So i took 25mg of amitriptyline yesterday evening at 10 pm. Quickly went sleeping at 11 pm and been sleeping for 8 hours and wake up at 7am. With a cfs for 4 years its a very good results for me since it usually took me few hours and the quality of sleep was not that good... (Been on zoloft and brintelix, which didnt work for me)
But the problem is i was very drowsy at 7am and then went sleep even more till 1 pm wich make me sleep 13 hours in total.
When i wake up i was not that sleepy. But more sluggish, had blurry vision, low in energy and having no strength at all.
I just wonder for how long those side effects will stay as i see some people say that their body develope tolerance and side effects go away with a few days-weeks
And btw what is best time to take it before bed, if i go to bed at 11pm. Doctor said its better to take 2 hours before bed, but i was sleepy few minutes after taking my dose
Written by
Mornathor
To view profiles and participate in discussions please or .
your body will take time to adjust and side effects more common at start. Taking it earlie is also common especially with the sluggish/dry mouth effects. Smaller dosage could also work while you get used to it.
worth speaking to GP if it persists to get correct balance for you.
I find taking it earlier in the evening helps to not feel so sluggish when you wake up ..... I really couldn’t do with out taking it it’s really helped me get some good sleep .... best of luck 😊
Hello, I felt sluggish too, it’s part of adverse effects. I always took mine if I woke up at 6.30 at around 7.30pm. It takes at least 18 hours for the sluggish to start to improve. So the earliest you take it, the better you can cope next day. I slept a lot and normally don’t! 5-7 hours is enough for me. You may also experience constipation, increase weight, crave sugar foods, etc
My main problem was sleeping, i fall asleep near 5-6 am every morning
So my Dr prescribe me amitriptyline which shut me down in 15 mins and the first night i took 25mg of it, i get to bed at 11 pm (was taking it at 10:45)
So i dont want to go to bed at 19:00 and then wake up midnight...
So my main goal is to get 8 hour refreshing sleep and fall asleep before 12
I never went to bed at 7, I just tried to hold up until 10pm. But what will work for you will be good.
Hi, I take 60mg a night and still don’t sleep it’s mostly for my muscle spasms my husband took 10 mg for a foot injury and he is a big guy and he did not know where he was completely confused and rambling so I guess everyone is different and with different tolerances 🥰
Hi, I have been on amitriptyline 125mg for sleep for about 10yrs now. I take it 3-4 hrs before I am planning to go to sleep. I don't wake up groggy at all.
wow, i take mine 9 pm yesterday, and went to bed at 11pm and wake up at 10 next morning (with a gap between 2-4am, when i was awake for 2 hours) but my sleep was very refreshing, did wake up with energy and not sleepy at all, still feel a little sluggish - but for the second day its a win for me. Also i am eating healthy for a long time and do not have a lot of stressor in my life.
I'm on 30ml and I take it at 6pm as I go to bed 7.30.i don't get sleepy straight away and pain still wakes me up through the night and I have to move about but I feel better on a morning as I get up 7.30..still have to go toilet some nights but lot better that going ,2 or 3 times and no sleep which I have had since January
I take at 8.30 every evening go to bed between 10.30 and 12. As long as I take it before 9 I don't wake up groggy. I've been on it for about 13 years, I was on 125mg now I take 90mg. It's prescribed as an antidepressant in the higher does, like up to 200mg and for chronic pain and gastric problems at the lower doses.
seems like if i will take it before bed i will wake up groggy, so i will try to take it 2-3 hours before bed time.
And btw i take 25 mg and my DR said i need to keep taking mine for 6 month since my main problem is insomnia. Seems like a lot of people here take it for years to cope with the pain.
Certainly works best for me. Although the morning grogginess is worse in the first few weeks, depends how sensitive to it you are. It takes a few hours to kick in for me anyway.
Perhaps that dose is a bit high for you? I was started on 10mg. As Hidden says, her husband found 10mg enough, and we all react differently to medication.
