amitriptyline

[supermum]

ive been on this medication for a good few years now i take 10ml in the morn and 20ml at night i know that this medication is normaly used as an antidepressant .i also know that fibro is made worse if your depressed and anxious so is this medication used for fibro or do drs think by putting people on this it will help with the depression and in turn lessen the pain of the fibro or does this med really reduce the pain of fibro.is it depression that causes the fibro or fibro that causes depression.

[Hidden]

Hi supermum, I am not a doctor and you should really discuss medications with your GP. My understanding is that Amitriptyline is given in low doses for help with sleep at night and also for pain relief (that is why I am taking it). You would have to be on a much higher dose for the medication to be effective to help depression. There are different schools of thought about how depression fits in with a diagnosis of Fibro. It is inevitable though that those of us who a in constant pain and have many a sleepless night are likely candidates for depression. Do chat to your GP if you think you need to review your meds. Best wishes and good luck. Jane x

[Hidden]

Hello I think it is fibro that causes depression. Yes Amitripyline is used for depression but it is also used for neuropathic pain, numbing nerve endings. It is also used for bed wetting. It just made me totally unreasonable and angry so I had to come off it. I think more and more drugs are being found to have more than one use. Gabapentin is for epilepsy but in lower doses helps with pain. I think, when doctors find conventional pain releif doesn't help they have to turn to more effective drugs that aren't necessarily pain killers.

Piggie hugs xxxx

[Extremelygrumpy]

Hi, yup I am on an anti depressant at night taken with a very low dose of another med which can be used to treat epilepsy but the two combined at the right dose help me sleep something a lot of fibromites have trouble with... I sleep like a baby most nights and wake up transformed into a plank overnight ... I wish they could find a med for stiffness and aches and pains and sleep and ibs and stress and combine it into one fibro pill.

Sorry amatryptaline made you totally unreasonable and angry piggles .... I find I am that and more and can't blame it on amatryptaline as I have never tried it

VG x

[roserogers]

I'm on Amitripyline for pain, I only take it @ night though... I don't have depression but I think the Dr's use it for both depression & pain.... it does help with anxiety too. I was on Gabapentin but that's been dis continued now...

[Hidden in reply to roserogers]

Hi How do you mean discontinued? I am on it and can still get it.

Piggie hugs xx

[Hidden in reply to roserogers]

Gabapentin is still prescribed for Fibromyalgia Rose, here's a discussion about this medication we had a few months ago here at FibroAction -

fibroaction.healthunlocked....

[irisjoy]

i think my GP mentioned it relaxes the muscles enabling you to sleep better but its years since i was on them x

[Hidden]

I beleive it doesn't matter which way round they are like Tom and Jerry hehe. I'm on a high dose of amatryptaline and i'm fluoxitine another antidepression, i do remember a doctor telling me that it was originally used as an antidepressant but at a high high dose but people were like zombies and they soon realised it helped with pain. But do not quote me on that i would advise you see your doctor again to clarify.

Rachie xx

[madmoo]

I'm on amitriptyline, but only for the fibromyalgia. When I saw the rheumatologist 2 weeks ago and got a definative diagnosis of fibro, she told me that the 50 mg I was taking was the maximum dose helpful for the pain ( for depression the dose starts at 75 mg and upwards). I did hope that one pill would kill both birds so to speak, but alas I have to take another Med to help with the depression ( still waiting). I'm also having to take mood stabilizers, pain killers and a few other goodies. I have suffered from mental health problems for many years and did ask the rheumatologist whether it was that which caused my fibro - while, she said it probably raised my chances a small margin it was not the cause. That said, she did go on to say that my GP and mental health team have to strive to try and get my mood at least on an even keel as fibro and depression tend to 'feed' on each other.

I would like to suggest that you go and see your GP and get them to prescribe a separate antidepressant at a therapeutic dose to treat the depression and leave the amitripyline for the fibro.

Wishing you well

Ali

[Hidden]

Here's a link to another thread we have running at the moment also about Amitriptyline which may be of interest to you all -

fibroaction.healthunlocked....

[Jomple]

Hi I take sertraline for anxiety and was prescribed amitriptaline for fibro pain, it made me feel sick and sleepy so I now take nortriptyline which is another form of it, it does help me sleep I also take gabapentin and acupan for pain, I find fibro a living hell sometimes! Goodluck everyone xx

[boxter]

Hi i take 75mg amitriptyline at night my GP said it is to help relax the muscles and in turn help you sleep that is debatable !He has also today gave me buprenorphine patches.I am waiting for an appointment for the ME clinic,i hope they can help me as this pain is awful !

Carol X