Has anyone had experiences with an adverse reaction to Trazodone?

[Simkie]

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[Simkie]

@hallie2

I skimmed but didn’t it say serotonin syndrome uncommon in horses, relative to dogs?

A search for “syndrome” here only pulls one instance, referencing equine self mutilation syndrome.

I was unable to find any discussion of serotonin syndrome in equines when I looked at the literature when this happened, a few years ago. That’s sure what it looked like, though.

[fanfayre]

Interjecting to ask a related question:
How, at any dosage, are you administering trazadone? Are you grinding the pills and adding to feed, feeding whole out of your hand, dosing through a syringe, etc?
I’ve started my guy on 1500mg/d, by dissolving and syringing, but if there’s a way that’s just as effective but doesn’t involve carrying warm water to the barn, I’m all ears.
Thanks!

[horses25]

Hi @fanfayre I break the pills in half and soak in water and dose it in a syringe. Mine dissolve fairly quickly.

[fanfayre]

Thanks! I’ve been dissolving and syringing too, but not breaking. I’ll try it that way next time.

Hope you never have to deal with an adverse effect ever again

[Simkie]

I toss them in grain, whole. Feeding in a nose bag greatly aids in feeding meds, IME.

Or, if the horse isn’t eating reliably, I grind and paste them with a dosing syringe. I have my horses at home, so it’s easy to set it up in the house rather than try to do it in the barn, but I don’t think there’s any reason why you couldn’t mix up your dosing syringe at home and take it to the barn, as long as it’s not like you’re mixing it up in the AM and dosing in the evening. I like to add peppermint syrup and or molasses so they don’t hate me for shoving nasty stuff down their throat!

[horses25]

Is soaking medicine in advance (hours) a bad thing? just curious

[Simkie]

@horses25

Is soaking medicine in advance (hours) a bad thing? just curious

Soaking medication for hours in advance may effect the potency of it.

[fordtraktor]

I guess it depends on what you are trying to do with the medication. In my case we weren’t just using it for stall rest, we were trying to obtain a strong sedated effect. But the dose was definitely 56 150mg pills once a day. Just saying that I don’t think there is any actual toxic effect, even if there are behavioral ones.

I would try a different sedative in your situation if Traz isn’t working well with his particular self. Sedatives work different on different creatures. My mom got totally psychotic on a normal dose of pain meds post-surgery so her doc gives her something else now when she has a procedure.

[Incantation]

My dog had very bad hallucinations on Trazadone.

[IPEsq]

Trazodone is an SSRI so it’s not exactly a sedative. It is known to be generally well tolerated and to have a notable sedation side effect in horses. So that is why it’s used. But it isn’t itself actually a sedative or tranquilizer. And it isn’t surprising that some horses don’t respond well. You could try a different SSRI like Prozac to see how that goes. It does not have as much of a sedating side effect but can help with anxiety and stereotypical behaviors for a horse who is laid up. I have used Prozac before Trazodone became so popular. Last stall rest patient got nothing, maybe a little Ace a couple of times, but he is an unusually good boy about being laid up.

[fanfayre]

A bit of an update: I stuck them whole in an apple, because I forgot to take the pill cutter with me , and all but 4 went right down.
So I think 1-1/2 to 2 apples should be fine, for now.
If he starts to refuse apples I’ll go back to dissolving them with apple sauce, molasses or something like that, or if he’s really good I may attempt the feed bucket approach. He’s good with eating bute in his feed, so…

[horses25]

I figured, that could totally be a factor in this.

[SonnysMom]

My horse is on 10 Trazodone twice a day. They are tossed whole in his feed. Only twice in the last 5 weeks has he not eaten them all. Both times he left 2 with some grain. I think if he bites one he stops eating.

[lifeishorsesarelove]

@fordtraktor

Don’t worry about overdosing. My mare was on 56 150mg pills per day, you were giving WELL under max dose.

FIFTY SIX?! As in 8400mg a day?! I assume in divided doses? Edit: I finished reading the thread and saw that no, it was once a day.

Goof grief. My large pony mare is getting 9x 150mg once a day while on restricted turnout (we started at 3x 150) and I was feeling frustrated about picking up yet another refill of 100 pills.

I don’t feel bad anymore my vet has not used trazodone prior to her case, I actually asked about trying it and they had to special order it for me, but we’ve overall been happy with the result we’re getting. Good to know we have plenty of room left to increase.

For those asking about administering it - my mare gets hers in her ration balancer, we soak with a bit of hot water right before serving and then throw a handful of Buckeye Peppermint bits on top. The peppermint seems to cover the smell of the pills, they are definitely bitter (I take trazodone too) and we now have 2 horses on it that both find the taste offensive. They eat it fine with the addition of the peppermint treats (real peppermints would probably be fine too, but they’re both fat and don’t need the extra sugar).

We used holes in carrots for a while, as well as hiding them in squishy treats, but she started spitting the pills back out after a while.

[fordtraktor]

Yes! I had to order it by the case! This wasn’t for stall rest though, it was an attempt to quiet a mare with severe postpartum aggression enough to keep us all (humans and horses) safe. She would still come after people with teeth bared if you walked by her stall/paddock! Crazy times. It did take the edge off a little but she wasn’t noticeably sleepy or anything.

[Rel6]

My 1300 lb gelding was on trazodone to keep him quiet while healing from a laceration. He started with what was described to me as a “medium” dose for his size, of 26 pills AM and PM. It knocked him out. He was laying flat out, didn’t want to eat, and just looked overall bleh. Despite his large size, we reduced to 10 pills AM only and that was plenty to keep him content while on stall rest and restricted turnout.

Meanwhile, I had used Trazodone previously for a 1000 lb mare for stall rest and rehab after surgery. She was getting 33 pills (100mg) AM and PM and could still be difficult to handle. So I totally believe horses react very differently to the medication.

[DiamondJubilee]

So did my dog! She went crazy on 1200mg of gabapentin and 450mg of trazadone daily (spilt into 2 and even 3 times a day to see if we could get her to settle). This didn’t work and she went nuts. Removed them and she was fine.

I did have a yearling on stall rest and 1,000 mg trazadone 2 x day and it worked well for him. If he was quiet, I wouldn’t have given him the trazadone, but stall rest for 6 weeks was needed after club foot surgery. He was a tad spicy and I didn’t want him to injure himself so that took the edge off for him. But every animal reacts differently of course.

[Atlas_Shrugged]

I has a horse with this injury and used Resurpine (sp?) to keep her quiet on stall rest

[HiJumpGrrl]

Trazodone is not an SSRI. It is serotonergic, but has a different mechanism of action than fluoxetine (prozac) or others. Its sedative effects are due to its antihistaminergic effects rather than the serotonergic effects.

Trazodone does have a metabolite that is amphetamine-like called m-CPP, and it affects some people as a stimulant. I’d imagine it can wind horses up as well, causing a paradoxical response.

I’m a psychiatrist, this is my day job.