is anyone using Trazodone for sundowning?

Yes, our doctor started my husband on 50mg of Trazodone for agitation at night. But the agitation (sudowning) started earlier in the day. He is on 50mg early afternoon and 50mg early evening. It helps, but sundowning is still difficult to manage.

Very Helpful! thank you. My nurse practitioner's nurse told me "don't do that" Trazodone ws subscribed by your nurse practitioner for sleep" . Needless to say I am not listening to her. I started giving my husband 50 mg at about 4:00 pm the last two days, and it has made a big difference in his irritability. I told the nurse i wanted to discuss this directly with my Nurse Practioner.

My wife was on 50 mg of tra a done just before dinner. After dinner she would feel sleepy and normally had a good nights sleep. Sundowning complicated things - starting around 4pm and really threw a wrench into the evening. I was able to convince my wife's doctor to prescribe seroquel. We started giving that around 3pm which minimized the sun downing agitation. Best of luck.

Very interesting. I will look into seroquel. Did you find that works better than trazodone for sundowning?
Gail

@rea Yes -- it seems that trazadone is more of a sedative than an antidepressant while Seroquel is focused more towards agitation. Of course I am no expert just sharing my own personal experience. There was also a point where we had to add ativan to the mix to control the agitation.

@thereaklenb
Did you notice any side effects when starting Seroquel? My husband's doctor thinks it would help.

Wow, complicated, isn't it. Trazodone seems to be working for us at this point. but good to know about seroquel. I have to have a discussion with our Nurse Practitioner, she seems to be leery of giving him anything. But what's to lose?

@trishaanderson

Seroquel helped my husband, but we had to stop it because seroquel can increase the risk of strokes. (My husband is at high risk for another stroke.) He is now taking Mirtazapine (Remeron).

@trishaanderson No side effects that i noticed but to be honest, she was not on it for very long. A severe UTI sent her to the hospital and she passed away several weeks later. She had just entered Memory Care and the director said that most of the residents were on some dosage of Seroquel.

@rea my Wife's D.O. has her on this among others. She has MCI and foot and shin neuropathy ...
This condition is mixed with A 3rd round of Depression.
So, her behavior is NOT like others with just MCI.
I am in a CareGiver Group that helps their Spouse.