARE!!!!!!