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In the UK, some doctors do prescribe trazodone both for anxiety and depression.

While there are risks of side effects with taking trazodone, it’s not thought to be particularly addictive or lead to dependency.įor all the reasons listed above, it may be considered a less risky alternative to many pills you may be aware of that are used as sleep aids, like Ambien, Xanax or Valium. Thirdly, a lot of medications for sleep come with dangerous side effects and an increased risk of dependency. Controlled substances are tightly regulated by the US government because they can cause addiction or be abused.īecause trazodone isn’t classified as a controlled substance, it’s possible for doctors to offer it without a limit on how many pills they can prescribe. Secondly, it’s not considered to be a controlled substance by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This means it can be sold unbranded (in generic form) for relatively little cost, which makes it an affordable choice to prescribe. 11 It’s been around for a long time so it’s not under patent anymore. Since then, trazodone has also been shown to be just as good or better than several other antidepressants for treating depression, including the popular SSRIs sertraline and paroxetine. It was the first SARI drug to be approved for usage in the USA and was found to work just as well for relieving symptoms of depression as conventional tricyclic antidepressants, such as amitriptyline which is also given for insomnia. It’s classed as a regulator of serotonin or, more specifically, it’s a serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI). While trazodone does act to increase serotonin levels in the brain, it doesn’t fall into the main antidepressant categories listed above. selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs).You may have heard of the more common antidepressant types that work to increase serotonin levels: Serotonin is a chemical that’s produced in the brain and it’s important for regulating our mood and happiness.ĭrugs that increase the levels of serotonin have long been used to treat depression. It’s not fully known how this drug works, but it’s thought to block nerve cells in the brain from taking up serotonin. 7 It wasn’t until 1981 that it was approved for use in the USA for the treatment of MDD. Trazodone was developed in the 1960s in Italy as a drug to treat depression and has been used to treat major depressive disorder (MDD) since the 1970s. We’ll begin with a look at the history of trazodone and its usage. In this article we’ll share key facts about the background of this drug, explain why it’s used as a sleep medicine, what the risks of taking it are and whether it is helpful as a treatment for insomnia. So what is it about trazodone that has led to it being considered a useful sleep medication by some and not others? In the UK it’s also not licensed as a sleeping pill and is not recommended for the treatment of insomnia. This means that it’s being used to treat a problem that it’s not been licensed for. It was developed as an antidepressant medication and is used ‘off-label’ for insomnia. Yet trazodone is not licensed as a treatment for insomnia in America and guidelines from the American Association of Sleep Medicine explicitly state that it should not be used for insomnia. In fact, trazodone has been one of the most widely prescribed sleep aids in the USA over the past decade figures suggest that nearly 20% of Americans with insomnia are prescribed this drug to help them sleep. why it’s popular in the USA and not the UKġ in 5 Americans with insomnia are prescribed trazodoneĪccording to figures from 2019, trazodone is the 25th most prescribed drug in the USA, with around five million people having received a prescription for trazodone in this one year alone.In this article, we answer the questions we’re frequently asked about trazodone, and we’ll cover: In the UK, it’s not a popular choice and its use as a sleeping pill is discouraged by medical professionals, unless it’s being used to treat insomnia alongside anxiety and depression.

Trazodone is an antidepressant medication that’s often prescribed for the treatment of insomnia, especially in the USA, where it’s sold under the brand names Oleptro or Desyrel.