Amitriptyline advice

[Gypsy17]

Hi all, I’ve recently been prescribed amitriptyline to help with my sleep due to insomnia but also my fibro pain. I am only on a low dosage but it has been amazing for my sleep however I have now gone the opposite way and struggle to wake up and function in the day!! I am taking magnesium tablets in the morning to try and help but its not doing much! Does anybody please have any suggestions or advice?

[RWilliamson]

Hi Gypsy as Ajay said I'd take it earlier, I take mine at 8.30. Glad it's helping x

[Dizzytwo Moderator]

Hi there, you say you have only recently been given the medicaton. It may take your body a little while to adjust to the side effects. This can happen with most medications.

If it was me I would give it a go for about 6/8 weeks. If you are still struggling let your GP know.

Momo

[CrazyCatLady_x24]

I've been on amitriptyline for as long as I've had fibro been on and off tramadol in all them years of having it, my insomnia, depression, anxiety, paranoia, IBS and other health issues mixed in with all that is a never ending battle. Also my immune system is pretty much none existence, takes me forever to clear a cold. But I've also asked the doctors as I've had chronic headaches and migraines and fibro can cause them so keep on eye on that. With my meds they don't have any effect on me now and because I'm only 27 the doctors can't really give me anything else or stronger because they will be nothing to give me when I'm older. Hope this helps a bit with my life story

[Smoggie1 in reply to CrazyCatLady_x24]

Sorry about your health issues I sound like an older version of you I'm almost 61 but mine all kicked off at 43 and went downhill..I get chronic headaches now and sinus ones too.min like you been taken off certain meds as would damage my other organs..I've tried amitriptyline. But made no difference and was in it for 6 months it wares off they give you stronger then that wares off..or did for me...I hope because of covid and scientists supposed to be researchers for long covid will help us at done point cos up till now they haven't really given a bugger about fibromyalgia..well not where I live and I hope you can have a better future.xx

[Farmerboy]

I was on this for night time back pain but it had little effect so stopped, but people have said give it time maybe months and not weeks. How are you doing Ajay

[Chance15]

Hi there I’ve bin on these for many years I find them gud I take mine about 8.30 9 pm.

[55hopefull]

Hello I’m also taking It and find if I take it at 4.30 in the afternoon then I wake up feeling much better for the day ahead.

[Cat00]

You need to give Amitrityline at least 6 weeks for the side effects to wear off. Like others have said I take at 8.30 to sleep around 11, don't get drowsy in the morning anymore.

[Rossibaby46]

Take this as early as you can, i started off taking this at 8pm, and suffered the groggy side effects in the morning, now i take 80mgs at 6pm, and i fall asleep no problem, and have no side effects in the morning like you, i started off at 10mgs and built it up each week.

[Alsithee4]

I think the general rule with amitryptiline is that if you're wanting to be up and functioning at 7.30am, then you need to be taking it 12hrs before, so around 7.30pm. Also I would take magnesium at night rather than in the morning because this also aids sleep. By you taking it in the morning may be making you tired too.

[MALC19]

Hi GypsyI have been on amitriptyline for about 30 years now.

As others say give it a good while especially due to insomnia which i also suffer from among other things.

I take mine 6.30 pm by next morning i have no side effects i am on 150mg started on 200mg i would be lost without them.

Everybody is different so just trial and error.

Hope they work for you. 😊😊

[Aoibheann]

Hi, you should take your Magnesium tablets at night as they do help with sleep 💤. Take care. 🙂

[Mshapp]

I found 1 was not enough but 2 left me feeling like a zombie the next day. That was at the beginning. I was prescribed after bc and the blockers they put me on. I have this week swapped to another as even tho i was taking 8.30 ish and could drop off fairly easily, by 12.30 am i was wide awake and then again at 3am 5am through the night. I now take 4 of my sleepers, still wake up - but not feeling like a zombie.

[Elaine200756]

Hi Gypsy, I am prescribed amytripylene for sleep issues and have the same effects as you. I find I am drowsy the next day and no good for anything. I've been told, as Dizzy says, you should give it a good 8 weeks to let your body get used to it and overcome the side effects. I've not been able to persevere for so long. Best of luck with the issue xx

[JuicyJoycee]

Try taking them an hour earlier in the evening. I and my daughter are taking this but have vastly different reactions to it. My daughter only takes 2mg whereas I take 50mg. She too has trouble waking in the morning so has tried taking them around 8pm. wheras I take them just before I go to bed whatever the time is. I wake without problems after 6 hours but, if I don't take them then I don't sleep very well at all. Hope this helps.

