Trazadone--how often is too often?

[PatricksMom]

100 mg of Trazadone seems to be the only thing that helps Petey's terror of thunderstorms. Without it, he will literally race around the house for 7+ hours barking in terror. But it takes a full hour to kick in, minimum, which means to have a chance at having it work right now he's taking it 3-5 nights a week to deal with our frequent storms. I don't like seeing him out of it, but he's much happier this way. Thoughts on safety? I've taken it every night for years for chronic insomnia, so I think it's probably fine, but has anyone seen any problems with frequent use?

[greysmom]

Every individual is different, but my spook took it every day (at a lower dose) for years and didn't have any issues.  You might consider a lower maintenance dose twice a day if you think you'll need to give it long term.  If it doesn't get out of his system he may not need so high an initial dose to keep him calm.

[Time4ANap]

We have a similar issue with storms where it takes about an hour for Xanax to work for Petunia.  To avoid medicating her when it's not necessary, I purchased a phone app called Lightning Pro for $2.99.  The app lets me setup a radious around me on a map and if there is a lightning strike within that circle, the app alerts me with a unique sound. I can then check the radar to look at the storm and see if it;s coming toward us, how fast, etc and decide if it;s prudent to give er the Xanax.  As a result, we rarely end up giving her one when she doesn't need it.  The only time that strategy doesn't work is if the storm happens to pop up right around us which has only happened once. 

We also give her a calming treat (Vetriscience Composure) if it looks like there's a chance of storms.  That takes the edge off for her without making her groggy and still allows us to give Xanax if needed. 

I hate to over medicate and then the storm comes nowhere near us. This strategy has worked well for us for the past 2 years or so.  Kete was absolutely inconsolable when there was a storm also. Since they came off of the same farm, I have a feeling they went through a bad tornado or other storm, because thunder and fireworks are really the only noises that bothered either of them. 

Good luck! 

[PatricksMom]

Thanks for the advice. Like Petunia, nothing else rattles him but fireworks and thunderstorms, otherwise he's a really chill dog.

[FiveRoooooers]

4 hours ago, Time4ANap said:

We have a similar issue with storms where it takes about an hour for Xanax to work for Petunia.  To avoid medicating her when it's not necessary, I purchased a phone app called Lightning Pro for $2.99.  The app lets me setup a radious around me on a map and if there is a lightning strike within that circle, the app alerts me with a unique sound. I can then check the radar to look at the storm and see if it;s coming toward us, how fast, etc and decide if it;s prudent to give er the Xanax.  As a result, we rarely end up giving her one when she doesn't need it.  The only time that strategy doesn't work is if the storm happens to pop up right around us which has only happened once. 

We also give her a calming treat (Vetriscience Composure) if it looks like there's a chance of storms.  That takes the edge off for her without making her groggy and still allows us to give Xanax if needed. 

I hate to over medicate and then the storm comes nowhere near us. This strategy has worked well for us for the past 2 years or so.  Kete was absolutely inconsolable when there was a storm also. Since they came off of the same farm, I have a feeling they went through a bad tornado or other storm, because thunder and fireworks are really the only noises that bothered either of them. 

Good luck! 

 Our phone app is WeatherBug. Not programmable but it does send alerts about severe weather heading our way, usually well ahead of time and we have been able to prepare. The lightning map lets me see the broad picture of where the strikes are as well as letting me zoom in to see exactly where they are. The map is also movable so I can see from where the storms are coming.