Your body will get used to them . I’ve been taking them for approx 10 years . I have had to up the dose now to 40mg. They do help but have started waking up with hip and leg pains but do go back to sleep once I’ve changed position. Stick with it cos we all need some help with sleep and pain. X
Hi I take mine at 7.30 I have an alarm on my phone or I’d forget if I take it any later I’m really sleepy and out of it I do think you’re probably catching up on your sleep and when you’ve taken it for awhile your sleep pattern will adjust
Hi usually with any new medication it takes 2 or more weeks for your body to get used to it. I take 40mg Amitriptyline at night for pain and now after a few years I no longer suffer the drowsiness or sluggish feeling. I have slowly built up my dose from 10mg to 30mg and recently to 40mg. It works on my nerve pain. If the side effects do not subside speak to your GP again. Hopefully you will adjust
Yes like all tablets Amitriptyline takes a while to adjust in your system. A few weeks. Lower dose and build up would have been better. Best taken 2 hours before bed. I have been on it for years and can't do without it. I also think depending on what I have eaten sometimes I feel really sleepy and other times it has no effect!! So im thinking it could be to do with obsorbtion and diet!! Good Luck!!
Hi, I started off with 10mg and built it up to 30mg over a few weeks. Previously I was lucky to get about 2 hours sleep but now I sleep like a log, it's made such a difference. I take mine at 7pm and usually go to bed about 10pm. Give it a few weeks for your body to get used to it. Good luck and take care x
Hello I was on that for quite a few years before I got off of it for that reason and also because I felt it wasnt helping enough to warrant staying on it for the rest of my life. You really need to take it early evening if you don't want to wake up feeling like that at least from what I experienced with it. Like maybe 8 or 9 pm but no later. I wish you luck and hope it works for you. They also started me on 10mg and then worked me up to 25 s ok maybe the mg are too high to start off with. Again best of luck.
I started at 25 mg and it shut me for 13 hours of sleep at the first night xD i will keep doing it at 25, since my Dr said that, and will gradually increase it up to 50mg
I've started on amphetamine and doloxitine and I'm same take at night takes me hours to go sleep.once my partner goes work at 7am I'm sleeping till like 2pm in afternoon its rediclouse xx
I take 20mg at about 11pm. Have been taking for years now due to spinal nerve damage. To begin with it used to make me groggy in the morning but that quickly went away. You are supposed to build up slowly I believe. My consultant said I can take up to 50mg but I do not want to be too reliant so keep it to 20mg. Doesn’t knock me out quickly now but just takes the edge off of my poor sleeping 😴
It's a double edged sword isn't it?! I'm just coming off Amitriptyline for the same reasons - sleeping 10 -11 hours sometimes a night & still needing more when I woke up. I was on 40mg now down to 10mg then off next week. I didn't feel they did anything for my pain. I cant tell you how great I feel now - but I also increased my levothyroxine so that could have something to do with it as well! All my joint and muscle aches are virtually gone! I've been fighting with my GP to get my dose upped but he's always reluctant saying my bloods are normal but have always thought they weren't normal for me! He was the one that said I had fibromyalgia 2 years ago - but I'm not so sure now - I think I've just been under medicated by him! Anyway try reducing the dose 10mg per week at a time to get the balance between sleep and wakefulness just right. Good luck
Hi Mornathor, I have been taking Amitriptyline since early to mid 90’s. I take mine (100mg) at 9pm and I take melatonin 5-6mg around 7:30-8:00pm. I started out on 25mg and been up and down on dosages from 25-100mg.
I learned the hard way don’t just stop taking it because sleep won’t happen. My heart rate went up to 130 just walking a few feet to the bathroom and back. Being a nurse I thought that wasn’t good. So called my doctor who said to come in for an EKG. So I did and he called me said I had tachycardia caused by the amitriptyline to stop taking it until my heart rate came back down. Well I got a lot of paperwork done for work and only 45minutes of sleep that night. The next night I took the amitriptyline after calling my doctor after talking to my pharmacist finding out that stopping cold turkey results in no sleep. That was the only side effect that stood out in my memory. I had both CFS and fibromyalgia at that time. Within a couple of months my heart rate came back down. It may have only been 4-6wks but those side effects should settle down in that length of time. Sleep is a hard thing to get when you have CFS and fibromyalgia so getting 13hrs on occasion happens but if this continues to be a problem let your doctor know. Getting good quality sleep is a challenge when you CFS and fibromyalgia. Every one’s body responds differently and it is a trial and error type of thing before finding what works best for you. I wish you the best. 😊💕🦋
Did you find the way to improve your sleep quality? Healthy lifestyle such as healthy food, sun exposure, active hobbies and stress reduction, drinking a lot of water etc...
