Posted by Fuscia on August 4, 2002, at 14:05:41
In reply to SERZONE - EFFEXOR COMBO - please help, posted by ben on August 4, 2002, at 2:31:51
How long have you been taking Effexor and when did the sleep problems begin? Did you recently increase Effexor dose? If so, reducing dosage should reduce the problem. Also, if you recently increased dosage, the insomnia side effect will wane most of the time. At higher doses, Effexor is more stimulating due to its higher affinity for norepinephrine. At lower doses, this effect isn't as strong since it mainly acts as a serotonin reuptake inhibitor.
If you still want to try the trazodone augmentation, try lowering the dose, instead of increasing it. I have taken trazodone to help with insomnia, while taking 50mg of Zoloft. At 50mg, trazodone made my nose so stuffy and mouth dry, that I couldn't sleep for two hours after taking it at bedtime, but after these effects passed I slept like a baby. I decided to lower dose to 25mg the next night, and it worked even better for I had less of a stuffy nose and still had the sedating effects. Eventually I tried 12.5 mg of trazodone and this worked best of all - no side effects and slept great.
I have read that adding VERY low dose of nefazodone (Serzone) to Effexor can be helpful to get a good night's sleep. Otherwise, be careful, as at higher doses Serzone can cause anxiety and insomnia.
You might consider a sublingual form of vitamin B12 - a lozenge that you allow to disolve under the tongue, taken at bedtime. It can greatly improve sleep. Calcium citrate, with added vitamin D is also very helpful for a good night's sleep. It can be taken on an empty stomach - take at bedtime. Remove caffeine from the diet, especially no caffeine after lunchtime.
Here is one poster's experience with combining Effexor and Serzone:
How psychiatry wrecked my life posted by rjk
http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020718/msgs/113521.html
poster:Fuscia
thread:115118
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020731/msgs/115172.html