Amitriptyline and finding it hard to wake up in the morning. Anyone else?

[ClothEaredBint]

I take 25mg of Amitriptyline every night before bed, its prescribed because of degenerative disk disease and associated neuropathy/sciatica

I've noticed since I started taking it, that I find it REALLY hard to wake up in the morning. I've never been much of a morning person, but I could at least drag my butt out of bed pretty much soon as my alarm went off at 7.20am... but now i'm finding i'm having to hit the snooze button and it can take me a good 30-40 minutes to come around enough to actually crawl out of bed.

Its getting to the point i'm going to have to up my dose to 50mg and i'm worried its going to make this issue even worse.

Has anyone else experienced this with this drug?

Yep, mine was for nerve pain as well. Have to say I loved dropping off so easily though! Try taking it an hour earlier?

Years ago l was on Amitryptiline for depression, in fact so long ago that the newer a/d meds weren’t available! It made me very sleepy too. I recall reducing the dose to see if the ‘hangover’ effect was less. Probably it was so low it was no longer therapeutic. I muddled along and mornings were no easier really. I also tried taking it as early as possible in the evening but that wasn’t great as l found it knocked me out pretty quickly.

In the last few years l’ve been back on antidepressants and it looks like the depression is here to stay. I’ve been through several of the modern ones, SSRIs etc. None of them suited me, so l am now taking another of the tricyclics, lmipramine, and l am much less sleepy. The most horrible effect is dry mouth, dry everything really. Though it’s being managed with eye gels etc. But waking is really not a problem. Maybe you can get a change to another tricyclic and that helps you.

The sedative side effect is well documented - experiment with taking it earlier until you can drag yourself out of bed! If it's adversely affecting your life, go back to your GP - there are other alternatives.

I take it for pain I'm currently on 50mg I find I need to take 12 hours before I'm due to wake up so I'm not still affected, Try and take it a bit earlier.

Thanks for posting this Cloth - I'm also taking it for nerve pain and seriously can't get up in the morning, never saw the connection! I take it quite late at night too. I'll have to talk to my manager about this tomorrow, my time keeping is becoming a problem!

Yes I take 75mg for nerve pain too.
It passes quickly and you will get used to it.
I have taken it and come off it two times now and it's settled for me well this time. I think it was around a month of literally being unable to get motivated to get out of bed. It was awful.
Are you on gabapentin or amatryptaline too?

It did NOTHING for me in terms of making me sleepy, and I’d been prescribed it to help with insomnia so I’m very jealous. It did, however, make me less likely to have to get up for a wee in the night, which was good.

How interesting. I just this morning made an appointment with my GP to review my amitriptyline use. It was miraculous for easing disc pain (same issue as your back) and some of the side effects really suited me- solved my insomnia and the light antidepressant effect is lovely. Most of the morning drowsiness wore off after the first couple of months, as long as I took it before 9pm.

Been on it (20mg) for 18 months and suddenly I’m noticing more brain-fog than usual. I’m searching for common words a couple of times a day and finding things like putting together timetables or event running sheets harder. No other new effects, still working miracles on back pain.

Might have to look at trying another drug in the same category. Scary though, I hate the adjustment period and if the back/hip pain returns even short term I’ll be so upset.

One trick I discovered for taking amitriptyline was to make sure to ask for the coated tablets (generic ones are sooooo bitter). Also be sure to take them with a drink, even though they are so small you think you can swallow them dry. My god, the night they got stuck in my throat I thought they’d burn right through me- the pain was horrendous. Never doing that again! My DH brings me a bedtime herbal tea to wash down my ‘viagra’ as he calls it (small blue round pills). Godsend!

Oh something else I just remembered- you aren’t supposed to eat/drink grapefruit if you are on these tricyclic drugs. Weird, huh?

I take 100mg of Amitriptyline for pain. I have to take it by 7:30pm or I've got no hope of waking up in the morning.

Others posters have said what I was going to say.
Prior to pregnancy, I used to take my pain relief including amitryptiline, at about 6pm, then do bath and bedtime with the littlest.
Then I would get ready and get into bed myself.
Yes, it meant my evenings were taken away, but so was the pain, and I slept, and then could get up at 7. I didn't fall asleep until 8.30, but the medication was in my system by then.
Can't wait to be able to sleep again.

Yes to what others have said, you need to take it earlier in the evening. The pharmacist told me to take it at 7pm. He also said to build up to my dose and start with 5 or 10 mg, going up every few days.

Hope you have some success with it - it worked like a dream for a while for me, but has stopped now so am on gabapentin for my pain instead. Now THAT makes you dopey!

Agree with bloodyboris Take it 12 hrs before you are wanting to wake

I also took mine earlier - you need to find what tie is best for you - mine was about 10 hours before waking.

And I also got one stuck once - in my throat - it is a muscle relaxant - I couldn't swallow and ended up having a panic attack. Rang 111 and was told to have a hot drink to dissolve any remnants and made sure I had someone with me - I stayed up til the effects wore off at about 3am as I was so worried about it.

I was the same. And I ate constantly! There is a similar drug called nortriptyline, which tends to have fewer side effects. I found it had the same painkilling effect, but was much less drowsy. I am on pregabalin now, and sleep well, but not too well!

I've just started taking it recently and am increasing the dosage by 5mg every few days. Aiming for 50mg and then up to 100mg if I need it. The sleepiness is getting me down. I'm falling asleep by 9pm so don't get to even speak to DH properly from one day to the next, our DS is very time consuming. I take mine at 6pm and wake up at 7pm. I worry about taking them any later as I have to drive to work at 8am and need to be clear headed.

I might ask to try nortriptyline. It was mentioned as the next one to try.