Amiltryptiline affecting Sertraline

[Seascapes31]

Hi allHas anyone had similar experience to this?

I have suffered from depression for most of my adult life and anxiety my latest medication from a long line is sertraline 125 mg to help manage it.

I've recently increased amiltryptiline to 40mg at night to help flare up of pain (it was 20 mg).

I've been really struggling though with mental health going downhill and I wonder does amiltryptiline affect the sertraline and this has made my depression, sadness, not wanting to get up and face another day worse?

Thanks in advance

[Yassytina FMA UK Volunteer]

Hello , I differently would get back too your doctor as soon as you can as the 2 meds together sound like they are not suiting you, sooner rather than later even the practioner nurse can see you if doctors are busy, having had experience myself of feeling low , it’s horrid 🙁I came off Sertraline (just for me personally it made my symptoms worse) but I read here people get on well with it , I got too a stage where I felt like you ,it took awhile till I saw someone who said your on the wrong medication , I hope you call your surgery today , please take care xx

[Seascapes31 in reply to Yassytina]

Thank you, yes you're right, I will do econsult tomorrow x

[Nickysfybroflares]

I had this same side effect. My doctor has been playing with medication to see if any help with my pain levels. I have been on Sertraline max dose for a few years for depression finally after years of being in pain and scans tests etc I have had the diagnosis of fibromyalgia. My gp tried me on amatriptaline and my depression hit bottom also I was unconscious most of the day on them not a quality of life I was happy to deal with and very little help with pain. Then he tried me with norotriptaline (sorry about spelling) and that did the same and I found out from the pamphlet that the two shouldn't be taken together. So the doctor has taken me off those now. So I'm just on Sertraline and waiting to see pain management to find out what is the next step. But you weren't on your own with the pill interacting influencing depression x

[Seascapes31 in reply to Nickysfybroflares]

Thank you, I'm glad I'm not alone in this.

[gemimafibro]

Hello!

My experience was similar to this. I was on Sertraline, then had Amitriptyline added and, mentally, I went downhill fast. I came off the Sertraline in the end. It took a while to do that though, because I was so so down that I didn't realise. They did not mix well for me at all. I have been on and off Amitriptyline since I was around 15, I'm 31 now and I have found it to be the most helpful medication I have tried, and I have tried a bunch over the years 😂

I'm not a Doctor of course, so I'd take what I said as just a personal experience and revisit it with your GP.

I hope you manage to get it sorted ☺️

Gemima ❤️

[Seascapes31 in reply to gemimafibro]

Thank you!Just wanted to ask have you been taking amiltryptiline for mental health or pain? I'm taking amiltryptiline for pain from fibro and sciatica to help me sleep, so I'm caught between a rock and a hard place now, my chronic pain pharmacist from my surgery is on maternity leave, so I am going to speak to the local pharmacist who is very good

[gemimafibro in reply to Seascapes31]

I take it for both reasons. I am similar to you in the sense I suffer with depression and anxiety. I was originally on Sertraline for my mental health, and Pregabalin then Gabapentin for my pain, but I was completely numb to any emotion. So I was taken off of those and put on just Sertraline and Amitriptyline. The numbness persisted so I was taken off the Sertraline and it was like a light switch was flipped in my head.

I'm going to be honest, I have never personally met anyone who was helped by Sertraline. I worked in Pharmacy for 7 years before the Fibromyalgia took over so I met many many people on it. But that is just my experience, there are obviously people out there who can tolerate it just fine. Everyone is different and will react differently to any type of medication. It's trial and error to find what you can tolerate, if anything at all. So just keep that in mind. You're doing the correct thing by speaking to a pharmacist.

[Seascapes31 in reply to gemimafibro]

Thank you so much for getting in touch, personally I think I will have to come off sertraline I was on 150mg and it made me feel worse, hence I came down to 125 mg, and can't say it's much better!

[gemimafibro in reply to Seascapes31]

If you don't mind me asking, feel free not to answer of course, but where you started on 150mg straight away, or did you increase from a low dose up to that? The "standard" dose for adults is 50mg (depending on the reason for it's usage), but can be increased up to 200mg. But it should be over a period of time. There is a possibility that it may have been too much too soon if that is the case. Just another perspective of course.

I hope you get it sorted either way ☺️

Gemima

[Seascapes31 in reply to gemimafibro]

HiyaThanks for your reply.

I think I started on 100mg and then it was put up to 150mg, but that made me worse, so now I'm on 125mg.

[Duffy2021]

Hi, I think this really could be causing your problems to escalate as they are both essentially antidepressants and not really meant to work together. I think you should speak to your GP, or a pharmacist regarding this, may well be the reason you’re feeling worse at the moment. Sending you good wishes and really hope that things improve soon 🌼

[Seascapes31 in reply to Duffy2021]

Thank you, yes will do that I need to get the issue resolved ASAP 😔

[Brandy2020]

I was on sertraline which helped me loads at first with anxiety and low mood, I recently got diagnosed with fibromyalgia from the specialist that I go to who deals with lupus which I’ve had since I was 20, i was very unsure about medication for fibromyalgia cause I’d read that a lot of them can wipe you out which doesn’t make sense to me when your already low mood and fatigued why would you want to be more wiped out, with having early starts with my job aswell this didn’t sit well with me to take these meds, however my specialist decided that duloxtine would be a good one to try it’s a straight swap over from sertraline aswell as it’s from the same family so no trying to get off one tablet first before going onto another, it works brilliant for me especially getting a good nights sleep it did take awhile to get on the right dosage but I’m doing a lot better, hope you get sorted and my personal experience helps you out, your not alone you’ll get there petal, sending much love ❤️

[Seascapes31 in reply to Brandy2020]

Thank you, I am really struggling with everything at the moment so fingers crossed 🤞

[Mya12345]

Hi, i was on Amitriptyline and was taken off my anti depressant citrolapam 20mg as the 2 counteracted one another 2 years ago when I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia. Since coming off the citrolapam my depression and anxiety has become worse over the last 2 years and my mental health has not been treated since the amitriptyline did nothing for it but did help with the insomnia and nerve pain caused by fibromyalgia. Since my mental health has deteriorated over time and taken a turn for the worse, I had to be re - evaluated by a psychiatrist to determine what medicine I can change to as my mental health has been extremly bad and i developed facial dysmorphia in the last year which i think is due the amitriptyline not working for mental health. He recommended I change to gabapentin lower dose once a evening and back to my citrolapam 20 mg to increasing to 40 mg as 40 mg is needed to treat facial dysmorphia. I hope these 2 work and I feel better mentally and physically because the last year has been a nightmare. Maybe try speaking with your doc and asking for other options cause a lot of medications can counter act, to be on the safe side get a re- evaluation of meds. Good luck with it

[Seascapes31 in reply to Mya12345]

Thank you for your reply, and your experience sounds like a nightmare, so I hope you're re evaluation goes well for you 🫶