Worried about taking amitriptyline .

[Shellijo]

Hi does it just relax you, i have been having visions of me been knocked out like when you go for an operation (anxiety taking over again). I dont like feeling out my face and falling all over etc and not feeling like im not here. I have had it sat on my knee for an hour wanting to take it but scared so i googled it and joined this page for help/advice thank you shelli 🤞🙈

[Kitten-whiskers]

Good evening Shellijo,

It is very scarey when you read the side effects, especially with amitriptyline.

I take a low dose occasionally, more to help me sleep than anything. I find if i take it occasionally it does help me sleep but I feel really groggy and ruff the next morning for about five hours . If i take it every day it just wouldn't work at all and i would just get the after effects.

Best wishes

Debs

[Shellijo in reply to Kitten-whiskers]

Thank you its 10mg it is to help with sleeping and to make my muscles relax .. just a bit weary. Ivr had 2mg diazapam and felt nice and chiilled x and thanku xx

[makemepainfree in reply to Shellijo]

Hello ihae been on 10mg amitriptyle ad 5mg diazapam+ various other drugs ad does not make me sleepy at all we are all diff how a drug affects you keep well

[Patdoyle in reply to Shellijo]

I take it at night for pain and sleep. It’s not like Valium and doesn’t make you feel out of it. Helps me sleep.

[Kitten-whiskers in reply to Shellijo]

Your welcome - 10mg is what I have and thats plenty. I hope you get on well with it xx

[Oscarbelle]

It shouldn't knock you out but you may feel very tired. Everyone reacts differently though. I tended to feel too groggy the next day, so I stopped taking it.

[Robbie138]

Good Morning 😂 it’s 2:38 am and I take amitriptyline 50mg at night, they aren’t right for everyone as the side effects can be bad, but the best thing to do is take them early in the evening and you will sleep the side effects away and won’t be as groggy next day and also the more you take them the side effects get less. I hope this helps you.

Take care.

🤗🤗

[robpw]

I am meant to take them but I forget and the I think I won’t bother because I feel like death warmed up next day though they help a little I’ll still wake in the night and that makes it a whole lot worse

[desquinn Partner Volunteer FMAUK Trustee in reply to robpw]

They are s drug that you need to take continuously for it to have a proper effect. Also taking it earlier can help with some side effects.

[RayB in reply to robpw]

Robpw, I found that I couldn't forget to take it,, well yes I did forget to take it sometimes but soon worked out when I was lying in bed that there was something wrong,, lying agitated with a mild headache coming on is the only way I can describe it.

I would say don't muck with this med,, commit to taking a regular dose and be careful about taking it,, if you need a lower dose then ask your Dr to prescribe lower dose, You will feel like death if your not taking them regular and mucking about, it is not a med to be off and on as you see fit!

As a point of note,, a little tablet box with the days and times on it is invaluble,, concidering the cloud of confusion we often live with.

[RayB]

When I first took it they precribed 10mg.

I eventualy was brave enough and took it one night, which was about two weeks after I had got the script. The next day when I woke up I was just lying there with my face glued to the pillow,,,, auctualy my whole body was glued to the bed,, and it remained glued for most of the day. I hated it!

I had to admitt that the pains in my arms was not as bad.

That night I cut the 10mg in half and took half.

Next day when I woke I still felt a bit restricted in getting off the bed but it was at least doable.

It took a few days to get over that feeling but I could function Ok with the half dose.

I probably remained on the half for about two weeks and then tried a whole one,, it wasn't anything like the first time and could function on the whole tablet by now.

I would be of the opinion that anyone starting this med should start slower.

Ray

[whisperit]

Hello Shellijo

I remember having the same fear when first prescribed 10mg a night. That was 6 years ago, when I was in chronic pain following a broken femur. It did help with taking the edge off so I could drop off to sleep. I stopped after about a year with no difficulties.

I was restarted three years later, after being diagnosed with FM, and told I could go up to 50mg a night.

