Is it safe to take Trazadone, Benadryl or Unisom while taking Ativan?

Taking trazodone and Ativan (lorazepam) together can cause dangerous side effects like extreme sleepiness, dizziness, confusion, and slowed breathing. Both drugs slow down your central nervous system. You should only take them together if a doctor tells you to do so.

Trazodone and Benadryl together is generally not recommended because both drugs cause drowsiness. Combining them can lead to extreme sleepiness, dizziness, confusion, and a higher risk of falls or accidents.

Combining trazodone and Unisom is generally not recommended because both cause severe drowsiness, dizziness, and confusion. Taking them together multiplies their sedative effects on your brain, which can lead to extreme morning grogginess, poor balance, and dangerous falls.

What I found. I would not take together without consulting your doctor or possibly a pharmacist.u

@happytoseeyou Please, please, please check with your prescribing doctor! There can be nasty side effects, and that's the last thing you need now! How about resorting to calming teas, or gentle music, meditation to relax you into sleep?
Ginger

@bajjerfan Thanks so much and Nurse Practitioner did recommend Trazadone while doing Ativan taper, which I would prefer not to do, but need to get some sleep.
She also said Unisom or Benadryl could be taken with the taper, so it would be either, Trazadone, or Unisom, or Benadryl, while doing the Ativan taper. I called 3 pharmacists, 2 said yes, 1 cautioned against doing so.

@gingerw Thanks so much and yes, I do these and more and take magnesium glycinate all the time and prefer no additional meds but am back to getting no sleep for nights in a row, which is why I took the Ativan to begin with and it's the only thing that had worked, but will continue to try to avoid meds but becoming extremely desperate for sleep again.

@gingerw And yes, Nurse Practitioner suggested Trazadone and the others, but am asking here because I really don't want to, and want to know what others think, but need sleep as well. 2 pharmacists said yes to this and 1 cautioned against, and yes, the very last thing I need right now is nasty side effects! Thanks again and sending hugs. 🙂

Hi All, I took 1mg Ativan for 5 weeks every night for sleep, then started taper 2 weeks ago, have been at .75mg , had significant withdrawl symptoms mostly the first week, and am supposed to cut to .50mg now. I've had 3 very bad episodes of dizziness that lasted a couple of minutes, the most recent one was today where I really thought I was going to pass out and all have taken me a couple hours to feel ok again, and actually, today, I still don't after several hours. Have telehealth appt with Nurse Practitioner tomorrow. Afraid to go to .50mg. Any input is appreciated. I want off of this asap, but with this happening, should I stay at .75mg longer or ask to cut pills further to go to .625mg or something? Also, getting extremely little sleep and increased my magnesium glycinate last night from 240mg to 360mg, is that safe? It helped me last night, but not sure if too much? I have not started any sleep med yet as afraid of side effects, etc, along with taper withdrawl, etc,.. was hoping to get through this with magnesium as opposed to adding Trazadone or Mirtazapine, etc, and don't know how I'll react to those. Thanks very much in advance for your help.

I know how difficult it can be trying to get off some meds especially benzodiazepines, I also take them and I started using magnesium bisglycinate to help me sleep but it gave me brain zaps. I see that you mentioned you’re going to see a Nurse Practitioner tomorrow so I’m thinking that you might want to wait until then to see what is your next step to take, having such adverse symptoms from your withdrawal is scary and you could injure yourself falling.

@happytoseeyou I have been on 0.5 mg twice a day for years for anxiety so it’s not a dangerous drug to be on. When I was having sleep problems a few months ago I found 2 or 3 mg of melatonin to be helpful at night. I would think you could try to taper more slowly off of the Ativan and see how that works. Ativan has a very short half life and doesn’t stay in your system for a long time so reducing it gradually should work. It’s good you’re talking to the NP who hopefully has experience with it. Good luck with this.

@frouke Thanks very much and yes very difficult and scary and waiting til I see my NP today although she will likely suggest a number of meds all of which I am afraid to take with Ativan and while tapering and side effects, dizziness, etc are unknown but I need to get sleep and if anything that can be taken safely for sleep and to ease withdrawl would be good to know.

@joetex Thanks very much and which med have you been on twice a day for years please, Ativan or Trazadone? I've been tapering pretty slowly thus far, 1st cut was from 1mg to .75mg and have been on that for 2weeks and 1 day now, was supposed to cut to 0.5mg last night but scared due to dizziness and it's also a larger % cut than the first cut, which I had a hard time with and that's why I stayed on .75mg for a second week. I really want to be off of this , as I don't feel well on it, but it's the only thing that helped with sleep and need sleep badly, and have tried melatonin in the past, but it didn't help. NP will likely say I should have cut last night and will also likely suggest a number of meds which I am afraid to do because of unknown side effects, increased dizziness, etc., but I need sleep badly and anything that can safely be taken wih Ativan taper to help with sleep and withdrawl would be great to know.