Trazodone and Nightmares: What Users Say

• Bni...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 6, 2019

For Anxiety "I decided to share my experience because maybe someone somewhere is going through this. I was prescribed trazodone 50mg for anxiety and depression, eventually my doses went up to 100mg and 150mg a day. The drug would sedate me, put me to sleep. When I woke up, my anxiety was 10 times worse. I was scared, my depression increased. Daily life activities stopped for months, I became scared of living or taking care of my child. I had extremely bad brain fog, dry mouth, sleep terrors, nightmares that would last hours, heart palpitations, but the worst feeling of all was the increased anxiety, the feeling that I had some underlying medical condition that the doctor couldn't find, dizziness, shortness of breath, and suicidal thoughts, feeling like I would never get better. All along it was the trazodone."

• Som...
• May 12, 2015

For Sedation "I have been taking Trazodone now for over 8 years. I originally started at 50 mg, then went up to 100 and 150. I now take 200 only because I feel I need the added boost after all these years. It works wonderfully. I sleep restfully and feel refreshed in the morning. I sometimes wake in the middle of the night, but the medication puts me back to sleep right away. Nightmares are something that you sometimes experience with Trazodone. I take this medication because I once went for an entire month without sleep and I couldn't cope well. The doctor in the emergency who recommended this drug saved my life. I slept like a baby the first time I took the medication and never looked back since. I'll probably be on it forever."

• liz...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 2, 2014

For Insomnia "I take trazodone, 150mg to 200mg for insomnia. To avoid morning grogginess, I take it at 7 or 8 pm. This gives it more than enough time to get out of my system. Rarely have nightmares, but do have vivid interesting dreams about friends and family! I recommend this medicine for insomnia."

• OhN...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 21, 2014

For Sedation "I was recently put on Trazodone 100mg, and I did, in fact, fall asleep fairly quickly. The worst part of this experience were the weird nightmares I have every night; the fact that when I wake in the mornings, I feel terrible and it looks as though I have narcolepsy. After about 1 hour from getting up in the morning, I am pretty much in a vegetative state: eyes half closed, hallucinations, can't wake up completely. This goes on throughout each day. My family thinks I am lying when I tell them I am no longer popping pain pills to the point of overdose. That all stopped in October 2008. My psychiatrist cut my dose back to 50mg, but I am still having the same unwanted symptoms. So far, I have NO short-term memory, unrested, more depressed."

• ash...
• February 4, 2013

For Sedation "I have been on trazodone for about 9 months. I was taking it as a sleep aid. I liked how refreshed I felt in the morning at first, but then I realized I needed 2 150mg to fall asleep, so I quit using it for about 2 months. I went back on it 2 nights ago. The first morning I couldn't open my eyes. My girlfriend said I looked plastered. But after I woke up, I was fine, no depressive thoughts or dizziness. It's more reliable than any other sleep aid over an increased period of time to me, but my helpful hint of advice: be ready to sleep in 30 minutes or you'll be dealing with restless legs syndrome all night! I hope this helped, oh and nightmares sometimes."

• Use...
• January 30, 2015

For Depression "I've tried several SSRI-class medications over the years starting around age 15...(sertraline, Lexapro, Celexa). All of them gave me uncomfortable side effects...(anorgasmia, RLS, nightmares, inability to sleep). I was never able to take them long enough to get any antidepressant or anxiolytic effects due to the unbearable side effects. I finally went and got a prescription for Trazodone along with a prescription for Valium around 5 days ago. I started by taking 12.5mg for 4 days. Last night I upped my dose to 25mg. Today is the first time I've woken up and actually felt good. I can fall asleep quickly and easily and my mood has been greatly improved. I highly recommend this medicine to anyone who has not had good experiences with conventional SSRIs."

• sun...
• August 21, 2014

For Insomnia "I take 100mg a night. I could not get to sleep or stay asleep. This medicine helps. I started it with 2 other medicines, at first on 3 medicines I had nightmares. Dropped one, then the next, then the trazodone. Stayed off it for about 3 weeks with no problems except was having trouble sleeping. Taking it again and within 20 minutes I'm OUT! I think the nightmares were from other meds & getting off alcohol."

• Sco...
• July 3, 2014

For Insomnia "I took this medication only 2 nights. It made me have horrible nightmares, almost night terrors. And even after I calmed down from the nightmares that woke me, I was very panicked and freaked out and couldn't go back to sleep. This medicine is certainly NOT for me!"

