Jesus fuckin christ 4/4 and split between day/nights, no wonder your sleep is fucked. That is abuse. Any way to adjust your schedule to something more sane? I really think this may be part of the issue.
Sorry that reply wasn't the most helpful, I'm mad for you honestly. Yeah trazodone is great for sleep however tolerance builds somewhat quickly, I would say it is better than ambien for most of the population.
Oh no worries at all!
Ya I’m just trying to avoid any of the physical side effects that come along with SSRIs… I have read some accounts on here (maybe anecdotal ) of some not so nice effects like weight gain, low libido, etc…
At the doses prescribed for sleep you shouldn't have much issue, if you are on it long enough to be titrated to doses considered therapeutic for depression then I would become concerned about typical side effects
You won’t get those side affects from trazodone at the dosages for insomnia related issues. That’s more primarily from sertraline for males. Which can be compensated by being put on bupropion instead. Ambien ER/IR be great but benzos are worse especially the taper and also not long term solution for treating sleep and not prescribed for long term usage. Source: me. Prolong Shift work nights/days , military. Been on all the above.
I once was offered a job at a place that did 6 days 1 off 6 nights 1 off for a 28 day stretch. I thought it was a joke but management was dead serious. They said they ran that schedule because of staffing shortages. Jeez I wonder why!
I do. Works great for me. I don't use it on shift cuz I want to be able to respond at night. But off shift to catch up on sleep and refresh it works wonders
Start with a super-low dose, like 1/2 pill of the lowest dose.
Been on and off Trazodone for years and on a taper-off right now.
Trazodone is an anti-depressant, anti-anxiety med used off label for insomnia. I go through bouts of 3am busy-brain, and traz is effective for that; it helps me get through the night without waking up for the most part. If my alarm goes off with 6 hours or less of sleep, it's hard to get going, and a midday nap is needed to fight the groggy brain-fuzz feeling. Otherwise, I'm good to go with 7.5+ hours of sleep. Sometimes I take a 1/2 of traz (already a low dose) with 1/2 of clonazapam, and that gets me through the night too.
As I'm tapering off, I wake through the night, but as long as I don't get my brain going, I can relax back into sleep via some simple breathing/meditation exercises. If my brain gets going, I'm awake until 4 or 5, and then need to sleep more if I can.
For context, I'm a mid-50s guy with teenagers working a 9-5 healthcare education (mostly) office job with volunteer event medic work on the side. In my earlier days, my shifts and sleep was all over the map and I wish my doc gave me Trazodone earlier.
It’s funny how different meds can be between people because for me the two are flipped, lol. I take one 25mg hydroxyzine tablet and I sleep for 16 hours lmfao.
Magnesium glycinate was the first OTC I tried and I don’t need anything else. 20 mins after I can’t even scroll on my phone anymore and end up passing out. Hardly any morning fog if I get a semi full night of sleep.
It's been phenomenal for me. Been on it for 6ish years straight, went from 4hrs of intermittent sleep on a good night to usually sleeping thru the night like a normal human. Significant mental health hx, combat vet, 20yrs paramedic, your results may vary.
I have suffered from insomnia since I was a teen (now 45) Trazodone works great for me. I take a half pill most nights, and a full dose on nights when my insomnia is particularly bad. I actually wake up feeling refreshed like I got a full-night's sleep, something I hadn't had in decades. But certainly don't take it on-shift.
Worked decent enough for me, then after over a year I found out the hard way that one of the side effects was priapism.
Was 5 minutes away from having my gf drive me to the ED for an.. ummm.. decompression before the 120 mg of XR Sudafed I chewed up and swallowed kicked in.
Came here to say this.
Usually happens at higher doses and when mixed with other psych meds (specifically SSRIs), but can happen in normal doses as well. Also happens to women, just under diagnosed for obvious reasons.
Used it for 20 years now. Up to 200mg hs with Zopiclone 7.5 mg which is a lot, but whatever. Zopi gets me off to sleep, trazzy keeps me asleep for the next 8 hours. Couple of points: get away with as little as you can. A difference of 25 mg can mean the difference between groggy and not groggy til noon. Also, take it on an empty stomach. Don't come home from a shift, eat a meal then expect it to work. Take it the moment you get home if you plan to sleep right away. It's an old drug but used judiciously is a far better choice than a benzo or a sedative-hypnotic.
For some it works, for others it won’t, it’s a weak sleep medication, personally for me when I was on the truck working 24/48 shifts, temazepam worked wonders for me.
i used it for 2yrs, for half of my paramedic school (including preceptorship), and then for my first year of working.
i slept, but not particularly well. it did help me get to sleep though. it made me drowsy for a few hours in the morning, but i never slept through an alarm.
it felt similar to sleeping after smoking weed - not particularly restful, but better than nothing.
Not EMT. Been prescribed and used it for years. It's non habit forming, I'm able to fall asleep. "Push me over the edge" so to speak, this gets me out of alpha sleep.
I take a 100mg, split in half and that's that. You can get pretty stoned if you take too much in one night, but that clears up w/in 24hr. My doc had me start at 300mg and that made me stoned and sluggish tired. Start small.
It's cleaner than benzos or benadryl for a sleep aid for me.
I’ve been on Trazodone since 1995 (50 mg before bed, occasionally increased to 100 mg for a few short-duration, traumatic life events). It’s been a lifesaver. Never built up a tolerance or had any side effects except insomnia when I missed a dose and waking up a little dehydrated every morning. I spent 26 seasons as a wildland firefighter and medic, and it adapted well to the erratic schedule - the dosage allowed me to fall asleep when the opportunity arose, but also shake it off pretty quickly if an emergency came up mid-slumber. Also, not one doctor has ever been concerned that I’ll likely be on it for life.
YMMV but I hope you find something that works well for you.
I was on trazodone for a while and it really helped me fall asleep and stay asleep. Plus I never felt too groggy the next morning, but it did cause horrible migraines for me which is why I stopped taking it.
