Posted by Toby on August 13, 1998, at 10:48:57
In reply to uses & doses of trazadone for agitation, posted by Gaye Forrester on August 4, 1998, at 5:51:56
According to Maxmen and Ward, "doses up to 500 mg per day have been successfully used for acute aggression and agitation in demented patients without impairing cognition" (which means not gorking them out). Their use of the word "acute" leads me to think that these doses are not used on an ongoing basis but rather on an "as needed" basis. Nonetheless, I have seen fairly high doses (for the elderly) used, like 225 mg per day on a regular basis. A lot would depend on the physical condition of the patient and whether they are indeed getting groggy on the medication. If so, that is probably not a good trade off. Dr. Stephen Stahl in California likes to use a combination of Serzone during the day and Trazodone at night to control agitation and aggression without making a zombie out of the elder.
poster:Toby
thread:241
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991108/msgs/295.html