• wea...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 29, 2014

For Insomnia "I take 200mg of trazodone and 3mg eszopiclone (Lunesta) every night and have for the past 2 years. My trouble is not falling asleep but rather being able to stay asleep. If I didn't use medication, I would only sleep 3-4 hours a night. I believe the trazodone does make me groggy, but the sleep is most important. Those who say it causes nightmares or crazy dreams, this is true, but those cease after a week or two on the medication."

• Ret...
• February 17, 2019

For Depression "After several years in law enforcement and having to save my or my fellow officers' lives and killing a violator, I finally reached an all-time low and definitely was close to doing something stupid. My family and friends talked me into getting help. I started with a psychologist who was against medicine and thought she could help me with exercises. After 4 months, she said that I needed to go to a psychiatrist and see about meds. I did and was put on 2 different meds, with one being trazodone. I went on venlafaxine and continued with 300 mg of trazodone. After a while on it, I was having some issues with waking up. He reduced it to 200 mg and I have not looked back. I sleep through the night after years of getting up to clear the house several times. My nightmares continue, but for the most part, I do not remember. My wife says I still scream, jump, kick, punch, and cry at night, but since I don't remember, I am good."

• Nur...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• June 30, 2015

For Insomnia "After suffering from insomnia since I was a child, I have tried many medications, home remedies, and nothing really helped. When I was in nursing school, it only became worse. I went to see my doctor, he recommended Seroquel. I was on Seroquel for about a year, and I hated it: horrible nightmares, groggy feeling, not sleeping, irritable, and it worsened my bipolar symptoms. When I told him I was not taking Seroquel anymore, he gave me Trazodone. It worked right away, I sleep as a 'normal' person does (8 hours). This medication has really changed my life with sleeping more and mood swings under control. I have been taking it for a few years now."

• Mis...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 23, 2020

For Insomnia "I was having severe insomnia, and my doctor recommended trazodone. I despised it: I had such brutal and unpleasant nightmares, there were some nights I screamed so loud I woke my family up. I tried some other dosages and had the same problem... oh, and weight gain was another problem, and I'm not a big eater at any time. All in all, I wouldn't recommend this medication to anyone."

• Kan...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• November 24, 2015

For Sedation "I've been taking trazodone for almost three years at different doses. I started out at 50 mg, then 100, and now take 150 mg. I've taken some kind of sleeping pill on and off for 18 years but recently became dependent on them because of family deaths, relationship issues, and postpartum depression. Trazodone works for me, but it gives me horrible nightmares, so I have to wake up two to three times a night. I feel groggy the next day, and my memory has declined. I also experience extreme anxiety. I don’t know if trazodone is the cause. All in all, I would rather deal with the side effects than live with insomnia."

• Anonymous
• January 29, 2010

For Insomnia "I have tried a number of herbs, supplements, OTC, and prescription medications for insomnia, including hops, passionflower, valerian, kava kava, melatonin, GABA, 5-HTP, L-tryptophan, Benadryl, Unisom, Klonopin, Ativan, and Ambien, and have found that trazodone is the best for me. The herbs and supplements weren't strong enough, melatonin gave me horrible nightmares, OTC sleep aids made me too drowsy the next day, and the benzos and Ambien stopped working. I take 50 mg of trazodone before bed and fall asleep in about half an hour. It's true I am a bit drowsy the next morning, but it soon goes away and the drowsiness is less intense than the drowsiness from the other kinds of medicines I have tried. Trazodone is also very inexpensive."

• Kat...
• August 2, 2013

For Insomnia "I've taken trazodone (150 mg) every night for 8 years for sleep apnea and severe insomnia. It makes me fall asleep and stay asleep, but it makes me tired and drowsy the next day. It also gives me nightmares, and I wake up in cold sweats, I've even woken up shouting before. I've tried over-the-counter meds and things like Lunesta, but they make me hallucinate, and they don't make me tired enough to fall asleep. Overall, trazodone was effective but with one bad side effect."

• Wan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 30, 2014

For Insomnia "I have been taking 10 mg of Ambien for about 4 months, and I want to get off of it, so my doctor recommended that I try trazodone instead. I tried 200 mg of trazodone without the Ambien, and I had a horrible night. It took over 3 hours to fall asleep, and when I did finally get to sleep, I had horrible nightmares. Since then, I have been taking 5 mg of Ambien along with 100 mg of trazodone, and it has been all right. I go right to sleep, I sleep all night, and I only have a few vivid dreams. I want to wean myself off Ambien completely, so it will just take some time."

