Trazodone is a medication used to treat depression, anxiety and chronic pain. When you take trazodone, you should tell your doctor whether you suffer from additional psychiatric illnesses such as manic depression or have a history of a heart attack, drug abuse or suicidal behavior, Drugs.com says. Your medical history can affect whether your doctor decides to prescribe trazodone. If she prescribes trazodone without that crucial knowledge, serious side effects may result.
Heart and Blood Vessel Problems
Trazodone can lead to bradycardia (slow heartbeat), irregular heart rhythms such as atrial fibrillation or ventricular tachycardia and cardiac arrest (condition where your heart stops beating). Trazodone can also affect your circulatory (blood vessels) system and lead to orthostatic hypotension (low blood pressure with changes in your position) and syncope (fainting episodes). In other instances, trazodone may lead to a heart attack.
Effects On Your Psyche
According to Drugs.com, you may experience suicidal thoughts when you first start taking trazodone. You can also be anxious, aggressive, hostile, hyperactive or restless. If you suffer from these psychiatric symptoms, it is important to report them to your doctor as she may change your dosage or medication altogether depending on the severity.
Priapism
Trazodone can also lead to long-lasting and increasingly painful penile erections called priapism. When an erection lasts for four or more hours, this situation becomes a medical emergency, according to Drugs.com. Without immediate treatment, priapism can lead to permanent sexual inability.
Effects On a Fetus or Breast-fed Baby
RxList.com states that trazodone may be passed to your baby during breastfeeding. This medication may also cause birth defects to your unborn baby. It is important to take caution and tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, although adequate studies have not yet proven direct harm to humans.
Mild Side Effects
Trazodone's mild side effects include headache, problems sleeping, poor appetite, diarrhea or constipation and lack of coordination. You may also experience blurry vision or muscle pain, Drugs.com states.
Signs of Overdose
According to RxList.com, overdosing on trazodone can cause priapism, seizures, breathing cessation and changes in your heart's electrical activity. In some instances, trazodone can lead to death. No specific medication exists to reverse trazodone's overdose symptoms. However, your stomach can be pumped of trazodone and you can be treated for your individual symptoms.
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