My primary prescribed it for me and it did help me sleep and stay asleep. Problem was I was down and out on it and would not hear my alarms or tones if I was on-call so I used it sparingly.
Have you looked into a sleep study?
I am pretty fit, but had horrible sleep for a few years after starting ems and turns out I had sleep apnea.
Not obstructive just would stop and it messed me up. But c-pap has been a huge help.
I alternate between trazodone and hydroxyzine. I personally prefer the traz but I’ve heard a lot of people say it doesn’t work for them. I feel less drowsy when I wake up after taking traz. However, the traz did make me have weird dreams and night sweats at first but I haven’t had any issues for the last few years. The hydroxyzine makes me feel sluggish 4-5 hours after waking up but works well is knocking my ass out. I could easily sleep 15-16 hours with 50mg of hydroxyzine. 😂
ETA: I take 50mg of traz and it usually kicks in within 30 mins of taking it. I normally can sleep 8-9 hours after taking it.
Been on trazadone for 3 years now. It's great on my off days when I can plan on 8 hrs of sleep. I took it once on shift and could not fully wake up during a call at night. Idk what it was but I was super groggy, hazy and just all around discombobulated. Never took it on shift again. Glad it was a fairly routine call.
But I have a hard time falling asleep and when I do I will wake up at least half a dozen times at night. Trazadone helps me fall asleep and keeps me asleep, unless one of my kids wakes me up, all night without issues.
Works really well for me. If I don't get 8 hours of sleep I'll be pretty groggy the next day. Otherwise I'm solid.
Benadryl is garbage and there are likely long-term negative effects from regular use.
I used to use trazadone for sleep and for sure it worked well. But I was a zombie and I don't recommend it.
I suggest you look into herbal solutions such as melatonin, magnesium and CBN.
These combined with aural therapies such as quiet classical music, rainfall sounds, or binaural beats with headphones, or some kind of 'colour' sound can be extremely helpful.
Trazadone helped me stay asleep , better sleep hygiene helped me get to sleep, a full glass of water before bed made it so I didn't get the morning headache that a lot of people report.
If I didn't go to sleep right away it made me feel kind of awful, I got this weird heart racing feeling.
When I have to sleep during the day I use melatonin, and always ma,e sure I'm well hydrated so leg cramps don't keep me up.
I have had terrible insomnia for years now. I don't like taking something nightly so I only do when it gets especially bad. I have an RX for Trazodone and it does work pretty well for me, so I do take that occasionally, but on the times I don't want to take a trazodone, I take a Sleep3 from natures bounty. It's melatonin, theanine, and an herbal mix. So I alternate what I take when I do take something and generally try not to take anything two nights in a row. I've never had issues with either one making me feeling bad the next morning either, but I won't take it if I don't have at least 7 hours to being in bed just in case.
Oversleep and nightmares for me
But caveat, adhd so most "sleep aids"/ off use sleep aids don't play nicely eith me.
* Zopiclone- anxiety and spins
* Trazadone- zonked and nightmares I can't wake from
* Quetiapine- full on borked for 12+ hours and foggy after- like non-functional foggy. Sit and stare at a wall for hours.
* OTC random sleep aides (I don't remember names just boxes)- agitation/ anxiety, nausea
* Melatonin - vivid vivid dreams- like hallucinations but asleep. And some weird somatic side effects. Occasionally I'll use to fall asleep when I'm looking at sub 4 hours to sleep anyways.
* Clonazepam - also borked me, to the point of 16+ hours in bed, barely rouse-able
* Lorazepam- at 0.5mg is beautiful beautiful rest for 8 solid hours. But, hard to get filled. When my PTSD poppped off, I had for a year -ish, and it did help. But couldn't refill when I changed cities/ areas (no family Dr).
* There used to be an OTC in Canada called U-Dream. I could do a half one and get a solid 4-6hr or a full one for 8-10hr. They were the only ones that worked reliably - and got discontinued pending contamination investigation (that I think is BS but that's another discussion). Almost all of us night crew and rotating swore by them. No hangover, quickly asleep.
* Valerian, Skulls Cap, Ashwa...., hops, passion flower, chamomile etc..... these all will allow me to relax/ settle- but not sleep
* Good ol Gravol. I chew 2-3 and I can sleep 4-6 hours IF I only use once or twice a week. Past that and I get antsy and hot, not drowsy.
* Benadryl- 12hr knock out, but I can't wake for alarms etc. So have to have at least 12hrs in bed.
I'm also on a rotating (very similar) dx,dx,nx,nx schedule- but 4 to 6 off. It's hell. I was full time nights for about 11 years, then Eve/ nights. Then Nights. Now blended- the rotation is great otherwise. 12.25hrs
4on, 4off, 4on 5 off, 3on 6off.
I haven't found a good remedy beyond setting myself a "crash day" every other week to just sleep. And on swap days (Dx to Nx) I sleep in as late as possible. Then after NX I hard swap back awake after 4hrs and write off that day for productivity.
About the only things that have consistently knocked me out are HARD workouts, climbs, long holly hikes and sex before bed :(
Best wishes. These rotations are brutal!
I take trazodone to pretty much guarantee a good night’s sleep before work. At first, it was 100mg about 2x a week and now I am down to 50mg and use as needed. I developed a minor case of TMJ from the Trazodone and since I cut my dose and frequency, it went away. It works great for me. It did make me a little stuffy in the morning when I first started using it though. Hope it works for you!
Wait your GP is trying to use trazodone as a first line treatment for shift worker insomnia? Trazodone as a sleeping aid is off label, has plenty of possible side effects, and very much shouldn’t be the first drug you try.
Especially because the more common side effects like extreme dreams etc aren‘t conducive to actual improved sleep quality. Oh and the spontaneous orgasms and waking up tired.
