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Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 5:20 am
by Sojourner
Madmom02 wrote:Sojourner, my neurologist put me on trazadone at the beginning of this month for RLS related insomnia. Maybe my experience will help you with it.

I've gone from 25mg to 50mg to 75mg at night since I first started it. I also take .25 ropinirole after dinner and .25mg clonazepam (tapering off) immediately before I fall asleep. I've gotten 6-7 hours of sleep a few nights after the increase to 75mg and I'm increasing the dose to 100mg tonight.

The first few days after each dose increase I've been really dizzy. I've had some morning nausea but I think that's the ropinirole.

I take the trazadone with an oz of cheese or a couple tbsps of yogurt because my script says "take with food" and I think it works better. It does not make me immediately sleepy. It takes 1-2 hours to kick in and if I don't make myself try to go to sleep when it starts making me drowsy, I don't sleep until after 1am-ish - It's kinda like there's a window in which to make a serious sleep effort. On the higher doses, I've noticed I also get "hungry" if I miss that window.

I'll post again after I've been on the 100mg for a few days if you would find that helpful. Hope the trazadone helps you sleep well and long!


Thanks for the info. I'm happy to hear that you are experiencing some benefit from the trazadone. Is there a target dose that you're looking to attain? I'll look forward to your update.



Wishing all who visit here some peace this night.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Fri Nov 04, 2016 6:02 am
by Madmom02
I dont have a target dose but I talked to the pharmacist and he said there are 100s of mg to go up to. The increase to 100mg has been easier than the increase to 75mg was. The dizziness has pretty much resolved and the move to 100mg didnt seem to worsen it. Im still missing that "window" frequently but I think thats mostly because the RLS is so intense.

I doubt Ill go up any more. I have pseudobulbar affect (uncontrollable inappropriate laughing or crying) from MS. The trazadone at 25mg seemed to reduce the number of episodes I had and improved my mood in general. That improvement seems to have disappeared at the higher doses. Because of that and the hunger thing Im probably going to taper the dose back down to 25mg - if the ropinerole eases the RLS. In the meantime, Im grateful for 6-7 hours of sleep every other night or so.

Hoping your legs are kind to you tonight.

Please excuse the lack of apostrophes - my Kindle keyboard seems to be glitching.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 5:10 am
by Sojourner
Madmom02 wrote:I dont have a target dose but I talked to the pharmacist and he said there are 100s of mg to go up to. The increase to 100mg has been easier than the increase to 75mg was. The dizziness has pretty much resolved and the move to 100mg didnt seem to worsen it. Im still missing that "window" frequently but I think thats mostly because the RLS is so intense.

I doubt Ill go up any more. I have pseudobulbar affect (uncontrollable inappropriate laughing or crying) from MS. The trazadone at 25mg seemed to reduce the number of episodes I had and improved my mood in general. That improvement seems to have disappeared at the higher doses. Because of that and the hunger thing Im probably going to taper the dose back down to 25mg - if the ropinerole eases the RLS. In the meantime, Im grateful for 6-7 hours of sleep every other night or so.

Hoping your legs are kind to you tonight.

Please excuse the lack of apostrophes - my Kindle keyboard seems to be glitching.


Thanks for sharing. Was the decrease in your pseudobulbar symptoms something that you expected (perhaps based on previous research) or just a pleasant surprise? Bummer that the improvement could not continue under the higher dose of trazadone. I hope your taper down is uneventful and that the 6/7 hours of sleep continues.

Wishing all who visit here some peace this night

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 6:41 am
by Rlstader
Since we are all different I hope my experience might help someone. I have been on 15 mg of buspar (Wellbutrin) 3 times a day for the last 8 weeks. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it saved my life. I did not want to live, it helped very quickly and in my case my RLS got a bit better. The RLS probably got better NOT as a result of the buspar but rather because my anxiety got better and I am sleeping better. I still have one or two short (but really awful) periods of anxiety each day but I have confidence that they will go away.

Also I think because of better sleep (averaging about 6 hours/night) I have been able to reduce the 5 mg pills of oxtcodone to 2 to 3 each day instead of 3 to 4; which of course is great because of my constant fear of becoming addicted. It's a vicious circle this horrible syndrome!!

I know some people have said Wellbutrin makes RLS worse but it didn't for me. If you are depressed or have severe anxiety you may want to consider talking to your doctor about it.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 1:38 pm
by Madmom02
The decrease in PBA was an unexpected surprise and so welcome - PBA is very socially isolating.

Last night I slept for 7.5 hours and probably would have gotten a full 8 but cats. My neuro upped the ropinerole dose to .5mg last week - I took .325 for a few nights because I want to keep the dose as low as possible and last night and the night before I took the full .5mg (and it didnt work that night). So far this morning no RLS. Holding on to hope that this is a good dose for me.

