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Original poster

Is anyone on or had any experience with amitriptyline or Nortriptyline?

61 replies

RedPandaWanda · 03/02/2022 09:04

Can I ask how you got on with it?
I have awful IBS and nothing I have tried has helped (low fodmap diet, IBS meds, hypnotherapy etc). It has completely ruined my life. I want the life back that I had 24 years ago, before it started.
My gastroenterologist has prescribed me Nortriptyline (10mg to start with). I have read it’s slightly constipating (which is something I want tbh) and good with sleep issues and migraines (I have had many restless nights for a while and I suffer from hormonal migraines).
But SSRI’s in the past have made my stomach issues so much worse so I am very apprehensive about taking them but am hoping as they are the older TCA’s my digestive system may tolerate them better?
I am also concerned about coming off them, my sister has been on Amitriptyline (25mg) for 15 years and every time she tries to come off she feels absolutely dreadful.
BUT I am willing to try the Nortriptyline because I am struggling so much with this anxiety/gut issue/more anxiety vicious cycle.
How have you been with this med?

OP posts:

Cocolapew · 03/02/2022 09:10

Not me but my DH has been on it for years, it has really helped his pain, he has tumours in his lung which press on a spinal nerve. He has had no side effects or issues with it.

AnotherMansCause · 03/02/2022 09:10

I used to take amitriptyline for migraines, I think it was a similar dose to your sister. It didn't really help but made me feel constantly like a zombie - sort of half awake like I'd been drugged, so I came off it. It took me two attempts because the first time I basically stopped sleeping. The second time I knew what to expect & after about 9 weeks I was up to about 5 hours a night, so it was tolerable. Would never take it again, but I know lots of people are fine with it.

AtillatheHun · 03/02/2022 09:13

I took a tiny 5mg dose of amy trip for pain. I managed about 4 days and was such a zombie that I gave up. My brother has been taking hospital dose levels (100mg+) daily for years - prescribed by a private doc in another country before anyone says how impossible that is). He has tried repeatedly to reduce or quit and it’s horrible. He has tremors of the hand and lip. He’s been unable to properly function for years - now given he is taking it for mental health reasons, I can’t say what’s causing g that - the drug or the underlying issue. But his inability to reduce or cease taking it has caused him great anguish. It’s a well tried and tested anti depressant and has been used since the 1950s. Suggest you read some Us sources in the physical dependency created by use of more than c.8 weeks as the NHS is quite blasé about simply saying it’s “not addictive “.

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Dizzywizz · 03/02/2022 09:14

I’ve taken both. Came off nortriptyline as it made me very paranoid, I literally thought cars were chasing me and it was only when I told Dh I realised it wasn’t true.

Amitriptyline I gave up on in the past due to side effects drug feeling, and I had young children at the time, Dh worked long hours and I couldnt wake in the night if the kids needed me.

Now the kids are older I am back on it and it really helps with the pain. The side effects are more manageable. Don’t know if it affects my stomach, I’m always constipated as all the meds I am on cause that, so I have to take stool softeners.

sashh · 03/02/2022 09:15

I take amitriptyline.

I was given some advice a swear by. Take them for 2 weeks no matter what the side effects are.

When you start on them you may be fine for a couple of days, then you start to feel tired and ill, but if you can stick with it after 2 weeks it is fine.

TheApexOfMyLife · 03/02/2022 09:16

I depends on the dosage really.

Higher dosage is used an an antidepressant, lower dosage as a painkiller/sleep issues.

You’ll get different effects depending on how much you take iyswim

BertieBotts · 03/02/2022 09:17

I took Nortriptyline off label for ADHD (not in UK) I think it was 10mg or 20mg.

It took about 6 weeks to settle down from feeling nauseous and sleepy constantly and then it was fine. But I'd have an occasional day of feeling so sluggish. It didn't make me constipated but it did give me a dry mouth.

Mamamamasaurus · 03/02/2022 09:19

I've taken amitriptyline for 4 years now, for a chronic pain condition. I started on 10mg as most people do and I how take 60mg,at around 6pm.

Many people either don't give it a chance past the first 2 / 3 nights and declare it the work of the devil, or are taking it at the wrong time. Take it approx 12 hours before you want yo wake up. Expect to be a bit drowsy the first few mornings of taking it.

I wouldn't (and can't) be without it now

LunaAndHerMoonDragons · 03/02/2022 09:21

I find amitriptyline constipating, but then my IBS is the constipation type, so not good for me. I have to take it with osmalax. My dosage is 200mg currently, I've been on it many years ago, then off it while TTC, now back on again. I had to taper down, but was fine conning completely off. I don't think your sister's experience is necessarily representative, especially given she's on a very low dose. Has she ever had her doctor get her to go down really gradually, so drop from 25 to 20 (2 10mg tablets) for a couple of weeks, then to 15mg (1.5 10mg tablets), then to 10mg, then 5mg, then 5 every second day, then 5 every 3rd day. You stay on each step for at least a week.

I don't know about nortriptyline but I know amitriptyline can help with specific types of migraines. I wouldn't find 10mg helpful with sleep, but I know others do. I've had reactions to many medications including a different TCA, for me personally it's one of a very few medications that don't give me side effects so bad I have to stop using them.

