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General health

Amitriptaline

32 replies

onlyoranges · 24/11/2015 10:43

Is anyone taking it? Has it helped and how many mg are you taking?

OP posts:
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redannie118 · 24/11/2015 19:45

I was prescribed it for auto immune disease. Hate it. Pain relief was non existent and I was like a zombie the next day.i know loads of people who swear by it though. What are you taking it for?

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MsGee · 24/11/2015 19:47

My DH was prescribed it for fybromyalgia (not sure on spelling sorry) and he had the same response as redannie, so stopped taking it. My dad found it helped his sciatica though.

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nmg85 · 24/11/2015 19:54

Took for IC, had no relief but felt awful.

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TheFairyCaravan · 24/11/2015 19:56

I take it. If I didn't I wouldn't get any sleep at night.

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Finola1step · 24/11/2015 20:11

I have been taking it for 6 months. I take 40mg each night, two hours before bed. I take it due to bruising to the radial nerve.

The pros:
I sleep very well.
I now barely notice any pain.
I have now been finally able to use my arm in a normal way without pain.
I don't feel groggy in the morning, as long as I've had a good 7/8 hours sleep.

Cons:
I sleep very heavily for most of the night. It can be difficult to wake up if one of the dc wake. But, if they are poorly etc, I seem to snap out if it v quickly.
My nose runs a lot.
If I'm particularly tired, I get a twitch/ jerkiness in my arm.
It can take quite a while for Amitriptyline to build up in the system. I've tried coming off, pain returned quite badly after a few days and then it took a few weeks for the Amitriptyline ti build up again. So I'm not sure if the nerve is really better or if the drug us working really well.

Overall, I can honestly say that the pain I had before going on the medication was by far the worse pain I have ever experienced. I had a herniated disc in my neck which trapped the nerve. I am therefore vv grateful for the pain relief it has provided. But it did take a good few weeks to begin to feel some small benefit. And then a gradual improvement over the following month. I am in no hurry to try to come off it again.

Has your GP suggested it?

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Yseulte · 24/11/2015 21:42

Ive been on it for 25 years. It was prescribed by a CFS specialist because it's a good sedative and pain killer.

I take 75mg a night and I still don't sleep well. It's just that without it I was only sleeping 2-3 hours a night. (Disrupted sleep patterns are key symptom of CFS).

Side effects are a horrible dry mouth, problems with my liver and irregular heart rhythm. I'm going to have to stop taking it.

I wouldn't mess with it personally.

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PJ67 · 24/11/2015 23:26

I take 10 mg per night for neck and back pain. I did feel groggy in the mornings initially but that's okay now. I feel my aches and pains have improved and I sleep so much better.

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Wolfiefan · 24/11/2015 23:48

I took it for back pain to help me sleep. It made the muscles relax and helped me to sleep sooooo much better. I did feel a bit groggier in the mornings to start with.

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stayathomegardener · 24/11/2015 23:53

Yuselte yes to the dry mouth, although that was an understatement for me, used to wake up with my tounge like shoe leather.

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Themodernuriahheep · 25/11/2015 00:06

Triggered epilepsy in DM.

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ConfusedInBath · 25/11/2015 12:50

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

DownstairsMixUp · 25/11/2015 13:11

Sleep like a log on it but find it hard to get up and feel groggy which is unlike me as I can get up pretty easy in the mornings.

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SinisterBumFacedCat · 27/11/2015 22:45

Been on it for nearly 20 years. Pros are it makes a real difference to my neuralgia pain.
Cons are difficult to get up in the morning (that is probably just me, I have always struggled to get up!) and gradual weight gain. I also briefly tried nortriptyln but that gave me horrendous nightmares every night, and about 3 days of Prozac which stopped me sleeping completely and consequently left me in even more pain.
So ok

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Maiziemonkey · 28/11/2015 13:42

on it for fibromyalgia/chronic back pain, was on 50mg but found the sleepyfying effects very disruptive to life quality and trying to study, so reduced it to 10, but keep going bwteen 10 and 20 as on 20 still feel groggy but have incresaed pain on 10, not convinved how eeffective it is but know it's in the mix.

