Amitriptyline

[KBACS]

So hi every1 the last 3mths ive uped & uped my dose im fine for a few weeks then wake up in the most horrific pain! Is this normal?! Help

[Yassytina FMA UK Volunteer]

Morning ,sorry too read this, I would differently phone your doctor and ask for a call back and have a chat for a piece of mind x

[KBACS in reply to Yassytina]

Thank u i feels like im getting somewhere with pain management for sleep & them im in pain!

[Cat00]

What dose are you on?

[KBACS in reply to Cat00]

50mg

[Cat00 in reply to KBACS]

I'm on 100mg, max dose is generally 150mg but I've met people on higher when given for depression. 20 -50mg for chronic pain. I don't find it has any effect on my pain but it helps me sleep and I need all the help I can get in that department!It would seem odd for Amitriptyline to just stop working suddenly in the middle of the night. I don't think it's that effective at pain reduction, it takes weeks to get really working so if your pain is sharply increasing in the middle of the night I would have thought that was more to do with your pain condition rather than the Amitriptyline itself?

[veggiefan70]

Ive not had a problem with Amitriptyline. But I also take codeine 15mgs before bed too. The combination works best for me. If your dosage has been increased maybe you should be taking an additional med to help sleep instead of a high dose of Amitriptyline. Have a chat with your GP.

[KBACS in reply to veggiefan70]

Thank you im going to get an appointment hopefully 😌

[Ellenlow18]

I take 3 a night with Progablin ,Tramadol and Paracetemol. I sleep 4-6 hours before waking

[Applespearspeaches in reply to Ellenlow18]

gosh this sound a lot of medication

[Ellenlow18 in reply to Applespearspeaches]

it is but i have a mixture of very painful health conditions that make it necessary to take them for pain or I’d have no quality of life due to pain x

[Applespearspeaches in reply to Ellenlow18]

Awww I’m so sorry you obviously have such a lot going on , I do hope you get sorted so you can achieve a better painless way of life somehow take care

[Debsdelight72 in reply to Ellenlow18]

Me too, I take 100mg tramadol,150 amitriptyline and 60mg slow release Dihyrcowotsits

4mg Diazepam and paracetemol every night and am still awake up to 5 o'clock in the morning, I do think that I've been and got to this point because I was worked up to it all, Anyone on our amounts would ordinary be zombiefyd, If I doze off at 11 o'clock I wake up 3 hrs later,

I know I'll still be waiting for Mr Sandman and may have an hr before Hubby and dog come in, So frustrating , My sleep hygiene is💩

[Tisme72]

It sounds to me like it may not be effective for you, or else you’re expecting too much of it. Most of the meditation prescribed for fibromyalgia generally only have a limited effect. The pain doesn’t go completely away, it becomes more bearable in my experience. I came off Amitriptyline and changed onto Citalopram, which works slightly better and has less side effects for me. On Amitriptyline I had a raging thirst all of the time which became much less on Citalopram.

You can’t generalise about treatment of fibromyalgia because we all are different, that’s why it’s so difficult to treat. 2 years ago I was off meds altogether but after a winter that played havoc with me I am back on Citalopram and Pregabalin now.

My biggest breakthrough was understanding what Fibromyalgia is, basically it’s thought that it’s a brain malfunction which is triggering pain signals because it thinks there is danger of injury, it doesn’t know where so basically sends it more or less everywhere.

So I accept the pain as it’s not there due to an injury or disease, it’s there because of a brain hiccup that doesn’t know when to stop. It may seem a very simplistic way to look at it but I’ve had it now for nearly 20 years and I’m still here answering your question!

My advice is to try anything that you’re offered but don’t keep increasing the dose, if it doesn’t work initially try a higher dose, if that doesn’t work it’s unlikely that it will and the other thing to think about is that the higher the dose you take the harder it is to get off it if you need to. Most of the Meds used in Fibromyalgia have a fairly short half life (the time it takes to get down to half of the initial dose in your system); short half life meds tend to cause worse withdrawal symptoms than longer half life ones. You will have to try different medications until you find one (or a combination) that works for you, and always remember that on its own Fibromyalgia isn’t life threatening.

[KBACS in reply to Tisme72]

This is very helpful thanks so much 🙏

[Astonvilla68]

keep an eye out on your blood pressure this medication raised mine too high and I had to come off. I am now on LDN Google it it been a wonder drug for me with no side effects. The only downside is I have to pay for it doctor said it’s a very old drug but they don’t make much money out of it so it isn’t always recommended for fibro but it’s really helped me and lots of others. There is a Facebook page called LDN research Reading helping lots of people and it’s not a page that’s selling the product either . Good luck