Choosing between gabapentin and trazodone for your anxious dog depends on several factors. While trazodone is an ideal choice for short-term, acute anxiety relief due to its rapid onset, gabapentin is more versatile , addressing both anxiety and pain over both short or longer timeframes. Trazodone is used for treating depression. It may also be used for relief of an anxiety disorder (e.g., sleeplessness, tension), chronic pain. Trazodone (brand names Desyrel, Molipaxin, Deprax, Trittico, Thombran, Trialodine, Trazorel) is a psychoactive compound with sedative, anxiolytic, and antidepressant properties. My 75-pound dog takes 1200 mg of gabapentin and 150 mg of trazadone before every vet appointment and any time we need to have guests over at our house. It’s a high dose, but she handles it well, and mostly she just gets very tired, then sleeps it off and she’s back to normal the next day. My dog went through the same thing! His vet mentioned that trazodone can make some dogs more anxious. For my guy, it seemed like his anxiety was due to him being freaked out how he felt on the trazodone. He’d get more anxious and start to express that anxiety as it started to wear off. Trazodone is used for treating depression. It may also be used for relief of an anxiety disorder (e.g., sleeplessness, tension), chronic pain. Trazodone (brand names Desyrel, Molipaxin, Deprax, Trittico, Thombran, Trialodine, Trazorel) is a psychoactive compound with sedative, anxiolytic, and antidepressant properties. Trazodone can help you sleep, and sleepiness is a side effect of the medication. Doctors will sometimes prescribe trazodone for insomnia, particularly for people who have both depression and difficulty sleeping. However, the benefit of taking trazodone for insomnia is not well established. When it comes to choosing between Trazodone and Gabapentin for your dog, there are a few key factors to consider. The first is the specific condition your dog is experiencing. Trazodone may be more appropriate for anxiety-related issues, while Gabapentin may be better suited for chronic pain. Much of the time its the exact same medication. Recently had a laugh when I went to a friend's house and she had a bottle out of the exact same brand of pantoprazole we use for the dogs! Trazodone is another that, at least where I work, its human-labelled. Gabapentin capsules are a common one for pets and people too! They are less effective if given when the dog is already hyperexcited essentially. Research is moreso in regards to Gabapentin, but we apply it to both meds at our clinic with good success. So you can do this optionally because your dog is only on Trazodone. Gabapentin also can be added together if next time doesn’t work! Trazodone is an antidepressant often prescribed off-label for sleep. It may be an effective sleep aid with fewer side effects than other options, but it may still pose risks. Learn more. We used gabapentin and trazodone when we got our reactive dog and have had mixed results. The gabapentin definitely made her groggy at first, but now we have difficulty seeing much difference when we use it, positive or negative. We basically started using it only for stressful events, like vet visits or trainings. 🗝️ Key Takeaways: Trazodone and Gabapentin for Dogs. Trazodone is best for managing anxiety, particularly in stressful situations or during post-surgery recovery. Gabapentin is primarily used for pain relief, especially for nerve pain, chronic conditions, or post-surgical discomfort. Yes, trazodone and gabapentin are generally considered safe to use together in dogs, and veterinarians often prescribe them in combination to manage various conditions. Trazodone is an antidepressant medication [20] used to treat major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, and insomnia. [20] It is a phenylpiperazine compound of the serotonin antagonist and reuptake inhibitor (SARI) class. Gabapentin seems better but trazodone can make a dog feel “trapped” and “sedated” to the point where they are trying to fight it. My dog used to take it for the vet visit but it made him more nervous and distrusting. Gabapentin is a medication that is used to treat nerve pain and seizures in humans, but it is also commonly prescribed for dogs with chronic pain or anxiety. Trazodone, on the other hand, is an antidepressant medication that is often used off-label to treat anxiety in dogs. Trazodone will definitely make your dog sleepier than Gabapentin. I personally take trazodone for sleep every night, and have also taken gabapentin. Find patient medical information for Trazodone on WebMD including its uses, side effects and safety, interactions, pictures, warnings, and user ratings The combination of gabapentin and trazodone is increasingly common in veterinary medicine, particularly for managing anxiety, pain, and stress in dogs. These two medications, while different in how they work, often create a synergistic effect when used together. My dog has been prescribed gabapentin many times — a few times for surgery recovery, and he was on it for six months in response to some neurological issues. He had zero side effects aside from some mild sleepiness and had no trouble coming off of it either. It’s a really really safe medication.
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