Expert: Ivan Goldberg, M.D. - 1/5/2012

Question
hello,i am 78 years old with diabetes,under control.i have high blood pressure and am taking coozar.i have terrable insommnia and was taking gabitril and xanax for sleep.the gabitril was making me dizzy,so my doctor who is a psychiatrist reccomended trazodone.i have read articles that people who have hypertension should not take trazodone.when i brought this up she was not aware of trazodone reaction to hypertension.personally i think i would be better off with xanax and lunesta alone

Answer
Hi Earl . . .

A search of the medical literature via PubMed fails to turn up any contraindications for the use of trazodone in people with high blood pressure. I have been prescribing trazodone as a sleep inducing aid for many years and have found that an occasional problem is the lowering of blood pressure. I have never seen an instance of trazodone-induced hypertension.

I think you should check with the physicians who is treating your blood pressure and determine if she sees any difficulty with your taking trazodone.

Best regards . . .

Ivan
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