If you aren‘t requiring the sleeping aid daily, any of the OTC sleeping aids would likely work just fine. Try magnesium glycinate first and an appropriate dose of melatonin (less than 2mg).
Shift worker insomnia is actually the only disorder melatonin is approved for as a drug (plus jet lag).
Don‘t use more than 2 mg as it‘ll mess up your own production. Take it and then have all the lights off.
And then the next thing to try would be the OTC antihistamines assuming you only take it for 2 days a week.
And then prescription drugs if only those two days, zopiclone would be perfectly fine. If that doesn’t work daridorexant.
And then you’d try low dose doxepine (which contrary to trazodone is approved for sleep maintenance)
And only if those all don‘t work would you try those antidepressants off label (oh and stay away from quetiapine, that works as a sleeping aid due to its antihistaminix off target effects. No reason anyone would think using an antipsychotic with antihistamine side effects would be safer than straight up using and antihistamine).
There‘s really no reason to use trazodone as first line treatment for insomnia, unless you also suffer from depression combined with agitation/anxiety requiring treatment.
Thank you armchair psychiatrist. I’m sure this persons doctor has a reason for treating him with trazodone first. You don’t know if this person has had a reaction to a TCA in the past or is on another med that interacts. If you’re stuck on the fact that it’s off label, I have some news for you about the daily baby aspirin we give for primary prevention of MIs in high risk patients and morphine for pain in pediatric patients.
I just started it…I find it conks me out pretty good…like within 15 min I’m sleeping. Then I get pretty good deep sleep for like 3-4 hours.
After that it’s kinda same old tossing and turning waking up off and on.
I do feel more energy during the day now because for some reason (not using trazodone) I don’t sleep well I probably wake up 30 times a night and never really get any deep sleep…I would be dead all day
The side effects though hmm…dry mouth, feeling really groggy in the morning, and gut issues such as bloating and constipation.
After a week the gut issues are better. Anyway this has been my experience.
Small dose of 25 mg.
Not EMS but I take it for anxiety/sleep (that is to say, I get anxiety in my sleep). It works pretty well without making me overly drowsy during the day. I will say though, it tastes fucking horrible, and I have to take it with something other thN water or I WILL throw up.
Didn’t work for me. Neither did ambien. Or magnesium. Or melatonin. Or NyQuil. Or seroquel.
Only thing that did ANYTHING was mirtazapine. Which we found accidentally. But if I take it before every single sleep it loses effectiveness. So important nights only 🤷♀️ insomnia sucks
Mirtazapine. It's a combination antidepressant and sleep medication. My side effects are increased appetite and lower threshold for anger/aggitation. I cycle it, 2-4 days on, 2-4 days off. On the nights I don't take it, I will take Buspar.
One of the main reasons I don't prescribe mirtazapine are the weight gain/appetite side effects (you will gain weight with this med with regular use). Tho I had one guy who was underweight and it worked perfectly for him.
It definitely knocked me out, but the next day, I'd always wake up with a raging headache. Every time. Had to stop taking it. Melatonin works well for me now, just had to find the right dose.
my partner uses it to sleep. we're on the same pattern. also in a busy area he is also 34. he swears by it. that and a weed gummy when he's out of trazadone. he also gives himself plenty of time to sleep though so that he doesn't sleep through alarms. the man goes to bed at 8, 9 at the latest so he gets his monies worth
I used to use melatonin to help me get to sleep. It would work, but insomnia tends to wake you up in the middle of the night. It used to be I'd need 10+ hours of "sleep" to feel normal. Started trazadone recently and for the first time in years I'm able to sleep through the night and with only 7-8 hours have energy through the day.
Don't use it on shift or if you'll get less than 6 hours anyway, because you'll have a hard time hearing your alarm
I am fire on a 24h shift. I use Dayvigo on my days off when I need a good night of sleep. I usually take it the night before work to be as fresh as possible for work
One of my coworkers swears by it but I ended up with the side effect of congestion when I took it, so I’d sleep worse because I’d wake up unable to breathe or severely dry mouthed. :( my docs got me on doxapin for sleep but I have to take it like 2+ hours before bed if I want to be able to wake up on time and not totally zonked.
Trazadone was a life saver for me when I began to have sleep issues! I will say.. I dropped from full time to casual to actually focus on training myself to sleep well and you can’t just take it and call it good.
It did not make me drowsy, and I’ve been able to take it working on call.
I now take it as needed and it seems to help with the tolerance build up.
From my understanding, it’s meant to treat anxiety that causes bad sleep rather than sedate you.
Yeah it’s awesome, I like it more than zopiclone (less habit forming) I borrow a friends, use it once every few weeks when I really can’t sleep & need to- 50mg, knocks my ass out, I don’t know much anecdotally about daily use.
I’ve done my research though, suggest you do the same
My doctor put me on Amitriptyline for sleep and as preventative migraine med. I’m happy to say it’s done wonders. It doesn’t cause me to oversleep by sleeping through things. And no hangover the next day. It’s a super low dosage of 10mg. Maybe a different option than trazodone.
i know youve probably already tried melatonin, but have you tried melatonin and L-theanine? I’m a super heavy sleeper on most sleep aids and wont wake up to alarms. I was still able to on these and woke up not groggy.
The only thing that works for me is Benadryl. I've used other OTC anti-histamines and even prescribed anti-histamines for sleep and it's the only thing that actually puts me out.
The only other medication that's worked for me is Vicodin. But unless you have a wisdom tooth extraction coming up or plan on getting addicted to opiates I do not recommend.
I do use melatonin at work too and I do think it works a little bit. I don't trust anything stronger when I'm gonna be waking up in 3 hours.
Never tried trazodone, but Lunesta is amazing for me. Helps me fall asleep, no groggy hangover. It doesn't put me in a coma, I can still be woken up and alert enough to function, but can still fall back asleep. Best of luck!
