Sertraline to amitriptyline

[ETgo]

Hi,
I've (unintentionally) come off 100mg sertraline in the last 12 months and I definitely can feel myself dipping lower and back into a depression mindset.
I want to ask my gp for something different to sertraline as the affect on my libido was huge - literally never felt like i wanted sex and even when i agreed to have sex nothing worked properly with or without my husband. Sex is really important to us and this was a really big deal, he never asked me to stop taking ad's but it got to the point where the benefits of taking meds didn't seem to outweigh the side effects.

Anyway I've done what gp's hate and googled and amitriptyline seems like it may not have as much effect on libido as others. Just wondering if anyone else has changed on to them and how it was? Also does anyone think my gp will think it's silly to ask to change for this reason?
Thank you 🙂

I take a very low dose of amitryptaline (20mg) for an insomnia issue and it hasn't affected my libido. Perimenopause has, but that's another story. Good luck x

It will make you feel very sleepy as I take it for nerve pain and insomnia it is used to treat anxiety too good luck 🤞

Thank you both, I just feel a bit silly about asking gp for it because of sex but I'm just going to have to bite the bullet.

Hopefully just a low dose is all I'd need just to keep me on an even keel - I'm definitely not feeling rock bottom but certainly slipping a bit.

amitriptyline is not used a mainstream antidepressant but GP may agree to prescribe it if you ask for it specifically. The most common tier one antidepressant that's prescribed which has very little sexual side effects is Mirtazapine.

I have Amitriptyline and it doesn't affect my libido anything like SSRIs did. You may not get it though as it isn't regularly prescribed for depression anymore as a lot of people don't tolerate it well. It can have a lot of side effects and is absolutely lethal in overdose so a suicide attempt with it has a good chance of succeeding.

If you take it for a long time (years) you have to have annual ECG to check whether it is affecting your heart and the withdrawal coming off it is brutal. Pounding headaches and epic mood swings. I was like the Hulk, honestly. One minute mildly irritated and the next a psycho rage monster. I'm not looking forward to coming off it again. As far as the side effects go though, I just get a bit of a dry mouth and some dizzy spells when raising the dose.

For me it's been really good except when I have to come off it. If, like me, you've tried all the usual ones and had no luck then it's worth asking for. Your GP can prescribe it up to a certain dose, I think, then you have to go to a psychiatrist for higher.