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Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone

Trazodone, a second-generation atypical antidepressant, is increasingly being used off-label, in the treatment of insomnia. Although generally well tolerated, trazodone treatment can be associated with some complications. We describe a case of a 60-year-old man who received trazodone for primary ins...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: Santos, Gustavo, Moreira, Ana Maria
Formato: Online Artículo Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Hindawi 2017
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28702268
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/6136914
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author Santos, Gustavo
Moreira, Ana Maria
author_facet Santos, Gustavo
Moreira, Ana Maria
author_sort Santos, Gustavo
collection PubMed
description Trazodone, a second-generation atypical antidepressant, is increasingly being used off-label, in the treatment of insomnia. Although generally well tolerated, trazodone treatment can be associated with some complications. We describe a case of a 60-year-old man who received trazodone for primary insomnia. He returned, to the emergency department, two days later with distressing visual hallucinations, which prompted inpatient treatment. Trazodone was discontinued, leading to a complete resolution of his visual hallucinations, and he was treated with mirtazapine for 6 months. There has been no relapse in a follow-up period of two years. Patients presenting with visual hallucinations without significant psychiatry history can be a challenging situation. We highlight the importance of careful anamnesis with an accurate medication history. Given the widespread use of trazodone, clinicians should be aware of this possible side effect.
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spelling pubmed-54940932017-07-12 Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone Santos, Gustavo Moreira, Ana Maria Case Rep Psychiatry Case Report Trazodone, a second-generation atypical antidepressant, is increasingly being used off-label, in the treatment of insomnia. Although generally well tolerated, trazodone treatment can be associated with some complications. We describe a case of a 60-year-old man who received trazodone for primary insomnia. He returned, to the emergency department, two days later with distressing visual hallucinations, which prompted inpatient treatment. Trazodone was discontinued, leading to a complete resolution of his visual hallucinations, and he was treated with mirtazapine for 6 months. There has been no relapse in a follow-up period of two years. Patients presenting with visual hallucinations without significant psychiatry history can be a challenging situation. We highlight the importance of careful anamnesis with an accurate medication history. Given the widespread use of trazodone, clinicians should be aware of this possible side effect. Hindawi 2017 2017-06-18 /pmc/articles/PMC5494093/ /pubmed/28702268 http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/6136914 Text en Copyright © 2017 Gustavo Santos and Ana Maria Moreira. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
spellingShingle Case Report
Santos, Gustavo
Moreira, Ana Maria
Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title_full Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title_fullStr Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title_full_unstemmed Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title_short Distressing Visual Hallucinations after Treatment with Trazodone
title_sort distressing visual hallucinations after treatment with trazodone
topic Case Report
url https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC5494093/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/28702268
http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2017/6136914
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