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AIBU?

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Original poster

To want to know your experiences of amitriptyline?

120 replies

Amitriptyline · 09/05/2022 18:18

A bit nosy I know, I've been prescribed these tablets and pick them up tomorrow so looking for some first hand experiences from anyone who has had them.

10mg at night I believe the dosage is.

I'm a little bit apprehensive about starting them as I'm quite sensitive to meds and I can't really afford to put on any more weight which I know can be a side effect. Eeek.

They are for TMD pain but I'm hoping to get some benefit from them for my depression as I know its a multi use drug.

Thanks!

OP posts:
ThinWomansBrain · 09/05/2022 19:10

took them years ago for depr.ession - from memory just for a short period before starting SSRIs, which take a while to kick in. As others have said, make you sleep like a log. Getting that much sleep in itself probably helped a lot.

Tinyleopard · 09/05/2022 19:07

I also feel cheated re sleep. Thought I was going to sleep like a baby. Nope!

Popsicle33 · 09/05/2022 19:06

I took it for depression and got horrible sleep paralysis constantly

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 19:06

ReadyToMoveIt · 09/05/2022 19:02

I bet you sleep well!

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Surprisingly I don’t! I feel quite cheated.

Notanotherwindow · 09/05/2022 19:06

@girafferaffle how do you take them if you don't mind me asking? Do you take the whole dose at night? Or take two at night and one in the morning?

YingMei · 09/05/2022 19:04

I've been taking 20mg a night for about 8 months. Provides good relief for nerve pain and had the added bonus of helping me sleep as I'm pretty bad at that.
For a month of so I was a bit groggy in the morning. I've never gained any weight or craved any more food while taking this dose.

ReadyToMoveIt · 09/05/2022 19:02

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 18:54

It's 150mg 😂

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I bet you sleep well!

Tinyleopard · 09/05/2022 18:58

My old GP point blank wouldn't offer meds for it. Just said no. The new one offered straight away. Neither have offered Botox but I am going to look into it privately. TMJ ime is looked on as something and nothing and is easy to ignore. I was literally told they essentially couldn't care less as long as I could drink through a straw and talk.

TheCanyon · 09/05/2022 18:58

I'm allergic to them as I once found out sadly.

Dh is up to 40mg for insomnia and pain, doesn't really help either unfortunately but makes him very sleepy during the day.

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 18:56

Amitriptyline · 09/05/2022 18:51

I actually asked if I could have noritryptaline instead given that I'm sensitive to meds and really can't afford to put on much more weight. GP said try these first and if I don't get on with them we can switch. I know its a money saving thing isn't it as ami is cheaper.

It is a cost thing I think. I'm shocked they did botox before meds!

OutDamnedSpot · 09/05/2022 18:55

They made me really groggy for about two weeks, but that passed and now I find them really helpful for sleep and migraines.

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 18:54

ReadyToMoveIt · 09/05/2022 18:49

My mum takes 60mg a day, has done for years!

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It's 150mg 😂

Gonewalking · 09/05/2022 18:53

I'm on 30 mg for sciatica. All I've noticed is a very dry mouth and slightly sleepy in the morning. But come to think of it I do feel hungrier than normal !

NewYorkCityDreamer · 09/05/2022 18:53

Took it for headaches.
it made me like a zombie, too unsafe to drive at any time of day, constantly exhausted but couldn’t sleep and really irritable. I needed 50% extra time for university exams and I couldn’t think straight at all.

2 weeks of feeling like crap when I stopped them (after a year and a half) and I finally felt like myself again, just crippled by headaches. It only helped reduce it 2/5 days I’d say, they were still awful the other 3, I just felt worse

Akitamum · 09/05/2022 18:52

I am on 10mg for anxiety and heart palpitations. I'm still a little anxious because that's just me I think but the palpitations have completely gone. Haven't noticed an effect on my appetite or sleep, I'm usually a good sleeper anyway.

Original poster
Amitriptyline · 09/05/2022 18:51

I actually asked if I could have noritryptaline instead given that I'm sensitive to meds and really can't afford to put on much more weight. GP said try these first and if I don't get on with them we can switch. I know its a money saving thing isn't it as ami is cheaper.

OP posts:
Hawaymanyoushite · 09/05/2022 18:51

I take them for same reason and tbh no side effects except for groggy in morning if I take them too late. Tbh my gp said to take them earlier in evening if they make you too groggy. I’d be lost without them.

Original poster
Amitriptyline · 09/05/2022 18:50

I have tried a mouth guard yes and it didn't help at all unfortunately, it was the first thing I tried.

I'm pleased to read so much about helping sleep, I've been reliant on Nytol for far too long for insomnia.

OP posts:
ReadyToMoveIt · 09/05/2022 18:49

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 18:44

You are def allowed to split them but shouldn't be changing your own dose. I've not mentioned my dose as it's scary 😂

But for TMD I would hope it was a specialist prescribing (or you've at least seen one).

My mum takes 60mg a day, has done for years!

DeusInAbsentia · 09/05/2022 18:49

JennyMule · 09/05/2022 18:29

Took them for chronic pain. Had to stop as unable to wake up and function properly in the mornings.

This exactly.
I was a none functioning zombie who couldn't move until 11am. They swapped them for Nortryptilyene which were marginally better but I had to come off them. I was a shell of myself.

DS was prescribed them a few months back, told him if he was going to take them do it when he's not in work the next day to see if they suited him. They floored him and he stopped taking them too.

Original poster
Amitriptyline · 09/05/2022 18:47

Thanks for all of the replies so far, they're very helpful.

So my GP has prescribed them at the request of the dentist I see at the oral surgery department of hospital. I've been under them for a few years and nothing has helped the TMD so far, not even botox really.

I've had a touch of anxiety/depression recently which I was hoping they'd help with too. Two birds one stone kinda thing.

I'm a bit 😯about them causing me to be short tempered, I'm already a bit like that ATM. Hopefully I miss that one!

OP posts:
picklemewalnuts · 09/05/2022 18:45

Great. They'll have to pry them out of my cold dead fingers!

I take 30mg for chronic pain and sleep problems. If I forget to take them I basically doze all night without ever entering deeper sleep.

When I started a played with the dose a bit, I can get it down to 30mg and sometimes take an extra one if I've had a particularly hard day or pain.

I don't feel groggy in the morning, but it still does take me longer to get going than before I became ill.

girafferaffle · 09/05/2022 18:44

You are def allowed to split them but shouldn't be changing your own dose. I've not mentioned my dose as it's scary 😂

But for TMD I would hope it was a specialist prescribing (or you've at least seen one).

isthismylifenow · 09/05/2022 18:43

No issue with weight gain. But she is a sporty teenager so that may make a difference.

isthismylifenow · 09/05/2022 18:41

My dd also has tmd and been on a lose dose of 5mg for a good few years. She was upped to 10mg when she went through a bit of a tough time as they do help her sleep. They definitely help her jaw, as long as she doesn't go against the other advice (ie chewing for extended times etc). She has to take them no later than 7pm as she did feel a bit groggy the next morning when she first started.

Just as an aside, do you sleep with a bite plate? This has helped dd a lot.

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