To panic about Amitriptyline?

[Rainmaker1]

Long time lurker here, just joined to ask for anyone's experiences. I've been taking Amitriptyline now for 5 years originally for pelvic pain. At one stage I was taking 50mg/day but for the last year it has been 35mg/day. The drop had no side effects whatsoever. I can no longer take it due to another medical reason and will be dropping to 25mg for a week then 20mg for another week then 10mg for a week before stopping. I also suffer from anxiety and am terrified about this process from what I've read online. Has anyone come off this without major withdrawal symptoms? Just looking for some reassurance!

Thanks all, it's just the fear of the unknown. Totally irrational as anxiety generally is.

I came off amitriptyline a few years ago. I cut down slowly as advised by the GP. I had some very minor, barely noticeable withdrawal symptoms but nothing terrible or anything that caused me any concern. The minor withdrawal symptoms were much better than the side-effects of being on the drug, actually!

Pregabalin is not the same drug as amitryptiline. Ignore what other people tell you about dosage anyway. The main thing is your dose and how long you were on it for. If you notice any withdrawal effects then slow down your reduction e.g. Wait two weeks instead of one before reducing again and consider taking the lowest dose every two days for an extra week at the end.
Also speak to your GP about a back up plan in case you do have problems. Are you in Scotland? If your GP writes a plan in your notes in can be accessed by NHS 24 staff out of hours if needed.
Good luck.

Oh its a bastard to come off of but you are pretty low dose anyway. It was the mood swings that got me. My poor boss came in to find me sobbing hysterically in the toilets after losing my shit at a coworker when 10 minutes before I'd been perfectly cheerful. Aside from that it wasn't bad. Some minor palpitations and disturbed sleep was the worst of it.

Did anyone have issues with weight gain on Ami?

Happy I've been on 50mg for mood since February with no wait gain.

But I was on Trazadone before that which can also cause weight gain so I was used to controlling my appetite. If that makes sense.

*weight not wait

I know the difference honest.

Thanks Unborn I am only on 10mg for neurological pain in pelvis. I have tried increasing to 20mg but it makes me so tired I can't get up th enext morning- maybe because I also take prescription strength co codamol.

I am just embarking on a weight loss plan - a month in - and wanted to make sure it wasn't going to sabotage my efforts as I had heard it can cause weight gain.

I did Happy but I'm a fat bitch anyway so could just be coincidence.

I was on amitriptyline for pain relief (also on gabapentin and carbamazepine at the same time!) and came off it slowly without any side effects.

Have they given you a different pain relief, as I was on the meds for a while and they did mention that my pain receptors might be a little sensitive for a short while (as in over-sensitive to pain but I only noticed it once!). It was the last one of my meds that I stopped.

Another amitriptyline survivor

I took 20mg for hypermobility and fibro. I didn't put weight on but did rapidly become a zombie. Gp weaned me off and put me on Nortriptyline instead which seems to suit me much better and Duloxcetine.
Combination seems to be ok for now.

Happy Looking back I did lose a stone while on it earlier this year but it was more stress then dieting.

kali110 no, to start woth I was prescribed 10mg! But after a week, it wasn't doing anything so GP upped it to 20 & so on & so on, the doctors were happy enough to let me increase the dosage myself at one point, think it was 50 to 75mg! Eventually the dose crept up to 150mg, simply because I wasn't feeling any benefit on a lower dose. When I fell pregnant with my 2nd child I had to just stop - my god it was like rockets going off in my head (probably coupled with hormones). 6 weeks before birth not one headache at all. A week after a blinding migraine & GP put me back on it.