How Long To Wait After Drinking To Take Trazodone

Answer

Thanks so much for reaching out to us! I understand your concern about mixing alcohol with trazodone. Combining both can certainly increase the risk of certain side effects, such as excess sedation, dizziness, and confusion, to name a few. Additionally, since you take trazodone to sleep, your sleep quality might decrease with the combination.

Avoid Trazodone Use With Alcohol

Alcohol and trazodone are both considered CNS (central nervous system) depressants, and combining them enhances these CNS effects.

The prescribing information for trazodone states the following:

Do not drink alcohol or take other medicines that make you sleepy or dizzy while taking DESYREL [trazodone] until you talk with your healthcare provider. DESYREL may make your sleepiness or dizziness worse if you take it with alcohol or other medicines that cause sleepiness or dizziness.

In addition to the potential side effects listed above (e.g. sedation, dizziness, etc...), there is also the chance of more serious problems with the combination.

The FDA label for trazodone also advises that death from overdose has occurred from concurrent use. Case reports from 1982 to 1986 describe 9 individuals who died due to taking trazodone in combination with other drugs and/or alcohol, although these cases typically involved individuals who took excess amounts of each and/or had underlying respiratory problems. It wouldn't be common in someone taking the usual prescribed doses and alcohol in moderation.

A 1984 study reported that co-administration of trazodone and alcohol affected manual dexterity and caused mental confusion, and concluded that it was likely not safe to take both trazodone and ethanol. The bottom-line recommendation is that trazodone may enhance the response to alcohol and other similar drugs.

Taking Trazodone After Drinking

Getting to your question, about how long to wait after drinking alcohol to take trazodone. There is no 'set in stone' time that it takes to metabolize 'one drink', but the general rule of thumb is one hour per one drink (although this can vary, especially in women, who metabolize alcohol more slowly). One drink is defined as:

• 5 ounces of wine (12% alcohol)
• 1 1/2 ounces of liquor (40% alcohol)
• 12 ounces of beer (5% alcohol)

The alcohol percent in the above drinks can certainly vary, but it gives you a good measuring stick.

Therefore, if you have one drink, you want to wait at least one hour before taking trazodone. Two hours for two drinks, and so on. In your case, having had two shots, you want to wait at least two hours to allow your body time to metabolize the alcohol before having a drink.

How Long Does It Take To Metabolize Trazodone?

If we go the other way around, taking trazodone before drinking (instead of trazodone after drinking), we have to take into account how long it takes our body to metabolize the drug.

Trazodone has a half-life (i.e. the time it takes to metabolize 50% of a drug) of around 10 hours, and most of the drug is metabolized within 2 to 3 days. Therefore, to completely avoid having trazodone in your system before having alcohol, you need to wait that amount of time (2-3 days).

Final Words

Thanks again for your question and I hope this answer was of some assistance.