I’m not a doctor. And I haven’t stayed at a Holiday Inn Express lately. So, with that as context, allow me to suggest you consider the prescription drug Trazodone if you have sleeping issues.

For most of my life, I’ve slept like the dead, with no issues falling asleep and no trouble staying asleep through the night. Then, during the pandemic, the quality of my sleep deteriorated (maybe the timing was a coincidence?). Some nights, I couldn’t fall asleep, no matter how tired I felt. Other nights, I would wake up at 3 a.m., unable to drift back to sleep, my mind racing.

After months of this, my psychiatrist suggested I try the prescription drug Trazodone. It’s worked great and dramatically improved the quality of my sleep.

Trazodone: The Sleep-Inducing Side Effect

Trazodone is an antidepressant that is rarely prescribed to treat depression because it has a major side effect: it makes you sleepy. Instead, it is now mainly prescribed as a sleep aid.

Unlike traditional sleep medications like Ambien or Lunesta, trazodone isn’t classified as a sleeping pill. Its primary function is to increase serotonin levels in the brain, which helps with mood regulation. However, its sedative properties can make it an effective sleep aid for those who need help falling asleep and staying asleep.

Here’s what Dr. Peter Attia has to say about Trazodone in his excellent book Outlive – The Science and Art of Longevity after advising not to rely on Ambien, Lunesta, or Xanax as sleep aids:

One drug that we do find helpful for assisting with sleep is trazodone, a fairly old anti-depressant (approved in 1981) that never really took off. At the doses used to treat depression, two hundred to three hundred milligrams per day, it had the unwanted side effect of causing users to fall asleep. But one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. That side effect is what we want in a sleep medication, especially if it also improves sleep architecture, which is exactly what trazodone does—and most other sleep meds do not. We typically use it at much lower doses, from one hundred milligrams down to fifty milligrams or even less; the optimal dosing depends on the individual, but the goal is to find the amount that improves their sleep quality without next-day grogginess.

How Trazodone is Different from Ambien and Lunesta

If you’ve heard of prescription sleep aids, you might be more familiar with medications like Ambien and Lunesta. While these drugs are specifically designed to treat insomnia, they work very differently from Trazodone. Ambien and Lunesta belong to a class of drugs called sedative-hypnotics, which are directly aimed at inducing sleep by slowing down brain activity. This makes them effective in the short term, but they can come with some drawbacks.

One major concern with Ambien and Lunesta is that they can lead to dependence or tolerance—over time, your body may need higher doses to achieve the same sleep-inducing effects. They also have some notable side effects, like memory problems or strange behaviors like sleepwalking or sleep-eating. For me, the idea of potentially experiencing these issues was unsettling. Plus, these drugs can reduce the amount of REM sleep, resulting in less restful sleep.

Trazodone, on the other hand, doesn’t carry the same risks of dependency. It works more gradually by enhancing the brain’s natural serotonin levels and promoting sleep as a secondary effect. It’s also been in use for decades, and doctors are generally comfortable prescribing it long-term, something that can be tricky with other sleep meds.

My Experience

Since starting Trazodone, my sleep has improved dramatically. I fall asleep easily and usually stay asleep all night. If I do wake up, I typically have no issues falling back to sleep. I wake up feeling rested, without the grogginess or side effects that some people experience with other sleep medications. The fact that trazodone isn’t habit-forming has given me peace of mind, too, knowing that I’m not becoming dependent on it.

Of course, it’s important to talk to your doctor about what’s right for you, but if you’re struggling with sleep and looking for a solution, Trazodone might be worth considering.

Short of taking a sleep medication, here are other things to try if you’d like to sleep better: Top Tips for A Better Night’s Sleep.