Trazadone
Trazodone belongs to the drug class of
anti-depressants. At the same time, this medicine is also considered to be part
of the group of drugs named serotonin receptor antagonists. The drug has been
also thought to be a part of Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRI).
However, Trazodone is not really a true member of this drug group even though
it shares a few properties with the SSRI.
- Description
- Additional Information
- Uses
- Interactions
- Side Effects
Trazodone is an anti-depressant widely
used to treat major depressive disorders. When taken, this medicine improves
the appetite, mood as well as energy levels of the patient suffering from
depression as these are the areas that get mostly affected. Also, this medicine
helps in reducing the episodes of anxiety attacks as well as insomnia connected
to depression.
Serotonin is the major component of Trazodone. Serotonin is a natural chemical in the brain that helps boost mood imbalance and restores the sleep/awake cycle - essential for a person's mental and physical well-being. When the serotonin level in the body gets disrupted, depression comes along.
Taking Trazodone under such a situation certainly helps restore the ideal balance of serotonin in the body that automatically uplifts the mood and becomes a great help to deal with depression. The medicine is available in tablet form to be swallowed as whole or to be taken half based on the requirement, or the dosage doctor has recommended.
Here is the basic information about the
drug in a nutshell that you need to know -
Drug - Trazodone
Generic Name - Trazodone
Brand Name- Trazodone, Desyrel, Desyrel Dividose, Oleptro
Drug Class - Phenylpiperazine Antidepressant
Dosage - Oral Tablet (50mg, 100mg, 150mg, 300mg)
Who cannot Take Trazodone?
For the safe intake of the medicine and to give it the chance to work on your depression symptoms, you should know whether you are fit to take the medicine or not. You should not take the medicine or at least consult your healthcare provider beforehand if you -
- Have epilepsy or undergoing an
electroconvulsive treatment as this medicine can increase the chances of
seizure under such circumstances.
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding,
or planning to get pregnant.
- Have experienced a heart attack
recently.
- Have liver or kidney-related
issues.
- Have porphyria
What Happens in Trazodone Overdose?
An overdose of Trazodone can turn out to be quite fatal. If you take Trazodone with alcohol, any sedative, or barbiturate, it will certainly lead to an overdose. Some of the overdose symptoms can be excessive vomiting, blackout, irregular heartbeats, seizure, and painful penis erection for males. In case any such incident occurs, you should not waste any time before calling the emergency medical helpline.
What Happens After a Missed Dosage?
In case, you accidentally miss a dose, you should take it as soon as possible. The extended-release tablets are required to be taken at the same time every day. So, you might need to stay a bit careful about that. However, you have to make sure that there is enough time gap left between two doses. In case you see that you have already missed a dose and you remember taking it when there is not much time left for the next dose, you can skip the missed one and go for the next one. If you take two doses back to back, it may turn out to be an overdose.
How to Store Trazodone?
Trazodone needs to be stored at room temperature and inside a closed container. It’s important to keep it away from the reach of the children. Also, it is important that you keep this medicine in a place that is away from heat, direct light and moisture.
The medicine is primarily used for reducing the overbearing symptoms or effects of depression. Taking the medicine following the right dosing method is important to make sure the medicine works properly and does not leave you with many side effects.
The right method of taking this tablet is to swallow the whole tablet with water. Or, you can break the tablet into halves via the score line to take it. For any adjustment in dosage, it is important to consult your doctor first. Also, you must not try to chew or crush the tablet before taking it.
Dosage of Trazodone
The dosage can vary based on multiple circumstances. The strength of the medicine, your age, your mental and physical condition, and status of improvement after taking the medicine for a certain time - there are some of the factors that decide the dosage changes. Also, the time between each dosage, the number of medicines you can have, as well as the timeline for you to continue taking the medicine are some of the other factors that contribute to it.
Dose for Adults (Tablets)
An adult can begin the dose of Trazodone with 150 mg per day in a single dose. Based on your condition, the dosage can be higher than this. However, you must not take more than 400 mg in a day.
Dose for Adults (Extended-release tablets)
An adult can begin the dose of Trazodone with 150 mg per day in a single dose. Based on your condition, the dosage can be higher than this. However, you must not take more than 375 mg in a day.
How to Take Trazodone?
- It is important to take Trazodone only after a heavy meal or a snack.
- It is not going to relieve you from the depression symptoms overnight. So, you have to wait at least for 2 weeks before the symptoms start to improve. For some patients, it may take longer than that as well.
- If you are planning to stop the intake of Trazodone, don’t do it abruptly. Sudden withdrawal of the medicine may lead you to experience some side effects such as agitation, excessive sweating, confusion, tingling, numbness, vomiting, and many more.
You can break the single dose of 150mg into three separate doses of 50mg. Also, it is important for the patients to undergo some medical trials before and while taking the medicine. Those are -
- Screening for understanding the
personal and family history of mania, bipolar disorder or any other
chronic mental health issues before taking the medicine.
- For withdrawal and
discontinuation of the medicine, the patient has to be monitored for side
effects.
- After a positive response of
the medicine, the usual dosage that you were on may cut down after
consulting the doctor.
If you are presently dealing with any other health condition other than depression or taking medicines for other issues, you need to consult your doctor before starting to take Trazodone as it can lead to quite serious drug interactions that you are not prepared for. Check out the list of some other medicines that can cause this kind of drug interaction while you are on Trazodone.
Don’t combine Trazodone with any sort of MAO (monoamine oxidase) inhibitor. Some of the medicines classified as MAO inhibitors are methylene blue, phenelzine, linezolid, tranylcypromine, selegiline, etc. If you are on the verge of quitting the MAO inhibitor and starting with Trazodone, you should wait for at least 2 weeks before you start the medicine. Similarly, you can start an MAO inhibitor after quitting Trazodone for at least 2 weeks. Maintaining this gap of two weeks is mandatory between the intake of these two medicines. Otherwise, you will develop some symptoms like restlessness, high body temperature, stomach symptoms, confusion, blood pressure, convulsion, agitation, and even confusion.
Trazodone leads to a health condition named serotonin syndrome when combined with some other medicines. It’s important to avoid combining some of the medicines with Trazodone and those are -
- Buspirone
- Fentanyl
- Lithium
- Tryptophan
- St. John’s wort
- Sumatriptan
- Tramadol
- Frova
- Relpax
- Zomig
- Maxalt
The intake of Trazodone, following the
right instructions and method may help you to deal with depression. However,
the medicine has some side effects as well that you need to know beforehand so
that you can speak to your healthcare provider in case of any sort of
emergency.
Common Side Effects
- Dizziness
- Confusion
- Blurred Vision
- Sweating
- Lightheadedness
- Weakness
- Unusual Tiredness
Other than these mentioned side effects,
you may experience trouble in falling asleep, dry mouth, muscle or bone pain
and a few others. If you experience any of these effects at a moderate or mild
level, consider it as temporary side effects. However, there can be situations
when you can also experience certain less common side effects that may require
much more attention of yours.
Less Common Side Effects
- Fainting
- Reduced focus or concentration
level
- Headache
- Lack of coordination
- Severe confusion
- Burning or pinching sensation
in the body
- Nervousness
- Muscle Tremors
- Shortness of breath
Some of the rare side effects of the medicine are either a skin rash outbreak or unusual excitement. There are very less number of reports suggesting some prolonged side effects of Trazodone also that includes hearing loss, diarrhea or constipation. However, these are very rare ones. If any of the side effects go out of hand and you feel excessive discomfort, don’t waste time to reach out to your healthcare provider and adjust the dosages accordingly.