To lessen stomach upset and to reduce dizziness and lightheadedness, take this medicine with or shortly after a meal or light snack, even for a daily bedtime dose, unless your doctor has told you to take it on an empty stomach.

Take trazodone only as directed by your doctor, to benefit your condition as much as possible.

Sometimes trazodone must be taken for up to 4 weeks before you begin to feel better, although most people notice improvement within 2 weeks.

Dosing

The dose of trazodone will be different for different patients. Follow your doctor's orders or the directions on the label. The following information includes only the average doses of trazodone. If your dose is different, do not change it unless your doctor tells you to do so:

• Adults Oral, to start, 50 milligrams per dose taken three times a day, or 75 milligrams per dose taken two times a day. Your doctor may increase your dose if needed.
• Children 6 to 18 years of age Oral. Your doctor will tell you what dose to take based on your body weight.
• Children up to 6 years of age Dose must be determined by the doctor.
• Elderly patients Oral, to start, 25 milligrams per dose taken three times a day. Your doctor may increase your dose if needed.

Missed dose

If you miss a dose of this medicine, take it as soon as possible. However, if it is within 4 hours of your next dose, skip the missed dose and go back to your regular dosing schedule. Do not double doses.

Storage

To store this medicine:

• Keep out of the reach of children.
• Store away from heat and direct light.
• Do not store in the bathroom, near the kitchen sink, or in other damp places. Heat or moisture may cause the medicine to break down.
• Do not keep outdated medicine or medicine no longer needed. Be sure that any discarded medicine is out of the reach of children.

In deciding to use a medicine, the risks of taking the medicine must be weighed against the good it will do. This is a decision you and your doctor will make. For trazodone, the following should be considered:

Allergies Tell your doctor if you have ever had any unusual or allergic reaction to trazodone. Also tell your health care professional if you are allergic to any other substances, such as foods, preservatives, or dyes.

Pregnancy Studies have not been done in pregnant women. However, studies in animals have shown that trazodone causes birth defects and a decrease in the number of successful pregnancies when given in doses many times larger than human doses.

Breast-feeding Trazodone passes into breast milk.

Children Studies on this medicine have been done only in adult patients, and there is no specific information comparing use of trazodone in children with use in other age groups.

Older adults Drowsiness, dizziness, confusion, vision problems, dryness of mouth, and constipation may be more likely to occur in the elderly, who are usually more sensitive to the effects of trazodone.

Other medicines Although certain medicines should not be used together at all, in other cases two different medicines may be used together even if an interaction might occur. In these cases, your doctor may want to change the dose, or other precautions may be necessary. When you are taking trazodone, it is especially important that your health care professional know if you are taking any of the following:

• Antihypertensives (high blood pressure medicine) Taking these medicines with trazodone may result in low blood pressure (hypotension); the amount of medicine you need to take may change

• Central nervous system (CNS) depressants (medicine that causes drowsiness) or
• Tricyclic antidepressants (medicine for depression) Taking these medicines with trazodone may add to the CNS depressant effects

• Alcohol abuse (or history of) Drinking alcohol with trazodone will increase the central nervous system (CNS) depressant effects

• Heart disease Trazodone may make the condition worse

• Kidney disease or
• Liver disease Higher blood levels of trazodone may occur, increasing the chance of side effects