Amitriptyline anyone tried it?

[autienotnaughty]

I’ve been prescribed 10mg for nerve pain. I’ve taken it two nights and apart from waking with a head ache it’s not helping. I know it can take a while to kick in just wondering if anyone has had any success? Can you not drink alcohol at all with it?

I take it for tension headaches, it works for me. Doesn’t make me sleepy, the four tablets of cetirizine daily don’t either!

I take 20mg for migraines since last August and I'm so grateful to it because I've only had one since then as opposed to monthly before it.

It does make me sleep better! I take it 30 mins before bed. I used to struggle with tiredness in the morning but it passed within a few weeks and now I'm fine in the mornings.

I’ve been taking nortriptyline for 5 years started taking it for a neck injury but has also helped with nerve pain from another long term condition & migraine I also still have flare ups from my old neck injury I wasn’t offered any treatment for it during Covid unfortunately that’s why I’m still taking them they have helped me a lot. during the first month I had lots of side effects which disappeared/became manageable like dry mouth once I was used to them. I need to take them by 8-9pm ideally though or I’ll feel sleepy next day. But I do forget and take them occasionally later. I started on 20mg now taking 10mg which seems to be enough to help things most days.

I am on 50mg
Take it 12 hours before the time you have to wake up, otherwise i feel like a zombie in the morning

I took it about 13 years ago for insomnia, made me feel like a zombie and I started gaining weight more than I should have.
Was prescribed again a few years ago, for tension headaches. Took it for a couple of days and could not bear the side effects, even worse than the first time. Refused to take it any more and insisted on physio, which solved the headaches.

Just a warning that I had serotonin syndrome after being prescribed amitriptyline on top of 150mg sertraline (that I'd been taking for years). Absolutely wouldn't want anybody else to go through that, so if anybody is reading for advice and is already taking SSRIs please do look for an alternative x

The advice I was given was take it for two weeks, week one you will probably be OK but week two you start to feel like a zombie, but stick with it.

I have been on 10 mg for nerve pain for over 7 years, doctor recently put it up to 20 mg ( not in the UK). It works for me and they tried a few different medications first.Give it a full month then review if the benefit outweigh the side effects @autienotnaughty .

Take it twelve hours before you want to wake up, was the advice I had.

Initially it knocks you out and leaves you dopey, but after a while that wears off. You get good sleep and less pain.

I swapped to nortriptyline eventually because it was impacting my memory/focus in the day. I miss the sleep though!

Did it help in the day as well or just at night?

Definitely helps in the day, but it depends on the type of pain. For me, the sleep regulation and the relaxation were part of what helped the pain.

So being better at night contributed to being better in the day, in addition to the daytime action of the drugs. Does that make sense?

I had it for joint pain. I found after taking it for over a month that it had a depressive aspect to it - I couldn’t feel my emotions properly. I can’t attribute anything else to that state so I stopped it and returned to normal. My friend is on it long term and loves it. So experiences really vary.

It can take a good 6-8 weeks for full effect to be noticeable. Like many other medicines, it’s one you need to settle into side effect wise with many being transient that will self-resolve within 13 weeks. Then it’s a case of seeing what has not resolved and a benefit/risk analysis. It can be good stuff.

Check sleep hypnosis video by "Empathy Bliss" on YouTube. I have listened to it before sleep. It worked really well for me. Make it a routine

My doctor prescribed it years ago for “chronic daily headache” and it was a massive help. First thing to give me relief! I asked about the drinking and he said “as long as you don’t drink the barrel dry” - I drank without issues (and as am 18/19 year old I most definitely drank the barrel dry… and then the next barrel)

Prescribed it for pain from a slipped disc to help me sleep. Dr said it would knock me out, it didn't. I spent all night awake, wired as if I'd been on something much more illicit. Didn't take it again!