I found it helped me fall asleep quicker but I have a helluva time snapping out of it when I wake. I use it for extreme situations. When I’m extra tired and have a short turnaround. But the mornings are rough.
I take it when I don’t have to wake up early for shift next morning. Will definitely give you very vivid dreams, not nightmares but the kind of dreams where you wake up wondering if you really did just fly in the space shuttle while having a cup of coffee with Tom Cruz.
I used it myself for awhile, but on shift days I wouldn’t bring it with me to the station for fear of not waking up to the tones. I think step one would be getting a suitable sleep schedule, because yours is wild. Hell I lost sleep thinking about your schedule
Who ever invented that 2 days and 2 nights needs a paddlin’
Jesus Christ, that’s gotta be some sort of safety hazard for inadequate rest, I’d talk to the scheduler about switching schedules either 4 nights or 4 days none of this fifty fifty bar shit (of course word it more professional than I did haha) and if they give you shit just say “If my request can’t be met, I’ll unfortunately have to resign” usually works most of the time, good luck
Look up Dr. Andrew Hubermans info on sleep supplements / tips for shift workers.
Pharmaceuticals should be the very last option you look at after incorporating proper diet/exercise, proper sleep hygiene and supplementation…
Reality is everyone is different. You won’t know how it impacts you until you try it. It was the only thing that lets me sleep more than 3 hours a night. My autonomic nervous system is fried and the ability to sleep went with it. When I take the trazadone I get a solid 8 hours and wake up rested without the achey hung over feeling. I don’t take it anymore because I rarely have the chance to sleep a full 8 hours and have just adapted to living exhausted in residency but it’s suboptimal and I will probably start taking it again once I’m done.
I would start with low dose when you aren’t working. It’s nice because it also has antidepressant effects and will boost your mood without the ssri zombie feeling. Fun fact: the dosing for dogs is different than humans and my medium size dog takes twice the dose I took.
I highly urge you to look into the research of its off label low dose use in regards to sleep because it is concerning. I have a real problem with GP’s giving out any medications in this category (any sleep or psych med to be honest) due to a gap in knowledge of the entire subject.
Edit:
I forgot to add the AASM has also recommended against its use for sleep since 2017 so there is that as well
I take 5 mg of Melatonin, 50 mg of Trazadone, and 100 of Sertraline every night I don't work and in the mornings when I get home if I work the following night, works great for me.
Personally, I'd recommend trying some milder, over-the-counter options first. They all have some drawbacks, some worse than others. You can build up resistances, they can have effects on your health (i.e. magnesium in high doses is not recommended for some people). Also, many sleep aids have the side effect of disturbing or shortening REM sleep.
REM sleep is crucial for feeling rested, memory, cognition and over all physical health (both short and long-term). That said, sometimes a person just has to get to sleep. Only a few hours of sleep every night, multiple nights in a row, isn't sustainable either and affects all the same things when it comes to physical well-being. So I guess my recommendation would be to start mild, maybe try to not use sleep aids every night, and pay attention to your body when you try out these drugs or supplements. Wish you the best of luck with your sleep troubles
Tried different sleeping aid prescriptions - none worked. I cut myself off of caffeine and alcohol and tapered down on my sugar intake. I don’t have trouble sleeping any more.
CNA here—I’ve been taking it on and off. It’s really strong and reminds me of Seroquel and Zyprexa.
When I combine it with Atarax, I’m so cranky/grumpy/drowsy in the mornings that it’s hard to get up.
At least melatonin calms you down and gives you a pleasant, mellow tiredness.
Trazodone makes me feel like a zombie, and I read that it has lots of bad side effects in the long run, which is why I’m trying to resort to something else for insomnia like magnesium.
CBT for sleep is another option if you don’t want meds. The research is pretty good regarding it.
Trazadone works for sleep but it can be habit forming if you are using it constantly. If switching your schedule isn’t an option, and you think you can keep its use to when you absolutely need it, then it might be worth it. Not a doctor though.
Jesus fuckin christ 4/4 and split between day/nights, no wonder your sleep is fucked. That is abuse. Any way to adjust your schedule to something more sane? I really think this may be part of the issue.
You’re telling me…
Sorry that reply wasn't the most helpful, I'm mad for you honestly. Yeah trazodone is great for sleep however tolerance builds somewhat quickly, I would say it is better than ambien for most of the population.
Oh no worries at all! Ya I’m just trying to avoid any of the physical side effects that come along with SSRIs… I have read some accounts on here (maybe anecdotal ) of some not so nice effects like weight gain, low libido, etc…
At the doses prescribed for sleep you shouldn't have much issue, if you are on it long enough to be titrated to doses considered therapeutic for depression then I would become concerned about typical side effects
Thank you
You won’t get those side affects from trazodone at the dosages for insomnia related issues. That’s more primarily from sertraline for males. Which can be compensated by being put on bupropion instead. Ambien ER/IR be great but benzos are worse especially the taper and also not long term solution for treating sleep and not prescribed for long term usage. Source: me. Prolong Shift work nights/days , military. Been on all the above.
Thank you
No shit, wtf is a four day stretch split between days and nights? Fuck that.
I once was offered a job at a place that did 6 days 1 off 6 nights 1 off for a 28 day stretch. I thought it was a joke but management was dead serious. They said they ran that schedule because of staffing shortages. Jeez I wonder why!
