Amitriptyline - please could you tell me if it worked for you and how It made you feel?

[whatsnewpussycat34]

Ive had constant parenthesia and allodyna for nearly 6 months and the doctors can’t tell me why. I’ve had every blood test under the sun and nerve conduction tests which are all “normal”

It’s getting to the point that I can’t wear shoes as the top of my foot feels like it’s been burned. My whole left side feels like I have lost hermetic neuralgia.

My dr has said i need to treat the symptoms now, even though they can’t find any evidence that theirs is something wrong, and he’s offered me amitriptyline. I’m wary of taking medication as I’m a complete wimp and hate the idea of side effects.

Please could you tell me your opinions on the med and what you’re taking it for etc?

thanks so much

I took it for TMJ pain. It didn't do anything to relieve the pain, but it did help me sleep as it made me constantly tired.

I take 10mg at night for sciatica. It's been miraculous for me. I was a bit sweaty the first few days but other than that, no side effects.

Really strange to come across this thread as I’ve just stopped taking amitriptyline, It didn’t help me after doing it for a while for my tingling numbness and cold hands, feet and face. My doctor thinks mine is down to post stroke affects but wanted to try it on me to see if it would help.

I was given this for persistent nerve pains in my legs after being prescribed several different statins , all of which had the same side effect .

I was told to start at 10mg and work my way up to 30mg at night .
They've done nothing for the pain , but the only side effect I have is they make me have a good sleep at night!

And that's just taking half a 10mg as I was told to wean myself off them.

They're worth a try though , they may work for you .

It has completely resolved the pain I have, I've been taking it for about 15 years. I take 30mg.

I take them to help me sleep. 10mg. Palpitations were stopping me falling asleep.
Can't think of any side effects tbh.

I didnt see any pain relief but I had the most horrific and vivid nightmares. I was so exhausted in the morning even though I slept well. I stopped taking it

Absolutely worth trying. I take it for burning mouth syndrome which is horrendous, it doesn't make the symptoms go away completely for me but dials them down so that they are bearable. Be aware you have to take it for several weeks to get the full effect so don't give up too early thinking it's not working, it can make you feel tired initially which can be useful for going to sleep. If you feel groggy in the mornings take it earlier in the evening. I'm on 10mg. I have no bad side effects.

It has kept me working as it calms the nerve pain in my arms. It helps me sleep but does make me tired in morning. I have put a bit of weight on but not much.
I'd recommend it but it doesn't work for everyone!

I slept really well on it (nice as I have insomnia) but I felt like a zombie and came off it
by zombie it wasn’t bad/scary but I just felt out of it and quite sedated

I’ve taken it for quite a few years now, to help with sleep, and also for the horrendous cramps in my legs that I can get.

My dosage is 40mg, but I’m also ok to take 100mg, after suffering severe headaches after a fall a couple of years ago.

It’s done wonders for me, cramps are all but gone, headaches much improved too. I do sleep better with it as well.

My then 15 yr old son was put on it 2 years ago for CPS. Within 2 months they had him on 70mg a night. He was horrendous. Like a zombie, incoherent, verbally abusive in the mornings & had awful nightmares.
Took a while to wean him off.

It didn’t help my pain at all.

DP had it, took two weeks to work but did work for nerve pain in his shoulder. But it made him constipated so he had to stop it.

He also already takes an anti depressant, so I was quite wary of him taking this too. It did make him groggy in the morning but that was resolved by taking it about 7pm the night before.

I've been taking 50mg for years for nerve damage in my neck and back it's helped my mobility a lot. I do have tiredness though

I have read that you should take it 12 hours before you want to wake up. That would be about right, if he gets up at about 7am.

It helps my nerve pain, and also stops me waking up in the night to go to the loo.

He gets up earlier than that, but yes, taking it later was causing problems. It didn't stop him waking up to go to the loo. Nothing would stop that!

He's surviving on Naproxen instead now, but that seems to make him sleepy in the evenings.

I was put on it for pain, and it didn’t help me unfortunately. It did give me nightmares and sleep paralysis which was pretty frightening.

It resolved my diabetic neuropathy really quickly. I'm on 100 mg a day and it has helped with anxiety and depression. No noticeable side effects but it does nothing for my insomnia.

Im on 50mg.
Take it 12 hours before the time you have to wake up otherwise you will feel hungover

Took it for chronic headaches. Despite persevering for months, I did eventually come off it as the drowsy effects never did soften off. I was falling asleep at 7pm every night, they felt like the best sleeps of my life though, but very unsustainable long term to need 12 hours sleep every single night. Also completely lost my sex drive!

For reference I was only on 10mgs and was 30 at the time.

10 mg was wonderful for pain before surgery i generaly took at about 6pm and slept verryb well. Dry mouth and constipation only sideaffects

I stopped takiing it as it made me so groggy that i didnt feel safe to drive. Although I felt i had got used to the grogginess i had a scary experience driving to a funeral as my reactions were a little slow. Stopped it immediately.

I started taking it in my early 20s for chronic bladder pain that wasn't linked to infections. It saved my life, as I was suicidal at the time due to the relentless pain. My boyfriend had left me and i felt like id never have a normal relationship again. It allowed me to have a normal life. I started on 10mg and at one point went up to 50mg, but for many years I've just been on 20mg which works really well. Unfortunately however, I can't come off it without being in pain. I think it's a relatively harmless drug. There are some stats about an increased risk of dementia but that's the same with antihistamines. Without it I'd be on painkillers 24/7. I'm now in my 40s. Main side effects for me are dry mouth and disturbed sleep if I miss a dose. Its worth a try if the alternative is painkillers! I wouldn't choose to be on anything long term but the alternative for me isn't worth the stress.

I'm on it too.

I was given the advice to take it for 2 weeks no matter how badly I felt. Apparently a lot of people give up with it at that stage but after that it gets better.