I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at age 25. I had a one year old, a five year old and a six year old , plus a diabetic husband who was having frequent relapses with alcoholism. I worked in a very high stress factory. I began taking amitriptilyne and weighed 220 lbs, at 5ft 7.5 inches. I thought with diet and exercise that my weight would eventually go down, but I was wrong. After cutting back on food my weight continued to climb, up to 277 lbs.
I went on a strict diet of only 1200 calories a day, a gallon of water a day, liposene 3x a day, less than 75 grams of carbohydrates and less than 50 grams of fat a day. Two months later , even after adding a lot more excersize, I was only down by 6 lbs. Not alot of weight loss compared to the effort that I put forth.
Tonight I stop taking amitriptilyne and switch to ambien. We will see if the pounds start coming off now. Man, I hope so. I'm tired of hating how I look.
Written by
autiea
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So sorry to hear about your weight gain despite all the effort you put in to prevent it.
I suppose I am one of the lucky ones who take Amitriptyline and do not put on weight.
I would like to give you a word of warning about stopping your Amitriptyline. First of all, have you told your Dr about it? and secondly, please do not stop Amitriptyline suddenly, it can give you some awful withdrawal effects.
I wish you well in your endeavours to lose weight, and hope you succeed.
I am so genuinely sorry to read that you have increased your weight so much whilst taking ''Amitriptyline'' and I sincerely hope that with taking ''Ambien'' that you can lose the weight that you desire. In the UK it is usually known as ''ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE.''
I have pasted some details below from the *WebMD cache on Ambien, so I sincerely hope that you find this useful:
*Ambien
GENERIC NAME(S): ZOLPIDEM TARTRATE
Uses
Zolpidem is used to treat sleep problems (insomnia) in adults. If you have trouble falling asleep, it helps you fall asleep faster, so you can get a better night's rest. Zolpidem belongs to a class of drugs called sedative-hypnotics. It acts on your brain to produce a calming effect.
This medication is usually limited to short treatment periods of 1 to 2 weeks or less.
How to use Ambien
Read the Medication Guide and, if available, the Patient Information Leaflet provided by your pharmacist before you start taking zolpidem and each time you get a refill. If you have any questions, ask your doctor or pharmacist.
Take this medication by mouth on an empty stomach as directed by your doctor, usually once a night. Since zolpidem works quickly, take it right before you get into bed. Do not take it with or after a meal because it will not work as quickly.
Do not take a dose of this drug unless you have time for a full night's sleep of at least 7 to 8 hours. If you have to wake up before that, you may have some memory loss and may have trouble safely doing any activity that requires alertness, such as driving or operating machinery. (See also Precautions section.)
Dosage is based on your gender, age, medical condition, other medications you may be taking, and response to treatment. Do not increase your dose, take it more often, or use it for longer than prescribed. Do not take more than 10 milligrams a day. Women are usually prescribed a lower dose because the drug is removed from the body more slowly than in men. Older adults are usually prescribed a lower dose to decrease the risk of side effects.
This medication may cause withdrawal reactions, especially if it has been used regularly for a long time or in high doses. In such cases, withdrawal symptoms (such as nausea, vomiting, flushing, stomach cramps, nervousness, shakiness) may occur if you suddenly stop using this medication. To prevent withdrawal reactions, your doctor may reduce your dose gradually. Consult your doctor or pharmacist for more details, and report any withdrawal reactions right away.
Along with its benefits, this medication may rarely cause abnormal drug-seeking behavior (addiction). This risk may be increased if you have abused alcohol or drugs in the past. Take this medication exactly as prescribed to lessen the risk of addiction.
When this medication is used for a long time, it may not work as well. Talk with your doctor if this medication stops working well.
Tell your doctor if your condition persists after 7 to 10 days, or if it worsens.
You may have trouble sleeping the first few nights after you stop taking this medication. This is called rebound insomnia and is normal. It will usually go away after 1-2 nights. If this effect continues, contact your doctor.
I want to genuinely wish you all the best of luck, and please take care of yourself.
Hi I know how you feel I have been trying for 2 years to lose weight - I am losing weight now - (5 lb in 3 weeks) but I do some kind of exercise everyday -(walk, swim, aqua, or the Wii) and sometimes it really hurts - and I now only eat 800 calories a day - I am on pregabalin - its really hard. But I have to lose weight - hate being this size and it doesn't help with my fibromyalgia pain - Wishing you all the best of luck - Neese. x
- I only eat veg , salad ,white meats ,and fish lots of water -
Know where your coming from...been on Amitryptiline for a few years now, started strict diet 18 months ago to lose only 2 stone! Boy was it hard work, eating few treats a week now and have put back on nearly a stone! GP says that this drug is a steroid so is extremely hard to lose any weight......tell me about it!
I feel your pain hun (lol - quite literally with fm!). I have experienced the same. I have always weighed around 126 lbs - I am 5ft 2inches - and I now weigh 161 lbs. I didn't start putting the weight on until my fm got serious and the doctors started to intervene and poke and prod me and inject me and infuse me! I have chronic endometriosis too which knocked me completely off my feet 18mths ago. They put me on liquid morphine and the combination of that, being unable to move about and the simultaneous fm treatments are responsible for my weight gain. I have tried and tried to lose weight. But I think I'm holding water too because my hands REALLY swell up in the morning, or in the heat. I've had enough. I wanna get off the ride..
I don't really feel like ANY of the interventions I've had, including the medications, actually work. I get best results from paracetamol, massage, mindfulness and yoga - and a positive, light hearted attitude. Stress is a big factor for me in pain elevation. I try to keep it to a minimum, and I'm fine on my own, but when my two teenage sons and husband come home, that usually changes!
I've decided to come off the meds and see how i manage. I'm sick of the constipation, shaking hands, dry mouth, fatigue and weight gain etc etc
How do you feel about your meds? Do they work for you?
Really feel for you! I'm in similar situation, I been taking Amitriptyline for 7 years and I put 5 stone on and I was a gym freak doing 4 spinning classes per week and 2 hours of weight training every day 5 day per week and still in that time 3 of the 5 stone went on,co was on a carb free, high protein diet also.
I canrecommend asking your GP to do you a referral to Slimming world, you will get 12 weeks free membership so you can see if it works. I'm not going to lie, I find slimming world very difficult to stick to because I don't have the motivation any more but if you stick to it, you should lose weight on it. I was psyched up for the first 3 weeks and lost 5 n a half pound in weight but my fibromyalgia has been horrific and I'm in so much pain I have almost given up and reverted to having flora spread on my toast and have been bad and eaten a couple of takeaways in the last few weeks so I've messed it up a bit.
If you can stick to it rigidly and have the time to do stuff like cut off all excess fat from meat, limit yourself to 1 slice of bread per day, eat a load of fruit and Vege religiously, then give slimming world a try because I'm on 50mgs of amitriptyline per night and the weight is now coming off with that diet.
Hi iam I know what you mean I've put on 4 stone since been on amitriptyline it must be so much harder when you have a husband and kids to look after I don't know how you manage I hope the new tablets work for you and the pounds rapidly drops off take care 😉 maria
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