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Miiaaoow · 28/11/2015 17:05

I've been taking it for a year or so. For insomnia and widespread pain. Started at 10mg, but have dropped to 5mg.

It makes me NEED about 10 hours sleep. If i get that - I feel ok. If i get less, I feel absolutely horrendous all day. Less than 7 and I may as well have been awake all night. It makes me feel like i've been poisoned.

I hate it. I feel like my health has deteriorated and I want to come off it, but Insomnia is a beast and I can't cope with poor sleep and GP has nothing else to offer, so I'm stuck.

Also hasn't helped with the pain.

Other side effects for me include weight gain, dry mouth and difficulty urinating.

I don't recommend it.

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Lenuccia · 29/11/2015 14:55

I take 40-50mg for chronic migraine and migraine associated vertigo. Just been on it for over a month. It has lessened my dizziness and the intensity of headaches somewhat - but, I feel like a zombie unless I really sleep in (not practicable during the week). Terrible dry mouth, hair loss and slowed my metabolism down - so some constipation and weight gain (perhaps because I am not as active due to being zombified). Not sure yet if the minuses outweigh the pluses but nothingelse has worked thus far.

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RictusGrimace · 29/11/2015 15:31

I took it for sleep and pain when I had ME. It helped me greatly with sleep and I suffered no side effects (was only on 20mg) and I came off it gradually with no problems when I was better.

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hiccupgirl · 29/11/2015 18:52

I was given it at 10mg does for IBS and anxiety. It helped for 6 weeks then I started having major panic attacks so stopped taking it. When I tried it again 2 months later I was panicking on day 2 so gave up again. It did help me sleep but I had a horrible dry mouth on it.

DH was given the same dose for fibromyalgia. He was told to stop taking it after 2 months when he collapsed at work and the medical opinion was that the amitripilene had trigger a seizure type event.

We both steer clear of it now.

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Yseulte · 30/11/2015 17:47

I have migraines Lenuccia and it makes no odds with them. Have you tried triptans?

They work much better.

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CuddlesAndShit · 30/11/2015 17:57

I have it prescribed for cfs/fibro. I only take it if I reeeally need a decent nights sleep, as I find that not only does it not help with the muscle pain but it actually intensifies it even more. However it does help me to drop off sooner and stay asleep.

I also get the groggy feeling the next day, no matter how early in the evening I take it.

I now have tramadol which does help with the pain AND the sleeping, but I try not to take either unless I'm desperate. I also rotate the two so I don't get reliant on either...not sure if that's recommended but it works for me!

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specialsubject · 30/11/2015 18:03

like all drugs, it is very personal. It doesn't work in this house which is a big shame, because it is the go-to drug for the condition concerned and no-one seems to be prepared to prescribe anything else.

about 10% of the population get no benefit from it. About the same will get lots of benefit and no side-effects, the rest will be in the middle.

I really hope you are in the right category but there's not way to know without trying.

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Lenuccia · 05/12/2015 23:07

Yseulte thanks - I do take triptans - the problem is the DR feels I have had to to take too many a month in the past two years (and no effect on dizziness) so need something propholactic.

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MegGriffin · 06/12/2015 14:35

i took it for sciatica but it didnt really help so was moved on to lyrica.

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weebarra · 06/12/2015 14:38

I take it for nerve pain resulting from my mastectomy. Only 10mg, but it works for me without too many side effects.

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Yseulte · 06/12/2015 23:23

Lenuccia - I used to get a migraine a week until was sent by doc to have food intolerances and chemical sensitivities tested - changing my diet and avoiding chemicals there were causing problems cut my migraines to one a month.

I cut out gluten, dairy, yeast, chocolate, oranges, cheese and smoked foods and that had immediate effect. Also have to avoid hairspray (but not mousse or gel), most perfumes and some household chemicals.

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