I am not a drinker. But found out it helps to shut my mind down at night so I can sleep. I have racing thoughts at night and the Trazodone, 150mg I take was helping with the depression and sleep until I decided to try something else because of sore muscles and a stuffy nose. Zoloft 50mg threw me for a loop. And because I could not afford the seroquel to take me down at night, I went back to the Trazodone. Zoloft is still lingering around one week later. Could it be harmful for me to drink taking this med? I only plan to drink 2 small glasses for sleep until I get the Zoloft out of my system.
Will a couple of glasses of wine hurt or help me - also take Trazodone?
Question posted by DeNeese on 11 Oct 2010
Last updated on 25 March 2018
3 Answers
drg2008
6 May 2017
Please be careful with Trazadone. My wife was taking it and drinking alcohol every evening. The side effects from it were hostility, hallucinations, violent mood swings, confusion, loss of memory, etc.. She attacked me several times and would not remember anything about her actions the next morning.
DRG
zombi2
25 March 2018
DRG I hope that's no longer the case. I took trazodone with beer last night and on my way to the bathroom I fully blacked out and collapsed in my doorway. My aunt came to check on me but although conscious I couldn't begin to get myself off the floor for probably 30-60 minutes. Once I did, I again blacked out in about three steps and sometime later managed to crawl back to bed. Today I have a very large lump at the base of my skull from hitting the floor twice.
This happened with 4-16 oz. cans of Steel Reserve, which seems like a lot but I'm 280 lbs. with a high tolerance (adjusted to a normal person I'd say 4-5 regular drinks) and only TWO trazodone.
zombi2
25 March 2018
trazodone and alcohol are a dangerous combo. A common misconception is that light drinking is OK with anything but that can be like trying to eat just a few peanuts when you're allergic to peanuts, it just doesn't work. Most medications that react poorly with alcohol need nothing more than the presence of alcohol to set off a reaction, in these cases the amount is irrelevant.
trazodone may not be a "one drink=fatal" drug but I wouldn't bet my luck on two.
I would never have taken them together myself were it not for an excruciating toothache that crept up well after I had started drinking. Even though I was only a little "buzzed" I was blacking out mid-stride after only two pills and who knows how close I came to not waking up again. trazodone puts you out pretty good so If it isn't working for you as well I would suggest taking an additional one rather than mixing it wih alcohol. I certainly won't be doing that again no matter how small the amount either.
zombi2
25 March 2018
oops. meant for the 2nd comment to be in the main thread :-/
htwooh
12 Oct 2010
It is my belief that alcohol interferes with sleep. I drank for about a year and when I first started it was a few glasses of wine about evening time and I noticed that I would sleep for a few hours but then be wide awake- I think it is the deep sleep portion of the brain gets affected and the REM sleep is disturbed. I don't think alcohol is good for getting or staying asleep unless you wake up and drink every 4 hours which is not advised but I know because I did it for awhile so that is called alcoholism --- but it does not work for real good normal sleep!! Good Luck
Inactive
11 Oct 2010
The use of alcohol with trazodone will increase the effects of the medication making you more dizzy and drowssy. It is not recommended to drink alcohol while you are on this medication, or any other medication. I fully understand you as I suffer from insomnia.
I am manic depressive (more manic though) and also suffer from ocd , ptsd anxiety and panic attacks. I also had a drug problem for 20 years, I am 42 and have been clean for 9, alcohol was one of the substances I abused the most along with cocaine. Therefore from my experience I can not recommend that you drink, it is not the way to go in this case.
Try to find an alternative solution, plus alcohol is a depressant so in my opinion it will cause more harm than good to you in the short to medium term.- It will make you more depressed.- So you might sleep, but at what cost.
You must move forward, and using alcohol as a sleep aid along with the medication, will only set you back, and your conditions will get worse, been there, and again from my experience it is not a real solution to your problems, it will only add more issues to your life, so if I were you, I would most certainly stay away from alcohol.
Interactions between your selected drugs
trazodone ↔ ethanol
Applies to: trazodone, Alcohol (contained in alcoholic beverages) (ethanol)
GENERALLY AVOID: Alcohol may potentiate some of the pharmacologic effects of CNS-active agents. Use in combination may result in additive central nervous system depression and impairment of judgment, thinking, and psychomotor skills.
MANAGEMENT: Patients receiving CNS-active agents should be warned of this interaction and advised to avoid or limit consumption of alcohol. Ambulatory patients should be counseled to avoid hazardous activities requiring complete mental alertness and motor coordination until they know how these agents affect them, and to notify their physician if they experience excessive or prolonged CNS effects that interfere with their normal activities.
Read more: https://www.drugs.com/interactions-check.php?drug_list=2228-0,1034-14582#ixzz1248F8nzZ
All the best and take care.-
Inactive
11 Oct 2010
Great answer. I know that what this poster asks seems harmless, but, these antidepressants can do unpredictable things with alcohol or other sedatives, hypnotics and central nervous depressants. Please call your doctor to see if there are any medications that might help and how to properly taper the zoloft. There are some videos on Youtube.com with real people who have experiences getting off meds. If you see a scary video, turn it off and go to a more positive one. You will have to take into account that they are people, and not pharmacists or medical personnel posting the videos and they may have some other problems than what the tagline says. I have found some of these videos helpful to me, try checking a channel called neurosoup, she makes sense and it is positive, not scary.
melissab(twilightfan85)
11 Oct 2010
maybe try some melatonin in the vitamin section at your local walmart. it may help. make sure there are no interaction between whatever you decide to aid in your sleep. xoxo
DeNeese
11 Oct 2010
Thank you for the advice. I have never abused any meds and am going through a rough spot in my treatment. What I need I can not afford. That is the reason I went back to taking only the Trazodone. I take atacand for High blood pressure and birth control pills. I know another high risk for me. But everything seems to be working well for me. I came off of the Zoloft way too fast I am sure. Hopefully it will be out of my system soon. I am a bit better.
Inactive
13 Oct 2010
Sometimes the doctor will give you samples of medications you can't afford. The pharmacy you go to may know of programs that help pay for meds you can't afford and often the manufacturer will help. Look the med up in Wikipedia.org, it should list the manufacturer and then look them up online and see if they have a program for you. Hope it gets better.
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depression, sleep disorders, trazodone, sleep, wine
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