Going to bed and waking up on a regular schedule. When I was doing my yoga on a daily bases helped. Plan to restart that again when we get our house back together after replacing all the pipes. Yes doing gentle stretching and exercise oh and taking melatonin around 7:30-8:00pm helps puts your body in a regular cycle to sleep at night and be awake during the day. I normally don’t nap during the day but sometimes like yesterday one sneaks up on me. About 6 1/2yrs ago I had a sleep study done and it showed my oxygen dropped to 78 (above 90 is normal) but wasn’t having enough apnea episodes for insurance to pay for CPAP so was able to get oxygen at night. That improved my quality of sleep. So I would suggest you get a sleep study done. In the last year had another sleep study which this time it apnea episode were enough to qualify for CPAP but I rested better with the oxygen. The sleep doctor said I didn’t need the oxygen that the CPAP was doing the job of keeping my oxygen during the night. So I use the CPAP every night.
Wow, i dont know if i have apnea or not... I have my melatonin pills, but i have problems with serotonin, so my melotonin is not working for me perfectly. But thanks for your story)
You are welcome. I wish I was of better help. I hope you will be able to find better sleep without being drugged out the next day. To be honest with you I can only remember a few time of sleeping through the night and waking up feeling refreshed and ready for the day. That is including before fibromyalgia and CFS/ME. One time in nursing school one Saturday I laid down in my dorm room and took a 10min nap woke up feeling like I got 8hrs of sleep. That is the only time where I felt refreshed and ready to go. The 5yrs of using the oxygen made my pain sleep in longer and rarely woke up in pain. With the CPAP it helps some but not as well as the oxygen died. Oh well. That is life with fibromyalgia and CFS/ME. 🤷🏼♀️ One day things will get better and all this pain band suffering will end. 😊💕🕊👼🏻💖🧔🏻💖🥰
What a great resource this thread is, I wish I'd've been here 3-4 months ago... Thanks!
So my tuppence worth, too: Amitriptyline starting with 10mg caused a splitting headache, then 2mg drops, increased gradually, then 10mg, then 20, then 25mg. It originally helped me sleep, never against the pain, but I then could analyze and target the pain and sleep problems. I still thought I needed it, but not only did I mace worse my weight, pulse, eye accommodation, sluggishness, sleep necessity, tiredness, dry mouth, dry cough, but then I also realized I was getting more and more focal seizures. After 4 months I weaned it off and quickly felt much better in all these areas. My sleep is almost just as good/bad as with it now, having to get up 3-8x a night, sometimes for a longer time, but at least I have a clear head!
Hi, the first couple of nights that I took it, I was sleepy within minutes and felt groggy in the morning so I started taking my dose early evening until I got used to it. Unfortunately the drug didn’t work for me as made me feel extremely low so I’ve switched to nortriptyline. X
it shut me down for 13 hours first night i started taking amitriptyline, the next few nights i was back to my poor sleep and was waking up like 3-5 times.
I have been on amitriptyline for 10 years and I do not think I'd be able to manage fibro without the good sleep it gives me. I started on 10 mg - I think it is true that your body gets used to it, as I found I began to sleep very lightly again, but this took several years to happen. I tried taking 1 and a half tabs, and l was back to good sleep. I saw my GP and she upped my dose to 25 mg. I, too, fall asleep within about 20 mins of taking mine. When I started and took the tablet 2 hrs before bed according to the instructions I was sound-o by 8.30! So now I take it 9.20 to 9.40 pm to sleep at 10. I do feel a little sluggish when I wake up at 7, but it wears off within an hour. I was advised on a pain management course that I can go up to 80 mg a night if I get used to the current dose. Hope this helps x
Content on HealthUnlocked does not replace the relationship between you and doctors or other healthcare professionals nor the advice you receive from them.
Never delay seeking advice or dialling emergency services because of something that you have read on HealthUnlocked.
Thanks!
Amitriptyline
Amitriptyline
Amitriptyline 
Amitriptyline/ Duloxetine
Amitriptyline for Fibromyalgia
