I have been experiencing chronic muscle pain in my arms, legs, and back for a period of time that might correlate with my time using trazodone.
Can Trazodone cause chronic muscle ache/pain/fatique?
Question posted by printer1 on 27 Feb 2010
Last updated on 13 September 2023 by bendbob
Are there any studies/data that detail how commonly the above issue occurs?
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30 Answers
Wow I am so glad I found this! Thanks everyone for your time in answering this! I was prescribed this a few years ago as a sleep aid. I took it for about 1 1/2 weeks and my mussel pain was so bad I could not sleep! I have talked to several doctors since. They all said they had never heard of that problem. After reading this I am not the only one!!! I looked this up this morning because of my pain returning last night. It must be in something I am taking. Please believe this pain is real! As far as I am concerned this drug should be outlawed!!! Thanks Everyone for taking your time with this!!!
Hello. I was prescribed trazodone to improve sleep and treat depression in addition to bupropion. It was good in the beginning, but then!! I've been dabbling for over a year. I started having pains in my lower back, right hip and buttock. Vrh raised the dosage of trazodone to 300mg. Neither the doctor nor I myself could connect the pain with trazodone?! I have become disabled. I couldn't walk more than 200 meters or stand for more than 10 minutes. And I'm 45 years old. Good thing I found this question here! I gradually stopped trazodone. And now, two weeks after the last dose, there is almost no pain. I became human again. Thanks to everyone who shared their experience.
I was having such a horrible time sleeping.
Started 50 mg trazodone and slept so much better, however, (this is the deal breaker)the leg stiffness and pain was awful.
Will be tapering down and off.
I have only been on this a very short time.
Unfortunately, I do not do well with pharmaceuticals in general.
I have realized that if I have weird symptoms that do not feel like me, I always go to medications I may have just tried and proves every time that it the culprit.
Be well, everyone.
Started Trazodone last night at 50mg. I slept 10 hours. My normal is 9 hours which has NOT been happening due to life circumstances. I also have dealt with pain from arthritis for years. Recently my thumbs have been aching and I don’t have great flexibility in my thumbs. But this morning when I woke up, my thumbs were doing their usual aching and stiffness. After about 5 minutes I was able to lay my thumbs down onto my palms. I had not been able to do that in months! I don’t think it’s a coincidence but I don’t know what else to do except contribute it to the Trazodone or maybe it was just getting a good nights sleep for the first time in a long, long time. Anyway, I just wanted to make some aware that maybe it has the opposite effect. Time will tell but I’m thrilled to be able to have full, but sore, range in my basal thumb joint today. Stay tuned.
Im so amazed I finally discovered the cause of my sudden chronic right hip back and leg pain . I stopped trazodone 50mg and within 2 days it was amazingly almost gone. Thanks God a day thank you all for confirming this . So grateful
I have been on trazodone for sleep since October 2021. I didn’t put it together until I started looking around online but I think it’s been causing the terrible aches and pains I have had in my shoulder blades and neck. I’ve also had aches in my hips and buttocks that have made my commute to the office uncomfortable at times. If I am in the car over an hour I get pretty stoved-up and achy. But the neck and shoulder blade pain have been the most consistent. I have been a side sleeper all of my life (42 yrs old) and suddenly I couldn’t go to sleep on my side because of the pain in my upper back. I have been trying to fall asleep flat on my back which I hate. I thought I must need a new mattress. Spent a fortune on a new one and no relief. I quit cold turkey last night and woke up with significantly less pain. I am experiencing withdrawals this evening in the form of bad headache and nausea. I have tapered off other antidepressants so I know what this is.
It didn’t occur to me that I would have withdrawals from trazodone but I see now from looking online that one clearly does. I might would have tapered but since I didn’t I am not taking one tonight. Just trying to ride it out. Like others have said I felt like I was in constant pain and it was adding to my anxiety and depression even though it was helping me fall asleep. I am going back to Melatonin and maybe a Xanax if can’t calm down (bad anxiety at night). I realize not everyone may have something like Xanax to help, so definitely consider talking to your doctor if you suspect your aches and pains coincided with beginning this medication.
I wanted to come back and provide an update. I stopped trazodone cold turkey after I posted the above comment and once I decided it was causing the aches and pains. I experienced hideous withdrawal symptoms. Crying relentlessly, depression, debilitating headache, nausea. After suffering 3 days I called my doctor and she said get back on it immediately. We’re going to taper me off slowly to see if it helps with the aches and pains. Just wanted people to know that for some like me the withdrawal from cold turkey was unbearable. Worst onset depression symptoms I can remember in years. Talk to a doctor first.