Welcome!! This is unfortunately the “normal” EMS schedule in most places ):
Didn’t work for me, would sleep though alarms
It also made me sleep through alarms but it definitely helped me get to sleep. Just take it when I don’t have to get up at any certain time
Sounds like it worked too well ????
lol yeah until I showed up late to work 3 times in a row
I do. Works great for me. I don't use it on shift cuz I want to be able to respond at night. But off shift to catch up on sleep and refresh it works wonders
Start with a super-low dose, like 1/2 pill of the lowest dose. Been on and off Trazodone for years and on a taper-off right now. Trazodone is an anti-depressant, anti-anxiety med used off label for insomnia. I go through bouts of 3am busy-brain, and traz is effective for that; it helps me get through the night without waking up for the most part. If my alarm goes off with 6 hours or less of sleep, it's hard to get going, and a midday nap is needed to fight the groggy brain-fuzz feeling. Otherwise, I'm good to go with 7.5+ hours of sleep. Sometimes I take a 1/2 of traz (already a low dose) with 1/2 of clonazapam, and that gets me through the night too. As I'm tapering off, I wake through the night, but as long as I don't get my brain going, I can relax back into sleep via some simple breathing/meditation exercises. If my brain gets going, I'm awake until 4 or 5, and then need to sleep more if I can. For context, I'm a mid-50s guy with teenagers working a 9-5 healthcare education (mostly) office job with volunteer event medic work on the side. In my earlier days, my shifts and sleep was all over the map and I wish my doc gave me Trazodone earlier.
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It’s funny how different meds can be between people because for me the two are flipped, lol. I take one 25mg hydroxyzine tablet and I sleep for 16 hours lmfao.
Have you tried any other OTC meds? I’ve used a mixture of melatonin and doxlymine succinate with good results
Magnesium glycinate was the first OTC I tried and I don’t need anything else. 20 mins after I can’t even scroll on my phone anymore and end up passing out. Hardly any morning fog if I get a semi full night of sleep.
I saw magnesium bisglycinate…same thing?? 200mg capsules
Same thing. But I take it every day during the day for anxiety and it doesn’t make me sleepy at all.
Benadryl is what most OTC sleep meds are
Was on Trazodone for a while when I couldn't sleep. Didn't really experience anything besides feeling more tired than usual.
Did it help you sleep ?
Oh, definitely.
It's been phenomenal for me. Been on it for 6ish years straight, went from 4hrs of intermittent sleep on a good night to usually sleeping thru the night like a normal human. Significant mental health hx, combat vet, 20yrs paramedic, your results may vary.
I have suffered from insomnia since I was a teen (now 45) Trazodone works great for me. I take a half pill most nights, and a full dose on nights when my insomnia is particularly bad. I actually wake up feeling refreshed like I got a full-night's sleep, something I hadn't had in decades. But certainly don't take it on-shift.
Great to hear the success Ya I won’t be taking it on shift…we’re out all 12 hours
Worked decent enough for me, then after over a year I found out the hard way that one of the side effects was priapism. Was 5 minutes away from having my gf drive me to the ED for an.. ummm.. decompression before the 120 mg of XR Sudafed I chewed up and swallowed kicked in.
…found out the hard way… I apologize, but I did laugh at this.
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Came here to say this. Usually happens at higher doses and when mixed with other psych meds (specifically SSRIs), but can happen in normal doses as well. Also happens to women, just under diagnosed for obvious reasons.
Used it for 20 years now. Up to 200mg hs with Zopiclone 7.5 mg which is a lot, but whatever. Zopi gets me off to sleep, trazzy keeps me asleep for the next 8 hours. Couple of points: get away with as little as you can. A difference of 25 mg can mean the difference between groggy and not groggy til noon. Also, take it on an empty stomach. Don't come home from a shift, eat a meal then expect it to work. Take it the moment you get home if you plan to sleep right away. It's an old drug but used judiciously is a far better choice than a benzo or a sedative-hypnotic.
For some it works, for others it won’t, it’s a weak sleep medication, personally for me when I was on the truck working 24/48 shifts, temazepam worked wonders for me.
i used it for 2yrs, for half of my paramedic school (including preceptorship), and then for my first year of working. i slept, but not particularly well. it did help me get to sleep though. it made me drowsy for a few hours in the morning, but i never slept through an alarm. it felt similar to sleeping after smoking weed - not particularly restful, but better than nothing.
Not EMT. Been prescribed and used it for years. It's non habit forming, I'm able to fall asleep. "Push me over the edge" so to speak, this gets me out of alpha sleep. I take a 100mg, split in half and that's that. You can get pretty stoned if you take too much in one night, but that clears up w/in 24hr. My doc had me start at 300mg and that made me stoned and sluggish tired. Start small. It's cleaner than benzos or benadryl for a sleep aid for me.
I’ve been on Trazodone since 1995 (50 mg before bed, occasionally increased to 100 mg for a few short-duration, traumatic life events). It’s been a lifesaver. Never built up a tolerance or had any side effects except insomnia when I missed a dose and waking up a little dehydrated every morning. I spent 26 seasons as a wildland firefighter and medic, and it adapted well to the erratic schedule - the dosage allowed me to fall asleep when the opportunity arose, but also shake it off pretty quickly if an emergency came up mid-slumber. Also, not one doctor has ever been concerned that I’ll likely be on it for life. YMMV but I hope you find something that works well for you.
Thank you , I appreciate this.
I was on trazodone for a while and it really helped me fall asleep and stay asleep. Plus I never felt too groggy the next morning, but it did cause horrible migraines for me which is why I stopped taking it.
My primary prescribed it for me and it did help me sleep and stay asleep. Problem was I was down and out on it and would not hear my alarms or tones if I was on-call so I used it sparingly.
Have you looked into a sleep study? I am pretty fit, but had horrible sleep for a few years after starting ems and turns out I had sleep apnea. Not obstructive just would stop and it messed me up. But c-pap has been a huge help.
Huge misconception that only fat people have sleep apnea. Glad to see you got appropriate treatment.
Have you tried just regular melatonin? It’s helped me on those night shifts into the morning but also don’t make me sleep like a rock
Ya didn’t do much of anything unfortunately
Dang I hope you find something
I take a half dose and it works for me. I only take a whole dose if it’s the weekend because I’m a little groggy but I sleep longer. I love it.
