I know this is a long shot, but I thought I would ask here anyway.

I tried Trazodone Sunday and Monday nite because hot flashes are waking me up several times a nite. Other than the weird dreams, it worked like a charm.

I was even hot flash free during the day Monday and Tuesday. I've been having 10 - 15 severe hot flashes a day for about a month now and I don't have to tell you that I am getting irritable.

I hate to start taking sleep meds since I just got off the Klonopin, but I have to get some sleep.

Any ideas ? I tried melatonin and chamomile, but the heart palpitations, adrenaline rush and sweating still woke me up. Go figure

Are the weird dreams as sign that I should stay away from this med ? I'd be arrested if I actually did what I dreamed about.

Thanks ... Marcia

Marcia,
I've been taking Trazodone for about a year now (every night). I'm going through menopause too
I don't really get hot flashes but I do get nightsweats. Anyways, I have 50 mg tablets and I have a pill cutter and I take 1/4 to 1/2. I can fall asleep but my trouble is staying asleep. I ache all over. I'm not sure what that's all about, if it's gluten, menopause or maybe, I've been toying with this idea, cutting out nightshades.
I don't dream much or have wild dreams like you..........darn Maybe you are taking too much, try cutting the pill in half. Good luck.

I tried Trazodone awhile back (actually for depression), and I experienced both the weird dreams and the night sweats. I wouldn't worry about this, if the Traz helps you to sleep better. I don't think it's addicting or anything Good luck!

I took one third of the Trazadone pill to help me sleep when i was having skin problems...i was so drugged when i woke up after 8 hours of sleep that I wasn't allowed to drive a car and it would take all day for it to wear off. It is definitely way too strong for me.

Terri,

I'm so glad you replied. Menapausal and on Trazodone. What are the chances ?? Only on the internet

You are so lucky you are not getting the hot flashes. I think I am breaking some kind of record here for the most hot flashes in a 24 hour period. Night sweats are tough too though. I did that when I first came down with CFIDS / FM.

That's interesting that you only take 1/4 to 1/2 of a 50 mg. It is such a small dosage and right up my alley. I'll try cutting back on the dosage. I'll miss the dreams.

Good luck with the aching. I have fibro too and I'm finding (so far, anyway) I feel better if I eat a lot of oils with omegas. I can't handle supplements, so I use EVOO, grapeseed oil, flax and borage on my foods.

Sweetfudge,

Thanks for replying. Love the name. Did your weird dreams go away after taking Trazodone for awhile ? So far, they are only entertaining.

Norah,

Thanks for replying. Now that you mention it, I felt drugged the next day too. I'm hoping if I use the lower dosage mentioned above I won't feel that way. I hear you though. Some meds are too strong for me too.


I am thinking it will be pretty hard to find a drug that will keep me asleep while my body is basically freaking out on me.

If anyone has any ideas on how to stop these hot flashes, I'd love some suggestions !!

Marcia

Hi! just putting in my two cents here...

Trazadone, in a low dose, can work well (in my own experience and wtih others I know). The night sweats....I am nearing menopause, but since going gluten-free, I no longer have them. I take different things for sleeping now...also was on klonepin and that is very addictive stuff, quit that quite a while ago. Now take a small dose of seroquel.

The dreams.....um, they sound kind of fun! but get the dose as low as you can. Melotonin and chammomile - - worthless in my experience. oh and I can multi-task all night long on high doses of Tylenol PM....

hot flashes - - let me know what you find, I think that's in my future also....DANG, you get through one thing, and then, there's something else....I told god I am REFUSING to go through menopause...ha ha ha

Susan,

Thanks for replying.

Yep, I just started feeling good about this diet and now this.

Ya'll are giving me a lot of good ideas on sleep meds. Do you think seroquel would keep someone asleep while they were having hot flashes ? Or at least allow me to go back to sleep afterwards ?

I had a really hard time getting off the Klonopin. I don't want to get into anything like that again.

The dreams were cool. They were so intense and bizarre.

Marcia

I have been recently taking 25mg of Trazodone for sleep and pain also. I also had the strangest dreams which unfortunately kept me awake all night. I was taking Amitriptyline 10mg before that and found that it worked ten times better than trazodone with no dream side effects. Unfortunaltely, your body tends to get used to the sedative effect within a few months so you have to adjust the dosage. The chronic pain I felt due to fibromyalgia was significantly better. I quit taking it for now because I was have heart and liver issues and I haven't slept well since. Oh well maybe something else will turn up. Good Luck!

I think we are all different. I know I can only take a very small dosage of most things. I tried the Amitriptyline 10mg and was hung over for 2 days!
Marcie, I also take 5HTP in the evening which is also suppose to help with sleep. I don't know if it will help by itself though, I've always taken it with the Trazodone. I am also taking hormones from a compouding pharmacy.

In the beginning of my diet back in May 05 I had so much anxiety I could not fall asleep. I would lay awake for hours and just stare at the clock. After about a week of this I decided I needed some help. I tried Ambien with no success. I finally tried a .5 mg of xanax to relax me and a 100mg of Trazodone to help me sleep. This worked to the extent that I could get 4-6 hours of much needed sleep. I did this for about 45 days and then decided to see what would happen if I stoppped. I actually stopped in a couple of days and have not had to use anything since. My problem in the beginning was that I was so malnourished that I could not exercise to get tired. All I did was lay around or sit around and eat trying to gain enough weight to be active again. This created even more anxiety and until I finally gained some weight I just could not relax. Fortunately I healed rather quickly and after a couple of months everthing returned to normal. I did not notice any side effects with any of the meds I used. The thing that amazed me is that I would not sleep for a couple of days before I started taking the meds thinking I would eventually fall asleep but I kept myself awake in spite of this. It must have been the classic case of mind over matter.