• efr...
• August 16, 2022

For Insomnia "Took it once and never again. 50 mg for sleep. I took it around 11:30 pm and was sleepy by 12:15 am and went to bed. This caused me to have nightmares all night, which kept waking me up multiple times and made me scared and paranoid. It is now the next day, and I feel completely out of it: brain fog, dizzy, can’t concentrate, fatigued. I have no idea how anyone functions on the “medicine.” Xanax is habit-forming, but at least it works."

• Rog...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• July 3, 2015

For Insomnia "I first used trazodone at the age of 12. As a teenager, I had both depression and minor insomnia, so my doctor quickly decided that trazodone, an antidepressant that also causes severe drowsiness, may be the perfect medicine. When you first start taking this drug, be warned. You will sleep a LOT. You may have nightmares. You will wake up groggy as all hell. And you will very, very quickly develop a resistance and need to increase the dosage. As such, I can't recommend this drug outside of severe cases of insomnia, and even less for depression due to extreme side effects."

• She...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• August 15, 2018

For Sedation "I have been taking Trazodone for 5 years now for sleep. Before that, I tried many over-the-counter meds and many prescribed meds. For some reason, this one works. I didn't have insomnia but had bad nightmares throughout the night that would wake me up. This medicine is my dragonslayer that slays the nightmares before they get to me. As a result, I sleep through the night without waking."

• Joh...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 29, 2019

For Insomnia "I mean, it can be handy to have around if you absolutely need to be knocked out, but be ready to feel awful the next morning or possibly the entire next day. It does the job as far as sleep goes, but I feel extremely groggy and overall miserable the next day, on top of having a slight headache that won’t go away. It also has given me nightmares and auditory hallucinations before."

• Ter...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• June 10, 2016

For Insomnia "I tried this to help my insomnia, and the first time it worked. The second time, I also split the pill in half, and it gave me nightmares, night sweats, scary room spins (eyes would roll around super fast). The next day, I felt horrible and exhausted and still 'high.' I'd be careful with this. Maybe got 2 hours of sleep total and woke up 9-10 times during the night."

• Noe...
• February 11, 2017

For Insomnia "I am 31 yo female, 5'6, 115 lbs. Prozac helps with anxiety but not insomnia. Doctor prescribed Trazodone, start at 50mg for a few weeks, move to 100mg if needed. Last night was the first 50mg dose. In 30 minutes, I was very relaxed and slept really well. Woke up with a bad headache, but it's gone now. I believe this prescription will work and will try 25mg for a few nights as my body adjusts. For Ambien users, beware that your body isn't only adjusting to the new prescription, but also you are having withdrawals which can cause sickness, nightmares, sweating, nausea, etc. Maybe slowly reduce Ambien and then try Trazodone. Just a suggestion, everybody is different and reacts differently. Very good sleep, little side effects that should lessen over the next week of use. I have tried natural remedies over several years with no help."

• Dia...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 18, 2019

For Insomnia "Was prescribed this because I could not handle the ingredients in Tylenol PM, Aleve PM, etc. I get nightmares. I am prescribed 25 mg before bed, which I am now halving, and have been sleeping 7/8 hours of good sleep. So far, so good."

• Pka...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 20, 2019

For Insomnia "I hope that everyone who has been having terrible dreams reads this...!!! I also had horrible nightmares until I started listening to movies, hypnosis every night during my 8 hours of sleep. Your subconscious will hear the TV, hypnosis, and you can get to sleep! Try it, I swear if I do not have it on, or if the movie goes off, the dreams start! I use my cell most of the time and have it on YouTube continuous setting, and I have NO dreams. Please let me know if this helps anyone! I suffer from interstitial cystitis, fatty liver, chronic pancreatitis. Take care."

• Anonymous
• January 5, 2020

For Insomnia "My doctor prescribed this for me for insomnia. I took it for 5 days, half of a 50 mg pill. I never have a problem falling asleep but tend to wake up during the night. I may have slept a little more soundly, but I had some nightmares on it. By the fourth day, I was slightly nauseous and had diarrhea. My neck muscles became very tight, and I had a headache and a strange clicking in my ears. I also had a disconcerting feeling in the right side of my chest that was a strange palpitation. I also felt groggy during the day. I will not take this again and do not recommend it."