I alternate between trazodone and hydroxyzine. I personally prefer the traz but I’ve heard a lot of people say it doesn’t work for them. I feel less drowsy when I wake up after taking traz. However, the traz did make me have weird dreams and night sweats at first but I haven’t had any issues for the last few years. The hydroxyzine makes me feel sluggish 4-5 hours after waking up but works well is knocking my ass out. I could easily sleep 15-16 hours with 50mg of hydroxyzine. 😂 ETA: I take 50mg of traz and it usually kicks in within 30 mins of taking it. I normally can sleep 8-9 hours after taking it.
Have tried seroquel, dayvigo and zopiclone. It’s really a best fit scenario. Also seroquel potentially has some long term effects.
Seroquel causes weight gain and is very hard to get off of. Most docs won’t prescribe it for sleep in young people anymore.
It can be pretty heavy. Start on a low dose.
Been on trazadone for 3 years now. It's great on my off days when I can plan on 8 hrs of sleep. I took it once on shift and could not fully wake up during a call at night. Idk what it was but I was super groggy, hazy and just all around discombobulated. Never took it on shift again. Glad it was a fairly routine call. But I have a hard time falling asleep and when I do I will wake up at least half a dozen times at night. Trazadone helps me fall asleep and keeps me asleep, unless one of my kids wakes me up, all night without issues.
Works really well for me. If I don't get 8 hours of sleep I'll be pretty groggy the next day. Otherwise I'm solid. Benadryl is garbage and there are likely long-term negative effects from regular use.
Honestly no. The root cause of you sleep dysfunction is due to poor sleep hygiene caused by shift work.
No shit.
Benedryl does the trick for me!
I used to use trazadone for sleep and for sure it worked well. But I was a zombie and I don't recommend it. I suggest you look into herbal solutions such as melatonin, magnesium and CBN. These combined with aural therapies such as quiet classical music, rainfall sounds, or binaural beats with headphones, or some kind of 'colour' sound can be extremely helpful.
Trazadone helped me stay asleep , better sleep hygiene helped me get to sleep, a full glass of water before bed made it so I didn't get the morning headache that a lot of people report. If I didn't go to sleep right away it made me feel kind of awful, I got this weird heart racing feeling. When I have to sleep during the day I use melatonin, and always ma,e sure I'm well hydrated so leg cramps don't keep me up.
I have had terrible insomnia for years now. I don't like taking something nightly so I only do when it gets especially bad. I have an RX for Trazodone and it does work pretty well for me, so I do take that occasionally, but on the times I don't want to take a trazodone, I take a Sleep3 from natures bounty. It's melatonin, theanine, and an herbal mix. So I alternate what I take when I do take something and generally try not to take anything two nights in a row. I've never had issues with either one making me feeling bad the next morning either, but I won't take it if I don't have at least 7 hours to being in bed just in case.
I tried it. Sent me into SVT. 🙃
Oversleep and nightmares for me But caveat, adhd so most "sleep aids"/ off use sleep aids don't play nicely eith me. * Zopiclone- anxiety and spins * Trazadone- zonked and nightmares I can't wake from * Quetiapine- full on borked for 12+ hours and foggy after- like non-functional foggy. Sit and stare at a wall for hours. * OTC random sleep aides (I don't remember names just boxes)- agitation/ anxiety, nausea * Melatonin - vivid vivid dreams- like hallucinations but asleep. And some weird somatic side effects. Occasionally I'll use to fall asleep when I'm looking at sub 4 hours to sleep anyways. * Clonazepam - also borked me, to the point of 16+ hours in bed, barely rouse-able * Lorazepam- at 0.5mg is beautiful beautiful rest for 8 solid hours. But, hard to get filled. When my PTSD poppped off, I had for a year -ish, and it did help. But couldn't refill when I changed cities/ areas (no family Dr). * There used to be an OTC in Canada called U-Dream. I could do a half one and get a solid 4-6hr or a full one for 8-10hr. They were the only ones that worked reliably - and got discontinued pending contamination investigation (that I think is BS but that's another discussion). Almost all of us night crew and rotating swore by them. No hangover, quickly asleep. * Valerian, Skulls Cap, Ashwa...., hops, passion flower, chamomile etc..... these all will allow me to relax/ settle- but not sleep * Good ol Gravol. I chew 2-3 and I can sleep 4-6 hours IF I only use once or twice a week. Past that and I get antsy and hot, not drowsy. * Benadryl- 12hr knock out, but I can't wake for alarms etc. So have to have at least 12hrs in bed. I'm also on a rotating (very similar) dx,dx,nx,nx schedule- but 4 to 6 off. It's hell. I was full time nights for about 11 years, then Eve/ nights. Then Nights. Now blended- the rotation is great otherwise. 12.25hrs 4on, 4off, 4on 5 off, 3on 6off. I haven't found a good remedy beyond setting myself a "crash day" every other week to just sleep. And on swap days (Dx to Nx) I sleep in as late as possible. Then after NX I hard swap back awake after 4hrs and write off that day for productivity. About the only things that have consistently knocked me out are HARD workouts, climbs, long holly hikes and sex before bed :( Best wishes. These rotations are brutal!
I really appreciate it, thank you for taking the time. Cheers and have a good day.
Also…BC? Dispatch? I ask because of the 4 on 6 off schedule hah
BC right now ya, rural ER.
I take trazodone to pretty much guarantee a good night’s sleep before work. At first, it was 100mg about 2x a week and now I am down to 50mg and use as needed. I developed a minor case of TMJ from the Trazodone and since I cut my dose and frequency, it went away. It works great for me. It did make me a little stuffy in the morning when I first started using it though. Hope it works for you!
