Mirtazapine OR Trazodone for SLEEP?

abc123

I'd greatly appreciate any feedback on which drug is best for sleep. Mom is 80 years old, stage 5/6 and living in her home with my Dad as primary caregiver. She is up roaming the house while he is trying to get some rest. She is fairly easy to care for with the exception of not sleeping. I'm trying to help them with information Dad can discuss with the doctor. Any info or experience you can share? Thank you!

MCaretaker30

Hi abc123. We've had succcess with Trazadone for my mom (EO - late 50s). Currently, she takes less than 25mg and when taken before bed (crushed in a smoothie) she falls asleep pretty quickly and sleeps through the night. We started this last year when she was fighing going to sleep and also would get up at random times throughout the night.

Battlebuddy

We use Mirtazapine at my house and it’s been very successful for us. Never tried anything else so can’t compare it to anything. He sleeps through the night and that’s great for me.

M1

We have used both.  Terrible problems with constipation and dry mouth on Trazodone, possibly because she was on other meds that also had those side effects.  For us the mirtazepine has been much better.....

LicketyGlitz

We have had success with mirtazapine for a couple of years now. We have not tried trazodone, but your smart to have two options to ask the doctor for! If one doesn't work for your mom, you have a back-up ready to request!

Luvingdaughter

Good Morning,

I had the same issue with my mother.

We tried Trazadone but it didn’t agree with my mother.

Also, I am not a fan of loading my mom up

With a lot of meds.  So, I tried melatonin

And it works perfectly.  You can experiment

with the dose.  Our Neurologist signed off 

on it and it has cut down on the sundowning too.

You are a good son- your dad needs you!

Bless you-

MN Chickadee

We have had good luck with mirtazapine. It has been helping my LO sleep for a couple years now. She started it in early stage 6 when she was getting up and wandering around the house at all hours of the night and it made a big difference.

abc123

Thanks guys!!! I appreciate your feedback.

Suzy23

My dad has had extremely bad insomnia for 20-25 years. He is now 77. He started waking up earlier and earlier then going to bed earlier as well, so for the past many years his bedtime has been 7:15 or 7:30 pm, waking up sometime between midnight and 2:00 am generally. Around 5 years ago he started trying various sleep agents, Trazodone was the most helpful. Then recently he was having dizzy spells and the dr prescribed Mertazapine. He was taking both and sleep was improved. Now we are trying a new neurologist in a quest for diagnosis and he has discontinued mertazapine and added Paxil. Not only for sleep but also in hopes of reducing his obsessive behaviors. We are about a week in and the sleep is improved. Not the obsessive behaviors though. 

Good luck!!

WV

Appreciate this thread because we've been having this exact problem with my father since he went into MC in September. The attending geri psychiatrist has tried several meds without success so I've been paying extra for someone to stay with him at night. I can manage the costs for now but it's not something we can continue indefinitely so I'm hoping this is something that will pass.

SelEtPoivre

My mom did well on Mirtazapine, at home and after move to NH. Gave it to her a half hour before bed (half a pill). Helped greatly with the overnight waking, plus smoothed her anxiety and increased her appetite

Last year the NH doc switched her to Rozerem bc he felt she didn’t need the anxiety control