Amitriptaline

[onlyoranges]

Is anyone taking it? Has it helped and how many mg are you taking?

[megletthesecond]

Prescribed it for IBS but even half a tablet knocked me out until well into the next day (I'm a working lp). So I gave up after 3/4 days. GP reckoned side effects would settle down after about 3 weeks so I asked him who would look after the dc's and do my job until then .

[Yseulte]

Very odd thing to prescribe for IBS as side effects can be abdominal pain, nausea and vomitting, increase/decrease in peeing.

[ShotgunNotDoingThePans]

I take 10mg for nerve/muscular/joint pain. It helps me sleep brilliantly, although I am groggy in the mornings. Staves off the pain a bit in the morning as well. I did initially build up to 20mg as the gp suggested, which was more effective for the pain relief but, as I get up with school aged children and will be for another four years, I had to cut back as I wasn't convinced I was safe to drive.
I do get a lovely sleep in at weekends now though - no more getting out of bed because there's no point lying awake and in pain.

[Elibean]

I was prescribed it for interstitial cystitis (which has now calmed down and gone, unless I'm very careless with hydration/food). I don't know if the cystitis would come back without it, but to be honest it has helped me sleep so much better that I'm loathe to try....I should, though.

I take 10mg, initially took 20mg but now only take that if I feel twinges coming back or desperately need to sleep. I do feel groggy for a bit, but fine by mid morning and nothing that a cup of tea can't sort.

But when I was on 20mg daily, my memory seemed affected - and that freaked me out.

[maggiso]

I take 10mg a night for pain due to nerve compression and CFS. I was advised to start on half a tablet (5mg) to start with (1week) to try and avoid the morning zombie ness, which might be a tip for others. I did not think it was much help at first,but after a few months I started to sleep better and have slowly got much better - mainly because my sleep (despite leg pain from the disc problem) is so much better. Reasonable quality sleep is important for coping with many chronic conditions, like CFS and fibro.

[textbook]

I was on amitriptiline for 3+ years then switched to Nortriptiline, which has helped greatly with the morning "hangover". I'm on 30mg per night for my IC, it allows me to function and deals with about 80% of the problem. I also sleep well 95% of the time. I love it!

Amitriptiline also coincidentally stopped all migraines while I was on it, but I've had them again (very infrequently) since switching.

[LynnetteBird]

I had problems with weight gain (out of the ordinary weight gain for me - I did not have a weight problem before) and dozy morning feelings.

I've stopped the medication after 2 years, and have lost some of the weight (but not all of it yet.) my doctor has suggested nortriptyline instead - does anyone have any experience with switching? I really need to lose the 2 stone I gained on the Amitriptyline, but my symptoms have flared back terribly.