Amitriptyline for sleep not working! Help

[Loulouskiptomylou]

Hello,
I was prescribed 10mg of this for chronic insomnia a couple of weeks ago. It worked like a charm for the first 10 days but has now stopped working. I increased the dose to 20mg (with GP’s permission) but it’s still not working .

Feeling pretty frustrated as I thought I’d cracked it. Has anyone else experienced this? Any tips?

Please don’t advise on sleep hygiene etc as I assure you - I’ll have already tried it!

Try something different like Nytol?

Thanks @myothercarisaskoda, I’ve tried Nytol/Sominex/Night Nurse etc etc

I'm on 30mg, usually works, but less of a guaranteed impact than before. Without it I'm awful though. As in no real sleep at all.

Is your insomnia due to peri-menopause? If so, you need HRT.

Ask for a swap to dosulepin. I currently take 25mg but have had up to 125/150 at one point and still helps my sleep at a low dose.

Thanks for all the responses! I could try 30mg - just wondering if I need to give the 20mg some time to work? Or should it be instantaneous?

@Aquamarine1029 no but I’m breastfeeding so no doubt it is to do with hormones.

Thanks @Jemimapuddleduk will see if that’s BF-friendly.

@picklemewalnuts thank you - can I ask, did you have to build up to that? When you say it usually works, does that mean you still have bad nights?

I’m just not sure whether it’s normal for it to be up and down on amitriptyline or whether it’s just not working

I take amiltryptyline for headaches 30mg with naproxen. Makes me sleepy😀 Before it was prescribed the gp told me there was a hole list of tryptines and if the amiltryptyline didn’t work for me we’d work our way through until we found one that did. Might be worth asking to change medication.

I took dosulepin when breastfeeding. Think I started on 50mg, up to 125mg gradually.
Cut down to 25mg over time. I don’t have insomnia anymore.

Be careful with sleeping tablets because they have suicidal side effects

Hole/whole

Amitriptyline passes through your breast milk. It's not usually recommended for breastfeeding mothers, I thought.

[quote Loulouskiptomylou]@picklemewalnuts thank you - can I ask, did you have to build up to that? When you say it usually works, does that mean you still have bad nights?

I’m just not sure whether it’s normal for it to be up and down on amitriptyline or whether it’s just not working[/quote]
I can't remember- it's also for pain relief as I have fibromyalgia. I reduced it over time, but found less than 30 is too little.

Re sleep, if I forget to take it I don't sleep. Sometimes I take it as usual but just still stay awake- I think if I'm too tense or stressed it over rides the effect. I need to take it and have a mellow evening to sleep well. Evening meetings keep me too alert.

I'd say you need to find out when to take it. I used to take it at 5.30pm, but have moved to 7pm now. I don't doze off in my chair, but do sleep well when I get to bed. I wake up reasonably well as well- if you take it too late you can be a bit dopey next morning.

It certainly doesn't knock you out- at least not after the first couple of weeks. I can drive after taking them, for example.

Can you discuss the dose with the pharmacist? There's no rush to land on the best dose for you, give it a little longer then increase again, if that's ok with GP.

I can’t sleep on under 100mg. The lower doses don’t touch my sleep issues.

I was prescribed by a perinatal pyschiatrist. It’s fine for breastfeeding. It’s one of the oldest anti depressants so there’s lots of data on it.

Thanks all for your help. Tried 20mg last night with 10mg melatonin. Drifted off but woke up quite quickly afterwards then just sort of dozed/stayed awake until 2am when I managed to fall asleep. An improvement but still not great!

That’s how melatonin works at first. You’re not sure if you’re asleep or not.

It gets better.

Have you tried Trazadone? Not sure if you can take it if you're breastfeeding, but if you can then I'd really recommend it.

Trazadone was awful for me.

I took mine earlier, no later than 4pm. Be ready for bed and sleep at 10.

Trazadone was awful for me

Oh sorry to hear that What dose did you take?

Isn't it an antidepressant? In which case you'd need to take it every day and expect it to kick in after 2-3 weeks.

It takes 3 weeks for the antidepressant side to kick in, not the drowsiness side.

Sorry OP worked a charm for me - I could barely get out of bed after 12 hours on it I was so drowsy!

But I echo others that I was explicitly told not to take it if breastfeeding. Assume your dr knows you are?

Hi OP,

I am on Amitriptyline for Insomnia too. I found 10 mg wasn't enough after a week or two. I have gone up to 20 mg and found this works great. It does need time to get in your system and I don't think 2 weeks or 3 weeks is long enough to reap the benefits. Give it at least a month of taking it every night.

I take this too. I supplement it with Pukka nighttime tea. I have them together about 9pm and so far they are working.

I’ve been on 50mg for 4 years and it works beautifully.
Originally for neuralgia (at 90mg) I know take it for anxiety and sleep issues along with fluoxetine for depression.

I take it just before I go to bed.