I’m so happy I found this because I have finally found the answer for my pain!!! trazodone
I have been taking it for 2 years and over time the pain in my hips legs and buttocks has gotten unbearable! I decided to look further into it and after not taking the trazodone for a week I am in No more pain!!! I can’t believe it was the trazodone all this time! I felt like I was a 90 year old woman being so stiff in the morning I could hardly get out of bed!! My Nurse Practitioner prescribed it for sleep issues, who would have thought it caused all this pain so actually I couldn’t sleep!!! People really need to question their health care providers and not just take their words for everything!!! Thanks to everyone on here who answered this question!!!
I was suffering from joint pain, stiffness and body aches. I am 2 weeks tomorrow free of taking trazodone and I no longer have any of the symptoms I listed. trazodone is not worth it for me I was literally feeling disabled the past few months. I decided to stop taking it and it was the best decision I made.
I have been waning down to quit taking trazodone. I now take a liitle over 1/2 tab nightly (tab is 50 mg, I take a little over 25 mg now.) I have leg cramps every night and sometimes higher up body. But, I also take 80 mg of statin which also causes aches. It has been very difficult trying to get off trazodone. My statin was just increased to 80. I also take melatonin.
I am 72 years old and have chronic insomnia. I too was prescribed trazodone in September 2021, to improve my quality of sleep. At first, I only took it occasionally and noticed that my right knee hurt but I thought it was due to a new pair of sneakers that I received in December 2021. In January 2022, I started taking it more frequently and the joint pain increased to both knees, back and right thumb, I was very stiff all over upon awakening and I had gained 10 pounds. I looked up the contraindications of trazodone and found nothing about joint pain, however, weigh gain is a listed side effect. I have occasional joint pain anyway, which is not uncommon for my age. I swim, bike, walk and do yoga to keep my joints flexible and take advil when the pain is at its worse. Advil did not make a dent in the severe stiffness and joint pain that I was experiencing while on trazodone.
I am no longer going to take this drug after reading that many people have had the same side effects from this drug. I just hope that after I stop taking this drug my body will return to normal. The drug manufacturers, of which there are seven, according to a google search, need to obtain more feedback from the people that are taking this drug and the FDA needs to research it to determine additional side effects.
https://www.drugs.com/sfx/trazodone-side-effects.html
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and there's a link where you can report side effects to the FDA. They can't research side effects unless they're reported.
"Trazodone:
Musculoskeletal:
Frequency not reported: Arthralgia, back pain, limb pain, muscle twitches, myalgia"
I have been using Trazodone for 5 years . It really helped my sleep . My back, knees and whole body hurt something terrible . I stopped taking it and a few days later the horrible pain was gone .I was not sleeping so started taking it again. About three days later pain was back . Will never take it again . My doctor said this is not a comment side effect . I wish I could find something to help me sleep.
I am exceedingly grateful for the various persons who answered this question, giving me a heads-up. I was on trazodone for 6 months due to muscle pain caused by long-COVID-19-19-19-19. Unbeknownst to me until I read various posts here, about 75% of my muscle pain was being caused by the trazodone I was taking for sleep. So hideous. I tapered off trazodone (50 mg) and had horrendous withdrawal side effects, put me into complete insomnia. I am trying Amitriptyline now.
Be care with Amitriptyline as this comes with many side effects also and tapering off it is as bad as trazodone.
I had suffered for almost a year with severe body aches, lateral breast pain in both breasts, blurred vision and fatigue --- I thought I was getting arthritis and I 'm barely 60 years old. In seeking medical help, they had me visit my breast specialty doctor, but she was boggled over the symptoms. After reading the comments here, I slowly tapered off trazodone and am in TOTAL RELIEF of body aches and muscle pain! I was taking trazodone for 5 years, and will never take an anti-anxiety medication again. It was more pain than gain!
How slowly did it take you to taper?]
After many years of using Trazodone for sleep I am finally down to 1 100mg tablet. I intend to stop using this dangerous drug today. I have noticed that my vertigo is going away along with my chronic lower back pain. I woke up this morning feeling like a new man. I believe this drug should not be prescribed for sleep. It only gave me vertigo, lower back pain, and horrible nightmares.
Yes, for me trazodone causes extreme muscle aches. It worked very well to help me sleep but the muscle aching the next day was too much so I stopped taking it. I think for some people it is a pretty severe side effect. It doesn’t have anything to do with withdrawal though. At least not for me.
Related topics
Further information
- Trazodone uses and safety info
- Trazodone prescribing info & package insert (for Health Professionals)
- Side effects of Trazodone (detailed)
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