Prescribed amitriptyline for depression/anxiety - not sure about it??

[TooMuchJD]

I have history of depressive episodes (not all the time) partic PND.

Have been having lots of bouts recently with suicidal thoughts etc and physiological symptoms too (stomach cramps, headaches, nausea). Have had bloods done & waiting for scans to confirm not anything physical but GP has prescribed amitriptyline (very low dose) once a day in the evening.

Am aware that this is likely make me drowsy which I'm little dubious about as youngest child is 9 mths and still occassionally wakes at night. Also I'm not comfortable with taking medication generally.

Does anyone have experience of this medication and what I can expect if I start taking it.

Amitriptyline is an old fashioned AD and is known as a tricylic AD. I take imipramine which is the same type of drug. All I can say is that the drugs have helped me enormously and am on a high dose 200mg per day because I have not been able to fully recover from a major episode of anx/dep last Easter (on psych ward for 3 months) and still have blips/setbacks from time to time. As you probably know the annoying thing is that one drug might suit one person but not another.

You mention a history of depressive episodes from time to time - did you not take ADs during those times and did they suit you.....I don't think you need worry about a very low dose of amitriptyline.

I have never taken meds for my depression, tried deal with it through counselling and self discipline. Has become a lot harder since having DS2 last year though as have DD is only 2 and have really struggled to keep going whilst working full time too. Have now dropped to to working 2 days a week which has helped in some ways but created problems in other areas.

Sadly DH is not a lot of use, tries hard but not good with emotional stuff, unable to multitask.

Am really wary of medication, partic if it makes me drowsy as I am the only driver and the only light sleeper in the house. My worry is that should something happen overnight then I wouldn't be in a fit state to deal with it. (DH is comepletely useless in a crisis, headless chicken mode)

I understand your point TMTD and I can't believe how you coped with 2 under two and working full time too. 2 days sounds more manageable but assume the problems it has created are due to finance.

Oh god show me a man who is good with emotional stuff - mine tries hard but can only take so much and then he comes out with some platitude. As for multi-tasking - ditto. I have 3 adult sons and they would all rather walk over broken glass then discuss emotional stuff! Their partners/wives have more or less accepted that they are going to have to accept that these blokes just have very limited emotional intelligence. I think things changed for me once I realised he wasn't really capable of discussing emotions, rather than he was just refusing to be awkward etc.

There are lots of MNs on her who have young children and take ADs so I don't think you should worry with such a low dose - depression is a mood disorder, not a thinking disorder, and taking an AD doesn't prevent you from dealing with some crisis.......makes it harder of course but by no means impossible.

However I guess you must make your own mind up of course. How low is this dose? I would think the worst thing that could happen is that the dose is too low to be of any use. It's unusual for GPs to prescribe tryclics these days as they prefer the SSRIs. Different drugs react differently on different people which is another confusing thing about depression.

Why not have a chat with the GP ablout your fears on your next visit.

TooMuchJD I Have been taking it a couple of nights a week for about a year for my insomnia, at a low dose of 20mg. It is not a treatment for depression or anxiety in my case, so your dose may be higher, but at a low dose it shouldn't knock you out, make you unable to wake for your children in the night or make you unable to drive the next morning (thought I wouldn't take it too late at night incase you're a bit sleepy the next morning). I"m perfectly able to get up to my DD, the difference being I get back to sleep much easier.
The GPs I've seen seem keen on this one, they seem to 'trust' it as has been round many years and they seem to be giving it out for chronic pain management as well.
I would go back and discuss dosage with your GP though if you are worried about sleepiness.