Going back onto 10 was fine. After a week or two, the same effect of dulling the pain happened - very welcome. 20mg was pretty much the same, and 30mg added drowsiness in the day too - but without improving pain control.

So went back down to 10 and find that suits me well. No noticeable effeects other than easing pain for the first half of the night. I now consider it one of the least troublesome of all the drugs I have to take. But of course, it only works if taken consistently, and everyone will have their own reaction. Hope it goes well for you x

[bimblemitch]

Hi,

Can I ask why you were prescribed this tablet? I was given this a long time ago and it really didn’t do anything for me apart from the horrible side effects. I think we all react differently to medication and maybe you should take it as prescribed and see if it helps you. I now take Mirtazapine 15mg to help me sleep and this really works for me.

[Shellijo in reply to bimblemitch]

Hi yes the rheumatologist prescribed me as i have fibro chronic mechanical joint pain, osteoarthritis, and poor sleep x

[bimblemitch in reply to Shellijo]

I hope it works for you and you don’t get any side effects x

[HBpencil]

Hi Shellijo.

I first started taking this medication 15years ago for my back. However l started getting migraines when the fibromyalgia arrived and my doctor swapped to nortriptyline as a prevention. They did help with pain but not headaches..

I have now come off them (gradually)

The after effects of trycilic meds for me has been how they've affected my eyes! I now have severe dry eye, have to use drops dozens of times a day. And have very bad light sensitivity. Sunshine, flourescent lights all give me bad head.....there is also glaucoma in my family and it increases the risk.

So although they are a good drug for pain and a good sleep aid. You have to weigh up the risks. Like most medication l suppose it's worth it if it improves your quality of life.

Hazel.

[Pbyllis]

Hi if been on it years it doesn't efect me like you think I find it good for nerve pain im on 40 mg at night I don't get groggy on it at all everyone different good luck .

Phyllis

[Pebble1]

Hi, I was on it for about 6 weeks, it did nothing at all for the pain, and thankfully I had no strange feelings, I did sleep better but I wasn’t groggy. Am now trying Duloxetine, same thing, no side effects, not much pain relief.

I must be a hard nut to crack.

[woodbon]

I have been taking Amitriptyline for several years. My GP gave it to me for nerve pain in my wrists (carpal tunnel). it does seem to make it better and my sleep is not broken by numb hands! I found it made me feel very sleepy during the day for the first couple of weeks after I started taking, and I nearly gave up, but then it wore off and I feel fine. As for side effects, most drugs can have nasty side effects which stop some people from being able to take them, but with most things the side effects are either rare or wear off quickly. We are all different and maybe this is not the right drug for you. Can you discuss things with your GP or pharmasist ? They may be able to help you. Good luck!!!

[jackie4ball]

I think like with a lot of drugs when you initially start to take it then you can have side effects 10mg is a low dose but as your body isn’t used to it then you may feel a little fuzzy the next day. With Amitryptiline you may find it best to take it quite early evening as it does take a while to really kick in. At one stage I was in 240mg of this a night amongst a lot of other drugs. I would be sitting in a chair watching tv eating a bag of Maltese’s or something and then a couple of hours later would have been slurring my speech (I couldn’t tell) but my friend would say on the phone have you taken your tablets as she could hear it. My hand would still be in the bag of Maltese’s chocolate melted on my fingers my children used to think it hilarious at times. I know I would go to bed and pick up a drink and dose off with it in my hand then wake myself up from throwing the drink over myself but as I say I was on a very high dose. My memory was awful as if I was reading or watching tv I wouldn’t have a clue how a programme had ended or what had happened in my book. I reduced them big reason was my now ex husband was abusing me whilst I was out cold which led to me attempting to take my life. I was on 75mg which was helping me at night especially as I just don’t sleep. But they just stopped helping I have now gradually reduced to 25mg but my legs drive me nuts with spasms and I don’t know if it is the result of having been on them for so long. I think if you take 10mg and it helps your muscles to relax and helps you to sleep they are actually less addictive than what taking Valium is which I was in 10mg twice a day at one stage. Amytryptiline is one of those drugs that has been used for fibro for over 30 years before Pregabalin and gabapentin were given. Which I couldn’t take as they did absolutely nothing for pain but made me put so much weight in only in a short time. The problem is as with all drugs we read the side effects and they are scary but most of that is drug companies having to cover themselves it’s like everything what works for one may not work for another. I would say give it a go and see how you feel after a couple of weeks.