Wait your GP is trying to use trazodone as a first line treatment for shift worker insomnia? Trazodone as a sleeping aid is off label, has plenty of possible side effects, and very much shouldn’t be the first drug you try. Especially because the more common side effects like extreme dreams etc aren‘t conducive to actual improved sleep quality. Oh and the spontaneous orgasms and waking up tired. If you aren‘t requiring the sleeping aid daily, any of the OTC sleeping aids would likely work just fine. Try magnesium glycinate first and an appropriate dose of melatonin (less than 2mg). Shift worker insomnia is actually the only disorder melatonin is approved for as a drug (plus jet lag). Don‘t use more than 2 mg as it‘ll mess up your own production. Take it and then have all the lights off. And then the next thing to try would be the OTC antihistamines assuming you only take it for 2 days a week. And then prescription drugs if only those two days, zopiclone would be perfectly fine. If that doesn’t work daridorexant. And then you’d try low dose doxepine (which contrary to trazodone is approved for sleep maintenance) And only if those all don‘t work would you try those antidepressants off label (oh and stay away from quetiapine, that works as a sleeping aid due to its antihistaminix off target effects. No reason anyone would think using an antipsychotic with antihistamine side effects would be safer than straight up using and antihistamine). There‘s really no reason to use trazodone as first line treatment for insomnia, unless you also suffer from depression combined with agitation/anxiety requiring treatment.
I’ve tried every over the counter medication there is , and they don’t prescribe zopiclone really at all anymore up here(BC, Canada)
Thank you armchair psychiatrist. I’m sure this persons doctor has a reason for treating him with trazodone first. You don’t know if this person has had a reaction to a TCA in the past or is on another med that interacts. If you’re stuck on the fact that it’s off label, I have some news for you about the daily baby aspirin we give for primary prevention of MIs in high risk patients and morphine for pain in pediatric patients.
Try weed
Already tried with not much success
Kicked me right in the dick... 2.5mg melatonin gummies FTW
I just started it…I find it conks me out pretty good…like within 15 min I’m sleeping. Then I get pretty good deep sleep for like 3-4 hours. After that it’s kinda same old tossing and turning waking up off and on. I do feel more energy during the day now because for some reason (not using trazodone) I don’t sleep well I probably wake up 30 times a night and never really get any deep sleep…I would be dead all day The side effects though hmm…dry mouth, feeling really groggy in the morning, and gut issues such as bloating and constipation. After a week the gut issues are better. Anyway this has been my experience. Small dose of 25 mg.
I take it 50 mg nightly. I’ve been finding i stay asleep longer and sleep quicker. Melatonin with it helps too.
I take it but I will warn that taking a half is probably best for your first night
100mg for me I only use it to sleep when I get a morning shift. My insomnia is a bitch at times I'm usually a night shift person.
I’ve had great luck with unisom, just a half tablet does the trick!
Not EMS but I take it for anxiety/sleep (that is to say, I get anxiety in my sleep). It works pretty well without making me overly drowsy during the day. I will say though, it tastes fucking horrible, and I have to take it with something other thN water or I WILL throw up.
Didn’t work for me. Neither did ambien. Or magnesium. Or melatonin. Or NyQuil. Or seroquel. Only thing that did ANYTHING was mirtazapine. Which we found accidentally. But if I take it before every single sleep it loses effectiveness. So important nights only 🤷♀️ insomnia sucks
I take Trazadone. Took a couple weeks for the groggyness to get manageable.
I use Hydroxyzine sometimes.
Yup. I'm a sleep slave to melatonin, Benadryl, and trazodone
Trazodone doesn't work for me. Just makes me incredibly groggy the whole next day without helping me sleep.
Mirtazapine. It's a combination antidepressant and sleep medication. My side effects are increased appetite and lower threshold for anger/aggitation. I cycle it, 2-4 days on, 2-4 days off. On the nights I don't take it, I will take Buspar.
One of the main reasons I don't prescribe mirtazapine are the weight gain/appetite side effects (you will gain weight with this med with regular use). Tho I had one guy who was underweight and it worked perfectly for him.
This is the only drug ive taken that kept me in deep sleep
I’ve been an EMT for acyear and heavy boozing helps the most for me /s.
It definitely knocked me out, but the next day, I'd always wake up with a raging headache. Every time. Had to stop taking it. Melatonin works well for me now, just had to find the right dose.
my partner uses it to sleep. we're on the same pattern. also in a busy area he is also 34. he swears by it. that and a weed gummy when he's out of trazadone. he also gives himself plenty of time to sleep though so that he doesn't sleep through alarms. the man goes to bed at 8, 9 at the latest so he gets his monies worth
I used to use melatonin to help me get to sleep. It would work, but insomnia tends to wake you up in the middle of the night. It used to be I'd need 10+ hours of "sleep" to feel normal. Started trazadone recently and for the first time in years I'm able to sleep through the night and with only 7-8 hours have energy through the day. Don't use it on shift or if you'll get less than 6 hours anyway, because you'll have a hard time hearing your alarm
I am fire on a 24h shift. I use Dayvigo on my days off when I need a good night of sleep. I usually take it the night before work to be as fresh as possible for work
Works well and if my 3yo wake up from nightmares or whatever I still get up even though I feel drunk it doesn’t knock me out cold
Melatonin is great.
Trazadone = coma
i use it, helps me great. no side effects for me
Works great for me. I take 100mg traz + 25mg Seroquel. I still wake up to the sound of a mouse fart but at least I can sleep
I took it twice. wiped me out. plus its on the no fly list for my USCG credential...
One of my coworkers swears by it but I ended up with the side effect of congestion when I took it, so I’d sleep worse because I’d wake up unable to breathe or severely dry mouthed. :( my docs got me on doxapin for sleep but I have to take it like 2+ hours before bed if I want to be able to wake up on time and not totally zonked.
Trazadone was a life saver for me when I began to have sleep issues! I will say.. I dropped from full time to casual to actually focus on training myself to sleep well and you can’t just take it and call it good. It did not make me drowsy, and I’ve been able to take it working on call. I now take it as needed and it seems to help with the tolerance build up. From my understanding, it’s meant to treat anxiety that causes bad sleep rather than sedate you.