[Fibro_fairy]

Hi I’m on the same for insomnia & fibromyalgia but unfortunately for me I started on 1 tablet and now in 3 and still it doesn’t touch me re insomnia it does however help the pain over night but come the morning I’m stiff & in pain So my doctor is thinking of putting me on something else at my next review ( I don’t know what yet until I go)

Re magnesium I use to work for a medical herbalist & in health food and find 2 magnesium citrate (citrate is better than sulphate) is good and I soak my feet in Epsom salts ( or have them in a bath )

I hope this helps / gives you maybe ideas to try / consider and or ask your doctor re a change of medication xx

[JayCeon in reply to Fibro_fairy]

Re magnesium I use to work for a medical herbalist & in health food and find 2 magnesium citrate (citrate is better than sulphate) is good and I soak my feet in Epsom salts ( or have them in a bath )

Hi - I think you mean Epsom salts are magnesium sulphate, and only for "baths", whilst citrate is one of the better forms of magnesium orally....? Citrate is laxative though, so I prefer malate & glycinate.

[Fibro_fairy in reply to JayCeon]

hi yes I use salts in bath & take citrate orally , thanks for the heads up re citrate , I’ve not found that with me but if that happens I will try malate or glycinate thank you kindly 🙏🏽

[HetHeru]

I would take them earlier. It does take a while for you to get past the grogginess. A lot of people complaining about headache in the comments. Guys and gals ask your gp about Intracranial hypertension (IH) . I was having headaches and it turned out I had this. I was having horrible headaches.

[Fibro_fairy in reply to HetHeru]

I’ve tried taking them earlier and no joy 🤦🏽‍♀️But thanks re the IH information

[Acocoa]

I take Amitriptilin 50mg. I will advise to take it early .. I take it 7:30p.m to allow me get up for work in morning. It can make you sleepy if you take it late hours.

I should say it works for me.

[Fibro_fairy in reply to Acocoa]

I’ve tried taking it earlier but no joy 🥺🤦🏽‍♀️Glad it works for you though 🙏🏽

[babyowl]

Hi I take mine at 6pm if not I cannot function in the morning...

[Fibro_fairy in reply to babyowl]

ah I wish they worked for my sleep but it doesn’t matter when I take them I am just not sleepy with them 🤦🏽‍♀️

[Singeranne]

Try taking the Amitriptyline earlier in the evening and you should find that helps you to wake in the morning. I take magnesium at night.

[JayCeon]

Magnesium, passiflora, amitriptyline...

When to take various magnesium types: Singeranne , Alsithee4 & Aoibheann have said to take magnesium at night, only @Fibro_fairy has mentioned various types. Whilst several of the 25+ magnesium types might help sleep, it does depend on them and on you. Here Cleveland Clinic recommends glycinate and citrate, and generally not oxide. health.clevelandclinic.org/... Whilst I agree with oxide (and it is in many products!), the citrate is a laxative form, glycinate is safer and a good bioavailable form, but....

Magnesium glycinate wakes me up at night and researching this I found that some people react contrary to glycine, are stimulated instead of relaxed from it. My other favourite form is magnesium malate, has a little evidence for helping fibro pain. Whilst this may not work for sleep for some it does me a better service, so I now take the malate in the evenings and glycinate in the mornings.

Important re. dosage is also that the element (metal) needs to be in a compound, so one of my pills has 500mg magnesium glycinate in it, meaning 50mg. Above 6 pills even of glycinate or malate is laxative for my IBS-D.

Altogether like Cleveland say it doesn't do that much for me, my main sleep helper is passiflora, however only in a very high dose (4-5x 350mg). Also the amino acid supp GABA.

Amitriptyline zombified me night and day: Whilst I agree to try taking it earlier and some people get used to it, I tried it at 6pm, varying doses 2mg-26mg (using 2mg drops and 10mg then 25mg tablets) and after 4 months was getting 8 side effects from it, including incessant zombification all day, plus it wasn't helping pain and my sleep was not restorative, it was 'fake' and my pain in the mornings was worse due to not being able to change positions well. In the meantime though I'd been working on insomnia triggers (see my "30 wakers" post) and preferred brain with pain to no brain with no pain, or rather with pain. Trying tryptophan, 5-HTP, melatonin and 5-HTP also zombified me (melatonin even a 5% dose), all put me on sick leave, so experimenting with passiflora again, that was no help in normal dose, was my godsend.

[Fibro_fairy in reply to JayCeon]

thank you so much for this info , I love passiflora have it as tea with a mix of other herbs like chamomile, rose , lavender etc

Re my sleep maybe I’m just a night owl I’ve come to this conclusion 😂

[Fibro_fairy in reply to JayCeon]

and sorry for my very late reply I’ve not been on for ages , phone problems 🤦🏽‍♀️

[JayCeon in reply to Fibro_fairy]

Ah, just great that you haven't hesitated to come on in on it again

[Fibro_fairy in reply to JayCeon]

no just had a lot going on and with my phone but will check in more as sone helpful things on here & people in the same situation which is good 👍🏽

[Fibro_fairy in reply to JayCeon]

I meant some not sone

[JayCeon in reply to Fibro_fairy]

- phone not working again? ;-DDD