Trazadone

Trazodone, the generic name of prescription drugs such as Trittico, Thombran, Trialodine Molipaxin, and Desyrel, is a kind of psychoactive drug having antidepressant, sedative and anxiolytic characteristics.

General Information

Psychoactive drugs are chemical substances that have the ability to alter behavior, mood, perception, and even mental functioning. These drugs are essential treatment to patients that have problematic metal illnesses.

The use of Trazodone, however, is quite different. It is used to treat patients experiencing bouts of depression or else administered as sedatives to patients experiencing sleeping problems. Trazodone is often a prescribed treatment to chronic insomnia, troubled sleep (nightmare attacked sleep), or lack of sleep due to entirely different factors, such as lack of sleep due to fibromyalgia. More often, Trazodone is used as a sedative, as an off label use.

Trazodone is a 5-HT2-receptor antagonist. It is also a serotonin reuptake inhibitor, which means it traps serotonin from being absorbed. Desyrel, one of the brand names of Trazodone, is an oral antidepressant that works by interfering with the neurotransmitter functions in the brain. Though the exact working detail of Trazodone is still unclear, it was already speculated that Trazodone inhibits the chemicals that is used to signal nerves. The main neurotransmitters are namely acetylcholine, norepinephrine, dopamine and serotonin, and it is the serotonin that Trazodone inhibits from being uptaken. This hindrance would result to more serotonin acting to simulate other nerves, thus a more stimulated brain. It was also unclear if Trazodone would stimulate the serotonin tom increase its activity.

SSRIs (serotonin reuptake inhibitors), TCAs (tricyclic antidepressants) and MAO inhibitors (monoamine oxidase inhibitors) aren’t chemically related to Trazodone, though it is related chemically to Nefazodone (marketed under the brand name Serzone) and Trazodone shares the same actions. The Food and Drug Administration approved Trazodone in 1982.

Prescription

As an antidepressant, Trazodone is used to treat a number of depressions. Lately, Trazodone was used to treat other illnesses. Being an effective sedative, it was used to treat a large array of sleeping problems, including chronic insomnia, lack of sleep due to other factors, such as fibromyalgia, and disturbed sleep.

In treating depression, the suggested Trazodone dosage for adults is 150 to 600 mg per day. Upon starting treatment, the initial dose is oftentimes 150 mg per day, and gradually increases. Doses often go like this, starting at lower dosages and gradually climbing to find the most optimal dosage. The 150 doses per day can be given in dived doses, probably the highest dosage at night. Antidepressant drugs takes weeks for the treatment to take effect. That’s why unbroken medications are of the utmost importance. The drug’s intake together with food is found to be the most favorable, as food increases the chances for Trazodone to be fully absorbed by the body. While it also delays the drug’s absorption into the body, it increases the amount absorbed. Furthermore, taking Trazodone without prior light snack or meal is found out to cause dizziness.

Trazodone needs prescription, and can be bought on oral dosages of 50 mg, 100 mg, 150 mg, and 300 mg.

Precautions And Side Effects Of Trazodone

Antidepressants like Trazodone should be taken with care. They are not to be taken in junction with MAO inhibitor drugs. Examples of which include isocarboxazid (brand name Marplan), phenelzine (brand name Nardil), procarbazine (brand name Matulane) and tranylcypromine (brand name Parnate). This is because the drug interactions between these two chemicals may lead to severe effects, such as mental confusion, hypertension and tremors. Even with selegiline (brand name Eldepryl). If the usage of MAO inhibitor is unavoidable, the best course is allow some time for the drug to be flushed from the system, possible one or two weeks, before the MAO inhibitor treatment is begun.