Rlstader, its great that the Wellbutrin is working for you. And, I understand the oxycodone thing. Im prescribed 5mg up to 3 times a day for my back pain but, even since I realized it stops the RLS Ive been taking it for when I just couldnt stand the RLS for one more second. Im in violation of my pain management contract so Ill be glad to stop that plus I, too, am terrified of addiction.

Heres to better sleep for all of us! (& I wish my Kindle would find her apostrophe)

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Sat Nov 05, 2016 9:02 pm
by ViewsAskew
Rlstader wrote:Since we are all different I hope my experience might help someone. I have been on 15 mg of buspar (Wellbutrin) 3 times a day for the last 8 weeks. I don't think it's an exaggeration to say it saved my life. I did not want to live, it helped very quickly and in my case my RLS got a bit better. The RLS probably got better NOT as a result of the buspar but rather because my anxiety got better and I am sleeping better. I still have one or two short (but really awful) periods of anxiety each day but I have confidence that they will go away.

Also I think because of better sleep (averaging about 6 hours/night) I have been able to reduce the 5 mg pills of oxtcodone to 2 to 3 each day instead of 3 to 4; which of course is great because of my constant fear of becoming addicted. It's a vicious circle this horrible syndrome!!

I know some people have said Wellbutrin makes RLS worse but it didn't for me. If you are depressed or have severe anxiety you may want to consider talking to your doctor about it.


Great reminder, Rlstader. Thanks.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Sun Nov 06, 2016 4:01 pm
by badnights
if I don't make myself try to go to sleep when it starts making me drowsy, I don't sleep until after 1am-ish - It's kinda like there's a window in which to make a serious sleep effort.
I get this same effect from zopiclone. If I miss that window, I have to wait a long time. But it's bitter hard to force myself to bed at the right time, even if I'm drowsy.
On the higher doses, I've noticed I also get "hungry" if I miss that window.
I am hungry pretty much all night long unless I'm actually asleep, before and after the window! Something to do with WED/RLS or meds; I wasn't always that way.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Tue Nov 08, 2016 6:42 am
by Madmom02
Quick update: been taking the 100mg trazadone since Saturday. The first night at 100mg was great. I slept 7.5 hours. Last night I slept about 7 hours but woke up very irritable, which is not a thing for me. I had terrible dreams, too. Tonight I took it and slept for about an hour and a half and was awakened by a truly horrific nightmare. So, its 12:30am and I'm awake and scared to go back to sleep. :(

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 8:58 am
by ViewsAskew
Nightmares can seem so real. It can be hard to convince yourself that it didn't really happen. Did you get back to sleep?

Is there anything in the literature about nightmares with it? It could be a coincidence...but I get why you'd relate them and I'd likely want to do the same!

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Wed Nov 09, 2016 1:54 pm
by Polar Bear
A Prescribing Nurse once told me..... nightmares usually occur if a dosage of medication is a bit higher than is needed. The receptor/s take what they need and the rest of the medication is bouncing about and latches on to whatever it can - causing nightmares.
Please Note ----- I have no idea if this is actual fact.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 8:44 am
by Sojourner
Experienced very terrifying, vivid, unbelievably violent, and lifelike "nightmares" using Ambien. Difficult to separate them from reality when awake and to dismiss then. Led to what could be described as a "nervous breakdown" of sorts. I wound up at the University of Michigan anxiety clinic and was placed on an anxiety med for a period of time. Actually, it took about a year before I could even talk/think about the nightmares without becoming visibly upset to the point of tears. A little difficult just writing about the experience now. Never again. One of those situations where the doc. says to give it a few more days and they'll go away type of thing. Should have said enough is enough after the first day. Side-effects are so difficult to gauge in the sense of how long do I give a med a fair shot before stopping. We are all so different in how meds effect us in both the short and long term. Madmom02, I hope things are going better for you.

Wishing all who visit here some peace this night.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 2:51 pm
by Polar Bear
*Sojourner* It is so awful that that this still causes you distress. We are trusting of our doctors and their medications until we find out differently.
Fortunately I've had no dreadful side effects (if we ignore the insomnia) but as you say - who knows about the long term.
Yet, we must strive to have some quality of life in the present.

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Thu Nov 10, 2016 9:51 pm
by ViewsAskew
What a terrifying experience that must have been! And, so right about the side effects - it's so hard to decide where to draw the line. And hindsight is 20-20. When it goes away, we say, "Yep, the doctor was right and I was wrong." But when it worsens! And, no way to know, is there? If you don't try, who knows what might be. And if you try, who knows what might be!

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 4:45 am
by Sojourner
Darned if you do and darned if you don't!

Re: RLS, Depression and Anti-depressants

Posted: Fri Nov 11, 2016 10:23 pm
by ViewsAskew
Indeed...