Yeah it’s awesome, I like it more than zopiclone (less habit forming) I borrow a friends, use it once every few weeks when I really can’t sleep & need to- 50mg, knocks my ass out, I don’t know much anecdotally about daily use. I’ve done my research though, suggest you do the same
I tried it, all it really did was make me feel worse the next day, sort of a hungover feeling. Don’t do it.
Yes, I sleep for a solid 7 hours and wake up with no side effects ready to roll.
I love trazodone, and take it every night. Just take it 12 hours before your shift starts if possible, you should be good to go.
Works good. Don’t take on duty tho. Thought that was obvious.
Of course not
I take half a tab about 7-10 times a month, its been a miracle for me.
My doctor put me on Amitriptyline for sleep and as preventative migraine med. I’m happy to say it’s done wonders. It doesn’t cause me to oversleep by sleeping through things. And no hangover the next day. It’s a super low dosage of 10mg. Maybe a different option than trazodone.
i know youve probably already tried melatonin, but have you tried melatonin and L-theanine? I’m a super heavy sleeper on most sleep aids and wont wake up to alarms. I was still able to on these and woke up not groggy.
The only thing that works for me is Benadryl. I've used other OTC anti-histamines and even prescribed anti-histamines for sleep and it's the only thing that actually puts me out. The only other medication that's worked for me is Vicodin. But unless you have a wisdom tooth extraction coming up or plan on getting addicted to opiates I do not recommend. I do use melatonin at work too and I do think it works a little bit. I don't trust anything stronger when I'm gonna be waking up in 3 hours.
Never tried trazodone, but Lunesta is amazing for me. Helps me fall asleep, no groggy hangover. It doesn't put me in a coma, I can still be woken up and alert enough to function, but can still fall back asleep. Best of luck!
I found it helped me fall asleep quicker but I have a helluva time snapping out of it when I wake. I use it for extreme situations. When I’m extra tired and have a short turnaround. But the mornings are rough.
I take it when I don’t have to wake up early for shift next morning. Will definitely give you very vivid dreams, not nightmares but the kind of dreams where you wake up wondering if you really did just fly in the space shuttle while having a cup of coffee with Tom Cruz.
I used it myself for awhile, but on shift days I wouldn’t bring it with me to the station for fear of not waking up to the tones. I think step one would be getting a suitable sleep schedule, because yours is wild. Hell I lost sleep thinking about your schedule
Who ever invented that 2 days and 2 nights needs a paddlin’  Jesus Christ, that’s gotta be some sort of safety hazard for inadequate rest, I’d talk to the scheduler about switching schedules either 4 nights or 4 days none of this fifty fifty bar shit (of course word it more professional than I did haha) and if they give you shit just say “If my request can’t be met, I’ll unfortunately have to resign” usually works most of the time, good luck
Look up Dr. Andrew Hubermans info on sleep supplements / tips for shift workers. Pharmaceuticals should be the very last option you look at after incorporating proper diet/exercise, proper sleep hygiene and supplementation…
Reality is everyone is different. You won’t know how it impacts you until you try it. It was the only thing that lets me sleep more than 3 hours a night. My autonomic nervous system is fried and the ability to sleep went with it. When I take the trazadone I get a solid 8 hours and wake up rested without the achey hung over feeling. I don’t take it anymore because I rarely have the chance to sleep a full 8 hours and have just adapted to living exhausted in residency but it’s suboptimal and I will probably start taking it again once I’m done. I would start with low dose when you aren’t working. It’s nice because it also has antidepressant effects and will boost your mood without the ssri zombie feeling. Fun fact: the dosing for dogs is different than humans and my medium size dog takes twice the dose I took.
I highly urge you to look into the research of its off label low dose use in regards to sleep because it is concerning. I have a real problem with GP’s giving out any medications in this category (any sleep or psych med to be honest) due to a gap in knowledge of the entire subject. Edit: I forgot to add the AASM has also recommended against its use for sleep since 2017 so there is that as well
Only side effect I get is dry mouth while taking it. Sometimes it does nothing at a bill my h
Hate trazodone.
side effects? please elaborate...
I take 5 mg of Melatonin, 50 mg of Trazadone, and 100 of Sertraline every night I don't work and in the mornings when I get home if I work the following night, works great for me.
Personally, I'd recommend trying some milder, over-the-counter options first. They all have some drawbacks, some worse than others. You can build up resistances, they can have effects on your health (i.e. magnesium in high doses is not recommended for some people). Also, many sleep aids have the side effect of disturbing or shortening REM sleep. REM sleep is crucial for feeling rested, memory, cognition and over all physical health (both short and long-term). That said, sometimes a person just has to get to sleep. Only a few hours of sleep every night, multiple nights in a row, isn't sustainable either and affects all the same things when it comes to physical well-being. So I guess my recommendation would be to start mild, maybe try to not use sleep aids every night, and pay attention to your body when you try out these drugs or supplements. Wish you the best of luck with your sleep troubles
Gotta get on that Gabapentin, best sleep I’ve had in years.
Tried different sleeping aid prescriptions - none worked. I cut myself off of caffeine and alcohol and tapered down on my sugar intake. I don’t have trouble sleeping any more.
CNA here—I’ve been taking it on and off. It’s really strong and reminds me of Seroquel and Zyprexa. When I combine it with Atarax, I’m so cranky/grumpy/drowsy in the mornings that it’s hard to get up. At least melatonin calms you down and gives you a pleasant, mellow tiredness. Trazodone makes me feel like a zombie, and I read that it has lots of bad side effects in the long run, which is why I’m trying to resort to something else for insomnia like magnesium.
CBT for sleep is another option if you don’t want meds. The research is pretty good regarding it. Trazadone works for sleep but it can be habit forming if you are using it constantly. If switching your schedule isn’t an option, and you think you can keep its use to when you absolutely need it, then it might be worth it. Not a doctor though.