Tom

Jodi,

Thanks for replying. Sorry to hear about your heart and liver issues. Sounds like we could both use a good sleep med.

TERESE,

I tried to get some Trazodone today, but no luck. So, tonight I am trying benadryl. I hate the way it dries me out, but I have to try something.

A friend of mine gave me some don quai and it is giving me stomach related chest pains (gas), so I am leary about trying any other herbs. I get this a lot from foods and supplements. I can't have any more don quai or the pain will become unbearable.

Is 5htp an herb ? What are compounding hormones ?

I sure hope I hear back from my doc tomorrow.

Tom,

I know what you mean about sleep anxiety. I had that really bad when I first went off my Klonopin Insidious drug

I found out if I fight the urge to fall sleep, I will fall asleep every time.

It's definitely hot flashes keeping me from sleeping at this point. The adrenaline rush, heart palpitations and profuse sweating are impossible to sleep through.

I wonder if getting more excercise could help though. I'll wear myself out tomorrow and see.

Thanks folks ... Marcia

BTW, is it possible that 5 hours of sleep at night is enough now that I am 51 ? I've always needed 7 - 9.

I was on all the antidepressants. I don't remember get hot flashes on trazadone but I remember when I went off of it, I couldn't go to sleep without it. My body got used to it and couldn't function without it, even though it's not addicting.
I was also told by my psychiatrist that there was a finding that people with depression do not have normal rem sleep. Normal people go into a light sleep after dreaming and wake up refresh. People with depression wake up after there dream mode and that's why we remember our dreams so vividly. I don't remember the exact scientific steps and explanation.

I have really bad sleep problems too and I tried trazadone I hated it. I was so drugged for days I couldnt stand it. I have tried Ambien and Ambien cr They put you to sleep fast but I did really strange stuff on them. I would get up and go places, eat a whole cake (this is before I found out I was celiac) but I could still do it. I did all kinds of stuff. I have tried Amatriptoline. one half works ok but still groggy bad.Oh I think I have tried them all. It is really hard to find one that works. All I can say is good luck and if you find one that is good will you please let us all know.

barb

I, too, now at age 49 and going thru menopause, have night sweats - they are terrible, sometimes and I wake up exhausted and dehydrated...

I have yet to figure out the best med - Ambien CR is something I just started trying this past week.
Valium and valium-type drugs made me talk in my sleep 'worse than usual' - 1/2 of an Amitriptyline made me feel drugged the next day.

And 'talk about' having vivid dreams - in my case, they are most often not fun - last night, one of the things I dreamt about was Dr. Phil naked OK - he didn't look too bad, but the dream he was part of was too weird - sometimes, I'd like to sleep and know I won't get any night sweats and also won't recall a single dream....

OK, I can dream ...
Good thread - hope it leads to 'sweet dreams' for some of us -
Gina

I thought I would give ya'll an update on all of this. I've been drinking black cohosh and valerian root tea at night.

I found several herbs that were good for hot flashes. Anise, black cohosh, fennel, licorice, etc. I tried don quai, but it killed my stomach and I smelled like it for days. I can't do supplements though and this was a supplement. They are all too strong for me.

I can only handle a little valerian root in my tea. About 1/8 of a tsp for 2 cups. Potent stuff ... I am sleeping pretty good though. And even if I do wake up, I am no longer beating myself up for being awake. The valerian root tea is good for that too. It has a very mellowing affect.

I caught a nasty cold a couple of days ago, so I feel like crap right now. I had to supplement with benadryl the first nite, but last nite I slept fine without the benadryl.

No weird dreams either ... Well none that I am going to share anyway.

Hello....welcome to the wonderful (not ) world of menopause!! I too was plagued with sleeplessness, night sweats and hot flashes. I was placed on Trazadone for fibromyalgia, and the best perk was that it really helped me sleep and reduced my hot flashes. I am also ona trial of HRT. The stomach issues at nite related to the Celiac (when I must have eaten something that had gluten hidden somewhere ) The Trazadone makes no difference at all for me in the GI dpartment, I still become miserable when I ingest something gluten. Best of Luck!

Vitamin E (d-alpha tocopherol) made my hot flashes go away. They start to come back when I forget or run out.

Hi All

I would just like to pop in here and give all of you a word of caution that may be using any sleep medications such as sequel or trazadone. THEY ARE ADDICTIVE !!.. believe me I know, as I was on every anti depressent and benzodiazapine known to mankind for many years for sleep and depression issues, and I hit tolerance withdrawal with them all - back in 2002, and went into one hell of a withdrawal that lasted for two years. It is not pleasant believe me, your whole body goes into a tail spin...and you are one sick cookie. So please, if you can at all, go without the drugs, do. If you have any questions about Serequel or Trazadone, just log onto this forum, and you will be told the nightmare of becoming addicted to any of these drugs.

http://www.benzoisland.org/benzoforum/index.php

Deb

Valerian - Valerian help nervous system, it promote relaxation, a hectic lifestyle & restful sleep. Valerian products are Valerian, Valerian Extract, Valerian Easy Sleep, Hops Valerian Combination

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