Desyrel

Let’s talk about Desyrel. The name might ring a bell for many clinicians, but its story is more nuanced than just “that old antidepressant we sometimes use for sleep.” I’m talking about trazodone hydrochloride. It arrived on the scene in the late 60s, an Italian molecule that was supposed to be a cleaner, safer alternative to the tricyclics. And in many ways, it was. But its journey in my practice, and I suspect in yours, hasn’t been a straight line from A to B.