Amitriptyline - how long with this drowsiness?

[MiddletonPink]

Only on day 2 of 10mg for fibromyalgia pain but feel very zombied.

Taken them at 6.30pm but have felt like on another planet today.

Is this likely to last? Don't want to pack in too soon but on the other hand can't cope much longer like this!

[CrashDiveOnMingoCity]

Can you try taking them a bit earlier? It's early days yet and takes a while to settle on it.

[MimsyBorogroves]

A good couple of weeks until your body adapts.

I ended up on 50mg a night, and I'd usually take it at 11pm and felt "fine" the next day - it wasn't until I came off it that I realised I was spending a lot of time in a daze.

One thing I will say is keep an eye on your appetite - it really made me crave sugar, which sounds daft but was honestly unbearable and I put on a stone and a half. Bear in mind I was on a much higher dose though.

[pinkfrocks]

could you half them and take 5mgs for a week then gradually increase?

[fattymammy]

I get 75mg and take just as I'm going to bed and feel OK next day but they do take a good few weeks to adjust to mine is due to fairly serious back problems .

[SpuffySummers]

I'm currently on 75mg and am fine. My DSis was on 10mg and said she felt like she was dragging her head across the floor not entirely sure what she meant by that but it was a funny visual. Stick with them for a few weeks but perhaps take them later, just before bed? Thats what I do.

[MiddletonPink]

Take it earlier than 6.30? Crikey. I suppose I could give it a go thanks.

I'm not sure I could cut one in half they are that tiny, but yes that would be a solution.

I have heard about your appetite going mad on these tablets so will definitely keep my eye on what I eat
Thanks everyone

[CantEvenKeepAnOrchidAlive]

I don't cope very well on it, I have it for spinal issues. I only ever get given it for night and it takes me hours to get out of the daze in the morning. I normally take it around 10pm but one night, went bed later than usual and took it around 11.30. I slept until 10am (unheard of!) and DP found it hard to rouse me as well as me looking like I was still asleep until after lunch. This time was luckily only 1 week on it but I was once on it for nearly 2 months, it was a few weeks before I became my more normal self.

[CantEvenKeepAnOrchidAlive]

And yes, sugar cravings were beyond normal on it, I've definitely put a few pounds on this week

[SpuffySummers]

My appetites been fine, I've managed to lose half a stone. But, I'm on them for depression, not pain, if that might make a difference?

[CrashDiveOnMingoCity]

I know it sounds early but I was advised to take them around 5ish to avoid that morning 'hangover' feeling.

[MiddletonPink]

OK Crash I will try 5 pm tomorrow worth a go..

On the plus side my shoulders and arms have been less painful.. not sure it's a coincidence though.

[CantEvenKeepAnOrchidAlive]

Spuffy, could be. I was on 10mg of amytriptyline, 30mg of co-codamol and 20mg of diazepam. The combination could have contributed to increase in chocolate cravings?! I anticipate the extra pounds anyway because I am unable to move without physical help and completely immobile throughout.

[magso]

I was advised to start on half a 10mg tablet for the first few days (week IIRC) for CFS to reduce the hangover effect which can be greater in CFS/FMS apparently. It did mean the beneficial pain relief is delayed a week more of course, but even the tiny dose can be helpfully soperific. It might be worth discussing a lower dose with your doctor for a few days (since you are new to it) if you are too zonked out the next day to function. I really struggled to get up the next day, but slowly, slowly the pain reduction and therefore the quality of sleep improved, a little. I was advised to take it 12 hours before I needed to get up.

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

I take 20mg, usually around 9pm. Mine's for nerve pain in shoulder due to an impingement. Tbh, I now sleep so much better, now that I no longer wake up in pain several times a night. I do feel a bit drowsy, but at least I'm drowsy but rested, iyswim. Before I was drowsy and sleep-deprived as well.

Does it at least help you to sleep better?

[Matildathecat]

I take 20mgs at bedtime and it sends me to sleep within half an hour. I sleep like a log mainly and find it hard to drag myself awake in the morning. Once I am awake,though, I'm fine. I started on 10ms and was feeling very dopey next day for a good couple of weeks. You really do have to stick with it.

I never got above 20mgs, everyone's tolerance is very different. I take industrial quantities of pain medication but couldn't increase this. However it gets me through the night which is the main thing. I don't have the sugar cravings but maybe trying to take it at bedtime would mean you sleep through the cravings IYSWIM?

[MiddletonPink]

I've been told to increase it by one tablet weekly till I'm on 40g.

I cannot imagine for one minute that that is going to happen.

I have slept a bit better Shotgun ie that my hips and back hasn't woke me up in pain, which is great ( but I've still woke up )

I'm going to try and take it at 5pm and see if that helps. Thanks for your replies everyone.

[Matildathecat]

No, do it at your own rate. Everyone is different. Good luck.

[magso]

Good point Matilda - it is worth sticking with it. Poor sleep due to pain doesn't help anyone, but may be particularly unhelpful in CFS/FMS. I think it took a good month or two before I realised things were improving (and the treacle effect of the illness not quite so impossibly heavy)- step by step, and actually being able to get to sleep was the first step!

[MiddletonPink]

I'm going to try half a tablet at 5pm see if that helps. Feel very odd today!

[LeapingOverTheWall]

I stopped taking mine when on one day I forgot that the DDs needed something to eat at lunchtime (and had to give them cash to get lunch on the way to school), forgot that DD2 had dancing till 5 minutes before we had to leave, and then an hour later forgot I had to pick her up . Was OK over the summer holidays when nothing specific was happening, but dreadful once the DDs went back to school/I went back into the office.

I'm having to manage with just pregabalin and paracetamol at the moment as I couldn't cope with the "hangover" and forgetfulness.