Trazodone side effects, or alternative?

First, some background. I'm a 16 year old male. For about the past year and a half, every couple weeks, for a day or too, maybe a week at a time, I'd feel like absolute crap for no reason. But there was always something happening in life that could've been better, so I'd blame it on that. But sometime in the beginning of this year, it seemed as thought literally everything was going perfectly...I couldn't think of anything to wish to be better. Yet I was still getting down, just like before. So I went to the doctor. Physician I suppose, the normal doctor. He said it might be related to sleep, since I have awful sleeping patterns. So I tried getting on a more normal sleeping schedule; getting the same amount of sleep every night, getting up at the side time every day of the week...still didn't help. Doc said it sounded like I might have cyclothymia, and that it's not a huge deal, but if I wanted to try some medicine and see if it helped, I could. I quickly answered yes...I believe this was around the beginning of July. He put me on 100mg Zoloft (generic)/daily. It might've helped a little I suppose, but I was having wacky side effects. I was absolutely exhausted all the time, and things seemed like a dream. So after being on that for about a month, he switched me to 20mg Celexa/day. That didn't really have any noticeable effect at all, good or bad. Again, after being on that for about a month, he said a lack of serotonin was most likely not my issue, and gave me a prescription for 150mg Wellbutrin extended release/day. I've been on this for about a month and a half I think. I've liked it. I don't feel like crap anymore. And once beginning this drug, I've realized that in addition to the cycling depressed mood, I'd generally just not been in good moods most the time, even if I wasn't in a super bad mood. The wellbutrin seems to have helped in both these areas. The only side effects I'd noticed were dry mouth, which I can handle, and insomnia. I was staying awake till 4/5am, totally exhausted, but could not sleep. So after a few days the decision was: stay awake until the wee hours of the morning and be exhausted the next day from lack of sleep, or, take some benadryl or unisom and be exhausted the next day from a sleeping pill hangover. Anyways, about 2 weeks ago I went back to the doctor for this, and he gave me a prescription for Trazodone. He said it should help me sleep, but also, as it is an anti-depressant, it a lot of times helps give an extra boost to other AD's. They're 50mg pills, he said I can take 1 or 2, whatever works. 2 knocks me out, which is nice sometimes, but I normally take 1. Doesn't knock me out, but it lets me fall asleep, which is great. And there is no sleeping pill hangover of tiredness like I get with OTC sleeping pills. Also, I'm kind of myself again. Once starting the Trazodone, I've realized I wasn't quite myself on just the Wellbutrin. The Wellbutrin helped me feel not depressed, but I wasn't exactly happy. I mean I was totally fine with it, but I guess I'd say I was flat. Also, thought I'm pretty introverted and quiet, I'm usually a fun, and funny person, when I'm with my close friends/family. I wasn't anymore. Anyways, since starting the Trazodone, all that seems to be remedied. I'm actually happy now, not simply not depressed. And I'm back to being a fun guy again; myself.

Sorry for the length of that...eloquence with words is not a strong suit of mine; I can't compact very well. Anyways, on to more so my question. Since starting the Trazodone, my mind seems kinda foggy. Not to be boastful, but I'm an exceptionally bright student, and I have a very sharp mind, as well as memory. But now.....for example, the other day I was getting ready to leave the house, and I got a phone call. For the 3 or 4 minutes I talked, I paced around the house as I do. When I got off, I went to get my water bottle which I had been holding before I took the call. I spent a good 5 minutes looking all around the house for it; I could not remember where I set it. Tonight, whilst talking with my parents, I was having an extremely hard time remembering things; what the main point of this class I attended the other night was, just thinking of certain words. It was incredibly frustrating, as I'm normally one to remember things well. I don't feel sharp.

I feel like the combination of 150mg Wellbutrin/50mg Trazodone is a good mix to help my mood be more normal, with minimal side effects, but this lack of memory is so incredibly frustrating. And my mental sharpness is something I really like about myself.

So I guess I'm asking...is this lack of mental clarity a side effect that will go away; perhaps 2 weeks isn't enough for the side effects of Trazodone to wear off? Or is there something else I could replace it with, to add to the Wellbutrin, that will help me get restful sleep and not be exhausted the next day, and also give me that extra boost to help me be more happy, and my fun self? Or am I just asking too much, and I should be content with how well these meds are working for me; you can't have everything?

Thank you so much for taking the time to read this, and to share any thoughts or advice you have. I really appreciate it!



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P.S.
Thinking about side effects...if there's always going to be something, and I could choose what they are, I'd rather things relating to my physical discomfort. Dry mouth, headaches, nausea, that would be fine with me. Getting sleep, having energy, having mental clarity, these things are important to me. I'm a runner, I've run a marathon, I do martial arts; I'm used to discomfort, that's fine with me. But those things I listed as important, they're not something I can deal with as easily, they're things which affect me as myself. Just throwing that out there.

I can not understand how some people become doctors. I find it incredible how some quacks flounder around, and end up not killing their patients. Get another doctor - preferably someone with a clue.

Your doctor has fumbled around, prescribing you various medicines, and by luck ended up with Trazodone, which is indicated for some of your major symptoms. Yet totally neglected to work through a decent diagnostic procedure. Firstly, Trazodone should not be summarily prescribed to teenagers (persons under 18). And it should not be used in conjunction with CNS anti-depressants. The combination of the two meds will make you "flat" - feeling tired. Also the combination of the two dosages will make you feel excessively sedated - hence your lack of memory and confusion. You are overdosing.

In general if a patient is showing severe adverse effects of a medicine, the doctor is supposed to stop you from using it, and prescribe an alternative. NOT prescribe another medicine to cure the side effects.

Find another doctor that actually knows what he/she is doing before you get hurt in the process.

Trazadone never helped me at all, not even to sleep it just made me feel stupid. If you don't like the s/e of trazadone talk to your dr. about some other options. There are some great sleeping aids out there besides trazadone.