ShippingNews · 03/02/2022 09:22

I take 20mg each night for interstitial cystitis. It has the effect of slowing down the incessant bladder urgency which characterises this condition. I haven't had any problems with it - for the first few nights I felt a bit dopey, but since then I've been fine. I take it at about 7pm and don't go to bed for a few hours, but I don't feel sleepy.

CorrBlimeyGG · 03/02/2022 09:24

I take amitriptyline, as others say if you persevere through the first few weeks it can be really useful. The sedative effect reduces, though it still helps with sleep.

SilverHairedCat · 03/02/2022 09:24

I've been on both for chronic migraine. I have IBSD. Nortryptiline did make my diarrhoea much better. No other side effects.

Amitryptiline - I didn't take it beyond two weeks, couldn't get past the side effects. It knocked me unconscious at night and I couldn't get up for my alarm. I was so drowsy for 14hrs after taking it that I wasn't fit to drive a car. I was going to end up losing my job. Never again.

CorrBlimeyGG · 03/02/2022 09:25

My brother has been taking hospital dose levels (100mg+) daily for years - prescribed by a private doc in another country before anyone says how impossible that is

It's not impossible at all, 100mg is a normal dose for depression. It's not a first line treatment for depression any longer, but can be useful where SSRIs are not effective or otherwise unsuitable.

LunaAndHerMoonDragons · 03/02/2022 09:27

With the feeling drowsy side effect take it about an hour before you want to go to sleep, I've found that times usually best for me to feel drowsy at bedtime and for the sedation to wear off. Funny how different medical treatment can be, the dosage I'm on isn't unusual here and isn't a hospital dose. Psychiatrist has said I can go higher if needed.

pittameinhummus · 03/02/2022 09:28

I really struggled on amitriptyline, I was on it for six months and never got past the side-effects, nor was it working for me, I felt constantly tired and like a zombie. I recently switched to nortriptyline and I've had no side-effects at all and it seems to be working

BuickMcKane · 03/02/2022 09:30

Neither worked for me (migraines and trigeminal neuralgia), and I was too zonked to wake up for my DC during the night. So if you're on your own with kids as I am, I'd avoid it.

Silvercatowner · 03/02/2022 09:30

I take a low dose of amitriptyline for chronic pain and it really helps. It takes the edge off and nudges me into sleep.

supermum87 · 03/02/2022 09:37

I take amitriptyline 10mg a day, for pain. Even though I was misdiagnosed as having nerve pain. So only took them for the month past.

The first two days of taking them in the morning I felt a bit groggy, however I then read to take them at tea time (6pm ish) I go to bed between 9pm-10pm (still trying to get a diagnosis of what's causing my pain which is why I'm in bed so early)

And since I started taking them at 6pm I don't feel groggy.

I didn't really have any other side effects. It does help me fall into a deeper sleep quickly but I've been able to wake up in the middle of the night for my children/cats

Livelifeinthebuslane · 03/02/2022 09:42

AtillatheHun I got really horrible twitches in my fingers when I came off amitriptyline. They've gone, but I do still have weird twitching / tremors / buzzing elsewhere in my body.

I also got bad dreams! I was on a low dose for nerve pain, I lasted about a month. Isn't nortriptyline better tolerated though? (And more expensive, which is why amitriptyline is usually prescribed first.)

abigailsnan · 03/02/2022 09:55

I have been prescribed amitriptyline for easing the pain on my sciatic nerve due to 4 x lower back disc's slipping I did not sleep for months and spent most of the days crying in pain my physio suggested I ask my Dr. to prescribe them for me and after taking the first dose that first night I have had no pain at all during the night so just having a good nights sleep makes the pain during the day bearable.

TheCanyon · 03/02/2022 09:56

Dh is prescribed 20mg a night for ibd/colitis pain and insomnia. It doesn't really help either and I don't think it's really made a difference either way with his bowels.

Blackopal · 03/02/2022 10:01

I take amitriptyline for migraine prevention which it has helped me with. I also suffered with IBS and that has settled down.
One trigger of migraine for me is lack of sleep and this is also helped.
I take 20mg at 6pm.
I am alone with my children and have not had problems waking for them.

Original poster

RedPandaWanda · 03/02/2022 11:22

Thanks everyone. I am very apprehensive about taking them tbh especially as I drive for a job with a disabled passenger! I just desperately need something to calm my IBS, nothing else has helped.

OP posts:

Gilead · 03/02/2022 11:30

I take amitriptyline for chronic pain. I wouldn’t be without it. It decreases secretions so you may have a dry mouth, pee less frequently and have thicker stools. I have a stoma and it has decreased and slightly thickened my output.

2022sucksalready · 03/02/2022 11:30

As @sashh says, give them 2-3 weeks to get used to them. When I first started taking them I took them pretty early in the evening, so that I was able to wake up and get going in the morning. I take them later now I’m over the initial sleepiness. I use them for migraine prevention, and a side effect (positively) is that they have slowed my guts a little (crohns). Hopefully they will help you, there’s a fair bit of evidence it can help in IBS. If it isn’t helping much initially, ask your doc about small dose increases. I had to adjust a couple of times to get the right dose for my migraines.

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