Does Trazodone Cause Weight Gain?
Weight gain is listed in the trazodone label, but so is weight loss, and only weight loss makes the label's list of most common reactions.
By withClaro Editorial · 2026-11-02 · 4 min read
Clinical section reviewed by Dr. Jason Tan, Consultant Psychiatrist, on October 27, 2026.
Key takeaways
- In the FDA trials with outpatients, weight gain affected 5% on trazodone against 2% on placebo, and weight loss 6% against 3%.
- Of 31 people on Reddit who said whether their weight changed on trazodone, 15 noticed no change, 9 lost and 7 gained.
- Trazodone is often taken at low doses for sleep, and weight changes there have been studied less.
- Tell your prescriber about any steady change in appetite or weight.
Trazodone can cause weight gain, but it can also cause weight loss, and the label puts weight loss, not gain, on its short list of most common reactions. Its trial figures come from about 150 people on trazodone and as many on placebo, so 5% against 2% for gain is roughly 8 people against 3. Those trials used depression doses, starting at 150 mg a day, so they say little about the 25 to 100 mg many people take at night for sleep, where weight has hardly been studied. A 2023 review lists low weight gain among trazodone's advantages, without giving a measured rate.
Did people on Reddit gain weight on trazodone?
We read 100 recent threads about trazodone where people mentioned weight, mostly on r/insomnia, comments included, and 47 people described their own experience; 31 of them said whether their weight changed. Most didn't: 15 noticed no change, 9 lost weight and 7 gained. It is a small group, and people with a change to report are more likely to post, so treat it as a rough picture of what change looks like when it happens.
| What people reported | Of 31 people |
|---|
| No change | 15 |
| Lost weight | 9 |
| Gained weight | 7 |
People described all three. One person on r/insomnia wrote:
I was prescribed trazodone but stopped due to rapid weight gain
Another didn't see a change:
I didn't have any weight gain with Trazodone
And one lost weight:
took it for a month and lost around 10 pounds.
Why can trazodone affect weight?
Medically reviewed by Dr. Jason Tan on October 27, 2026, this section only.
The label doesn't explain either direction. For gain, sleepiness is the likely link to look at: drowsiness affected 41% of outpatients on trazodone against 20% on placebo, so evenings and mornings can be slower and less active. That is a plausible path, not one that has been studied directly. For weight loss, which the label lists as common, it gives no reason either. More on doses for sleep in trazodone for sleep. The clinical view:
Weight can change on an antidepressant, and noticing a change early gives you the most options.
Several things feed into it: appetite returning as mood improves, cravings, less activity, poor sleep and the medication itself.
What you can do:
- Mention a steady rise at your next appointment, while the change is still small.
- Raise weight loss that keeps going, or an appetite that has not come back after the first weeks.
Your prescriber may adjust the dose or suggest a medication with a different profile. Stopping on your own to control weight can bring on withdrawal or a return of symptoms. ## What should you tell your prescriber about weight changes?
Tell your prescriber what changed, when it started and how much it bothers you, and ask whether your dose or timing could play a part and when to check again; decisions are made together. It helps to tell them:
- When you started trazodone, your dose and what it's for.
- When you first noticed a change in appetite or weight.
- How sleepy you get after your dose and how long it lasts into the morning.
- Whether your clothes fit differently.
- Any history of an eating disorder.
More on side effects in trazodone side effects.
Download on the App Store Appetite and evening sleepiness can shift with your trazodone dose. The withClaro app lets you log appetite, sleep, energy and mood each day, linked to your dose, and turns it into a report for your prescriber.
Frequently asked questions
Does trazodone increase appetite?
Increased appetite isn't among the common side effects in the label's trial table, but MedlinePlus lists changes in appetite or weight as something to tell your doctor about. Mention any change that lasts.
Is trazodone better than Remeron for weight?
Remeron's label lists both weight gain and increased appetite among its common side effects, 12% and 17% against 2% on placebo; trazodone's lists weight loss instead. These come from different trials, so it is not a direct comparison. Ask your prescriber which fits you.
Will I lose weight after stopping trazodone?
We don't know: too few people in our threads said. Stopping on your own to change your weight can bring withdrawal or a return of symptoms, so bring your dose, its timing and the change you noticed to your prescriber.
Related articles
More about Trazodone
Same topic, other medications
Sources
- TRAZODONE HYDROCHLORIDE tablets prescribing information, US Food and Drug Administration via DailyMed
- Fagiolini A, et al. Role of trazodone in treatment of major depressive disorder: an update. Annals of General Psychiatry, 2023
- REMERON (mirtazapine) prescribing information, US Food and Drug Administration via DailyMed
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