[Robinstar]

Hi Shellijo I take 25mg at night for sleep and when I first started talking them they did make me very tired until the body gets used to them.what about cutting a tablet in half for a couple of days.

Stay with it.

Bob

[Yellow-sun]

Hi shellijo ive been on this med for 15months was on 40 now upping to 50 at first its makes you sleepy but if you keep taking it your body gets used to it,ive tried pregab and didnt get on with it i find amitript much easier,hope this helps and good luck x

[Shellijo]

Well i popped it late to be honest i got the courage at 11.30pm after starring and worrying, like i sed i av anxiety, anways at 1st my throat felt a bit funny think it was my nerves, and then i felt relaxed and i went up to bed at 1.30am, and had my torch on fone to see qere i was walking in the dark, (i woke up torch was still on) i laid on the bed and tht was it slightly heard my son talking at 5.30am and then woke up at 11am. I do av a slight headache as i have had tension headache/sinus since tues, i have a blocked nose so maybe tht, i am gonna get up and do my chores, i will take it earlier tonight. Thank you for all ur replies i only joined this page last night. X take care

[moo196]

If I haven't taken my 10mg by 7.30 pm, I don't take it. This was also advised by my gp and others. I'd recommend the same to many other people to help avoid the zombie mornings.

[Shellijo]

Im still sat about cba and a bit tiredness but i feel chilled too, apart from my forehead feels weird but im suffering with dry sinuses atm. Or hayfever x

[Shellijo]

Just might go without this is not me at all head wise x

[Al10]

No-one mentioned Dry mouth as a side effect. I took for six weeks and gave up in despair. Mouth was like furballs. Kept choking with dryness. Water did nothing except while drinking it. The odd times I did drift off to sleep, I'd wake choking. Horrid!

Had to keep drinking all night (and day and getting up to wee,) so by six weeks I was even more chronically sleep deprived than when I started. I told my GP and he rolled his eyes in despair. Some folks are just sooo fussy! (He didn't mention how some folks will have their dryness symptoms magnified, just I was fussy!)

But where was the benefit in taking the drug, when it didn't help sleep? (and made the insomnia worse) Certainly it didn't make my fibro better, just had another really annoying symptom.

For folks with dryness as a symptom, like Sjogens, or even starting with it, The triptoline drugs are contraindicated as they will make the dryness worse.

[Purplemeyer]

Hi there, I have taken amitrip for several years, started on 10mg for headache prevention and increased when fibro was diagnosed about six months later. I have been told I can take up to 50gm per night but find that 30mg sometimes going up to 50mg (which you can do if slowly increase dose) if necessary when the fibro seems worse for some reason. It helps sleep and pain to a bearable level. I haven’t had side effects except initially feeling tired in morning but this wears off after a few day, but if you reduce dose or stop taking them, you must do it slowly with doctors advice otherwise you will feel terrible, I forgot to take them with me on holiday once and within 3 to 4 days felt nauseous, generally unwell and with the worse headache I have ever had. They are something you need to take all the time, you really can’t stop and start them or you will feel rotten. Hope this puts your mind at rest a little. I am not a medical professional and I know everyone reacts differently to medication but starting on a very low dose and then increasing if your doctor advises you to is worthwhile if it helps. When I was first diagnosed with fibro I tried various different medication and amitrip was the only one that helped me without some horrendous side effects that other medication had had. Good luck

[Shellijo]

Tbh guys i didnt have a 2nd 1 last night my sleep was poor but i can handle tht its the dopeyness i cnt x