Amitriptyline having no effect?

[marne2]

Gp keeps prescribing it for me to help me sleep at night and as a pain killer for my dodgy back and hip, started on one tablet before bed and am now on 2, was wide awake all night, my back felt a bit better but could not sleep at all until 6am. People kept telling me how brilliant these pills are and too be careful as the knock you out, why are they not working for me?

It does take a while to build up in your system. If you are having trouble sleeping because of pain then up the dose but as I say it does take a while. If no better next week ask your GP to try something else.

it was tried in this house as a prescribed painkiller and did nothing; which is the case for about 10% of people. How you react to a drug is down to your personal biochemistry, so it may work or it may not. You probably need to try for longer but if after two weeks, no joy, go back for more advice.

this is why all the threads asking about reactions to medicines and recommendations are fairly pointless, we are all different!

I hope it works for you, or that you find something that does.

I have it for sleeping. I don't take it every night but sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. I think it depends on how much I have going on in my head!

Try taking it earlier in the evening -I take it just after my evening meal

Took about 3 weeks for the painkilling effect to kick in for me

Thank you, I have taken it on and off all year ( have just had a couple months without it ), have always had mixed results, it does help a bit with the pain at night but for some reason I just feel wide awake until early hours of the morning. I think I will try taking it earlier tonight, I have been taking it at 10-10.30pm and then I'm wide awake until about 3am, maybe if I take it around 7pm I will fall asleep earlier?

I take it between 6 and 7 in the evening. If I am on a late shift I don't take it as I don't feel happy driving after I take it.