Mumsnet Talk

For both my anxiety and ibs. I've read the leaflet and now I daren't take them. Anyone had positive storeys please? Google has helped frighten me too.

What dose? I'm on a low dose for back pain and it has been great.

Starting at 10mg slowly increasing over 3 months to 30mg

I was on 125mg at one point. 30 is very very low. They aren't at all scary to take, I had no side effects except lots of lovely sleep. And I am queen of side effects!

I'm only on 10. Agree that side affects are lots of lovely deep sleep! FWIW I NEVER google health stuff except if I also put NHS.

Lots of sleep sounds good, I have 2 young children so the word "sleep" doesn't get used unless its with "lack of"

10mg is a really, really low dose, so don't worry. The depression dose is about 50 I think so there are people taking a lot more than you! I took it for sleep and 20mg was really good for me. I used it as and when needed and only side effect was sometimes a dry mouth. It is pleasantly and mildly sedating at that dose. I slept really well on it. Only thing was when I took it for a few weeks every night I did get a bit constipated but that might just have been me (TMI!)

Well I took my first one last night, feel ok today just dizzy but that might be my vertigo I'm not sure. Keep getting hot sweats too but again that might just be something else, so far so good (touch wood)

I took it for about six months, I remember the first few weeks as being pretty horrible and I was on a very low dose. Then once it kicked in I felt much much better. I also came of it very very slowly.

I did feel suicidal a few times in those first few weeks but had been warned I might. As I Took it not for depression but for ME type symptoms it was a bit of a shock to feel that depressed.

Calmed down soon though.

I definately got hot and cold too.

Hope it calms down and remember it is the drug not You!

Also just read Arcadia and I was only on 20 mg and felt depressed for a short while, but it was okay because I kn what was causing it.

Had to leave work I just felt too dizzy / sick & tired. Don't think I'll be taking another, I drive 30 mins each way to school / work everyday and don't think I'd be safe.

Pinky the first couple of days will be the worst hang in there.

Or try something else, acupuncture can help both anxiety and IBS, which are of course related.

I'm on 10mg and have been for a while. I took abour 2 weeks to get used to them. I ensured dh was around to waken me and stay until I was up and home for me to take them but they knocked me out at first.

What time did you take it at?

I take 50mg for pain (having started at 10mg). I take it at about 7pm because when I first started taking it, I couldn't get up in the morning after taking it an hour before bed (as I was advised to). Sadly, it no longer seems to have much effect on my sleep.

The annoying side effect I get is a dry mouth. I tried to up the dose recently but the dry mouth was just too much to put up with. I also get much more vivid dreams. Some people get horrible nightmares but mine aren't scary, just weird and vivid.

Give it some time and take it in the early evening.

I was on the low dose for 4 months for migraine and I have to say I would never do it again.

I was like a zombie for the entire time. It was like my life was happening around me and I was observing what was happening without being there. I found it strange and my husband said afterwards it was pretty awful and I was very spaced and vacant at times.

Clearly on here not everyone has had the same experience so it may suit some people and not others.

I think it's very hard to tell how it will affect anyone. It really doesn't have much effect on me any more, other than the dry mouth. Even taking 75mg, the only noticeable effect was an even drier mouth. But some people are absolutely floored by it.

There are plenty of other options though. You do need to give it a bit of time to tell though. Amitriptyline is really cheap, which is why the NHS are so keen on prescribing it in the first instance. But if it doesn't suit you, they can try something else. I'm hoping my consultant will have some ideas when i see her later this week, but many of the options for my condition are Very Expensive Indeed, so she has to exhaust the cheap things first. It's annoying but I can completely understand why it has to be that way.

The initial sedation from that low dose will wear off as you get used to it. I am on 40mg now which is still very low, and I do get deeper sleep at that dose - I take it at 5pm now to try and reduce the next day's 'hangover'. I take it for chronic fatigue syndrome.

Due to the way tricyclics work, you have to give them a good few weeks to let them take effect. It's worth persevering a little longer IMO.

I have heard that for the dry mouth (which doesn't affect me personally) it's good to suck mints to increase saliva.

Yeah, but that only works during the day. It's the agony of peeling your tongue off the roof of your mouth in the morning that is beyond awful.

I take 10mg. It took a couple of weeks to adjust to but now im fine with it. I take it for pain about 9pm and sleep really well.

Ive had no other problems with it.

I'm on 30mg.

The spaced out feeling did last a couple of weeks, but I'm now fine driving first thing in the morning.

Agree that the very dry mouth is the worst bit.

I took it about 10pm last night, felt dizzy etc gradually got worse but then I felt ok about 1pm. Really worried about taking another will it make me worse? Or is that as bad as it gets?

Take it much earlier in the evening. I just took mine. Are you able to just relax tonight (ie if it knocks you out early will it really matter)

I was told by the doctor who originally told me to take it that I should take it half an hour before bed but that is nowhere near enough IME.

My partner doesn't get home til 7 so earliest is then. I've just felt knackered all day I'm ready for bed now

I was prescribed this yesterday, 20mg at night. Worse experience of my life.
Led in bed feeling dizzy, then got horrendous ibs cramps, ran to toilet in agony. Sorry for the tmi but was violently having ibs then went hot and felt urge to be sick. I was violently sick in bath on my left whilst having huge probs the other.
I have spent all day today numb with no bowel control.
There now in the bin

Spoke to my partner and I've decided not to continue 1) I'm too scared & 2) mebrivine that I was on before did help ibs.
Might look into acupuncture to help anxiety.

Feel like a failure for only taking 1

Radio 4 was advertising a programme about this exact drug yesterday. Not sure when it was scheduled for though. Might find it online?

I take 25mg a day to prevent migraines . My cat took it to cure recurring cystitus . Bonus!! No cystitus ! It is fab for getting off to sleep . I stopped taking it when I wanted to get pregnant with Ds1 and no weird side effects . Just did every other night,Every few nights etc...

Definately not a failure, drugs can have horrible side effects, if you can find other methods that work that help do that.

Don't feel like a failure! Different drugs affect people in different ways. There are plenty more drugs out there.

I saw my rheumy today and he's decided to titrate my amitriptyline dose down with a view to coming off it (because it's doing very little other than making my mouth dry). He gave me tramadol instead (to be taken alongside naproxen and paracetamol; it's just pain relief I need). I've just taken my first one and I feel woozy to say the least.

It is of course your call as to whether you take the ADs but I don't think you need to be scared. These drugs have been used for 50 years and are very safe drugs. It is trial and error though and what suits one person, doesn't suit another.