Trazodone (Molecule of the Month for September 2009)
Desyrel, Beneficat, Deprax, Desirel, Molipaxin, Thombran, Trazorel, Trialodine, Trittico
Trazodone is a psychoactive drug of the piperazine and triazolopyridine chemical classes that has antidepressant, anxiolytic, and hypnotic properties. It has been advertised that its therapeutic benefits become noticeable within the first week of administration. Trazodone has considerably less prominent side effects in comparison to most of the tricyclic antidepressants and tetracyclic antidepressants. Trazodone was originally discovered and developed in Italy in the 1960s by Angelini research laboratories as a second-generation antidepressant. It was developed according to the mental pain hypothesis, which was postulated from studying patients and which proposes that major depression is associated with a decreased pain threshold.
Trazodone is often used in conjunction with selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), like fluoxetine (Prozac) and has been noted to help with the anxiety that can result from beginning treatment with such antidepressants. Trazodone has been prescribed to children as an aid to other antidepressants as well.
The possibility of suicide in depressed patients remains during treatment and until significant remission occurs. Therefore, the number of tablets prescribed at any one time should take into account this possibility, and patients with suicidal ideation should never have access to large quantities of trazodone. A person who abruptly stops taking trazodone, even in doses as low as 25 mg (common for use as a sleep aid for people with anxiety disorders), may experience adverse mental reactions such as emotional instability, depressed mood, and suicidal thoughts.
Formal Chemical Name (IUPAC)
2-(3-[4-(3-chlorophenyl)piperazin-1-yl]propyl)-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3-a]pyridin-3(2H)-one
References
Update by Karl Harrison
(Molecule of the Month for
September 2009
)
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