Hi, I recently restarted Pregabalin after a break of 4/5 months, this to replace my repeat medication of Codeine hoping to get a few Months relief before Tolerance as happened last time kicks in. Like many on this forum I am prone to bouts of anxiety and have had access to Diazepam in the past, having checked for interactions half life etc. I asked my GP for a course of Trazadone in addition to the Pregabalin, planning to take 50mg in the morning and then restart pregabalin in the evening also at 50mg, my thoughts being that this regime might help with both RLS/PLMD and also anxiety. Now, I have tried Trazadone in the past, taken at night hoping it might help with insomnia, it didn`t seem to make much difference. From past experience I do know that 30 mins. or so after taking Trazadone you can feel a bit wobbly, anyway the first morning I started this new regime sure enough after a while I felt a bit odd and decided I might be safer sitting down somewhere, my next memory was wondering my head hurt and and realising I was on the floor I blacked one more time and felt pretty bad for an hour or two, very scary and I haven`t touched it since.
Trazadone weird reaction: Hi, I... - Restless Legs Syn...
Trazadone weird reaction
As you've used pregabalin and also trazodone before the following may not apply. However the NHS warns that in very rare cases it's possible to have a serious allergic reaction to either trazodone or pregabalin: symptoms, amongst others, can include confusion, drowsiness, dizziness and/or fainting.
Neither of these drugs may be the culprit here, but I hope that you have reported this apparently serious event to your doctor?
(I had a strange event myself nearly 3 years ago, was brushed off by a locum, but immediately referred for tests by my usual doctor the next day: I had had aTIA ['mini stroke'])
Hello, I`m reluctant to report it because understandably no Dr in the future would prescribe it, and as two bouts of Depression in the past were successfully treated with Citalopram ( now known to be a no no) I wouldn`t wish to totally rule out access to Trazadone given that its the only safe Anti Depressant for RLS/PLMD.
While trazodone is *almost* universally considered safe for RLS, there are occasional reports that it is not. This is the most recent such report that I've seen (it is of course only reporting one case!)
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/353...
The other 'RLS safe' anti depressant quoted in the Mayo algorithm is bupropion - also see the following (which also mentions trazodone, nefazodone & doxepin ):
Hey! This is a known interaction between trazadone and Lyrica. I definitely would not mix the two if you are getting these symptoms. Did one doctor prescribe both drugs? That's not good pharmacology if so.
Hello, there was no interaction, I wasn`t due to restart Pregabalin until the evening.
What interaction are you meaning?
I had to stop taking trazodone as I was also taking dihydrocodeine for restless legs. At first I had a mild type of miclonus ( so GP diagnosed) eg when using my tablet my fingers would involuntarily tap screen and that progressed to where I would get whole body jerking so that I had to hold on to a stable piece of furniture to stop from collapsing. This did not happen every day and it mostly happened when getting up from sitting or lying down. The last time it happened was about 6am and I had only walked a few steps from bed to doorway when I was jerked backwards and fell on to floor. As I have suffered severe weakness in legs for many years (I blame statins) I had to lie there for a few hours till I managed to bottom walk to reach phone to get help as there was no way I could get myself upright. I stopped taking trazodone that day as this experience was so frightening and the withdrawal symptoms were almost as bad as withdrawal from dopamine agonists. I have never found any reason why this happened and wonder if it caused something similar to serotonin syndrome.
Hi Ellsbells. How much trazodone were you taking each day,
150mg twice a day.
Are you saying one 50mg x 2 a day. Or 150mg x 2 a day?
As stated 150 mg one tablet am and second tablet pm.
Thank you!
We recommend trazodone frequently on here or at least say it’s RLS friendly. My recommendation is a 25 to 50mg tablet once a day right before bed. Based on your experience I’m going to recommend that the dosage not be raised much beyond this
I was taking it as an antidepressant as I have suffered from major depression since my mid teens. It not only helped with the depression but, and this is why I continued to take it, it meant I slept every night. As I have also suffered with insomnia from mid teens it really y was addictive to sleep every night. It was only when I went cold turkey that I realised it had many bad side effects which I had not attributed to trazodone but which disappeared on cessation. I now have no medication to help with depression and there are days I cannot get out of bed and weeks I do not leave the house but my restless legs are pretty well controlled and to me that is the most important thing.
You might want to try 25 to 50mg of trazodone before bed or .25 to .50 mg of klonopin for sleep. Or both. Discuss with your doctor. I know you had a bad experience with high dose trazodone, but low dose before bed might be your ticket to sleeping.
Yes, RLS is the greatest darkness. However, here is a very recent article on alternative treatments for depression. medpagetoday.com/meetingcov...
Thanks for your help but I will never take trazodone again at any dosage . When I do not sleep I have thought about using a small dose but as I said there were other side effects and it took 2/3 months to recover after stopping . I was advised by an excellent psychiatrist that there are some people that nothing really works to help their depression the best to hope for, and trazodone did this, is to "take the edge off of the depression". I am also one of those people who often have reaction to drugs that other people tolerate with no side effects. Hope this is making sense as it is 2 am and I will not sleep tonight.
That's a lot so maybe at least was part of the cause.
Hi Bumble, I know some pharmacists consider low dose trazodone as a good substitute for Ambien. And like Ambien, I tend to think of trazodone as not a substance you want to take during the day. The dosage for sleep and anxiety is different than that for depression which can go as high as 400mg outpatient and 600mg inpatient. I’m no longer recommending it for depression on here. I have a script for it and use it when I’m wound up and can’t sleep. Either 25 or 50mg. If I’m not in bed within about 20 minutes after taking it, I notice some dizziness. Wellbutrin might be a better alternative for people with RLS and depression. goodrx.com/trazodone/trazod...
Pregabalin is also used to treat anxiety.
However 50mg is a low dose and probably wouldn't make much of a dent in your anxiety or RLS/PLMD.
Have you tried a higher dose previously?
Not what you're looking for?
You may also like...
Trouble with trazadone
Has trazadone worked for any of u?
Advice on RLS as a reaction to medication?
Exhaustion and nausea
Has anyone had severe reaction to Neupro
Related Posts
GP's reaction to restless legs
Severe reactions to RLS prescriptions.
RLS - The bad reaction with Citalopram -
Moderation team
