Amitriptyline side effects.

[shellf]

It's my second week on amitriptyline, I'm still not having a peaceful deep sleep but I am exhausted and slurring my words through the day, is this normal until I get used to them ? Thanks,shell.

[Hidden]

Waht dose are you on. I am on 50 mg but started on 10mg. It does take awhile for your body to adjust. If you are worried speak to your gp as they may not suit you.x

[Hidden]

I was only on 10mg a day but for me it made no pain difference but made me sleep all night , I was like a zombie all day and was about as much use to my family as a chocolate teapot... No on second thoughts make that worse as you can eat a chocolate teapot....... And I was due to up, the dose but GP decided not to bother and try something else instead ..

VG x

[ladymoth]

Hi Shellf,

That sound pretty typical for new users of Amitriptylline!

Give it another week or two, but if you still don't feel any better, it might be worth checking with your GP.

Have you read the patient information sheet in your box of pills? People often don't read them, but they can be very helpful.

Moffy x

[Hidden]

Hi

I no longer take it, I started off on a kids's dose (syrup and a syringe) because even the 10mg was too strong. I felt like I was walking through treacle but it's scary how soon you become tolerant to it. Before I came off it I was on 75mg-100mg a night but I found the unpleasant side-effects outweighed any potential benefits. I gradually weaned myself off of it and I now take melatonin 3mg to help me sleep.

To be honest the effects are a little hit and miss but I find my sleep quality is the same as when i was on a high dose of amitriptyline but i don't have all the side-effects to deal with. As the others have said you have to persevere with it but it's not for everyone, and if after another week or so there is no improvement then see your GP.

[littlemisshurty]

I take it to sleep it is a anti depressant.but I do feel tired all day next day...but I take it on rtf open of a morphine replacement and . Both err stuff.but yes speech slurs etc but iv been on them on and off for years but I take them for sole purpose of making me sleep as I go fro can't keep awake to can't sleep..it's oneof those nights

[Helen64]

I'm on 50 mg at nite, I don't sleep right thro the night but I don't lay wide awake all night now. I suffer with very dry mouth which never seems to go & I do struggle with my weight

[Malwimmy27]

I was on 25mg at night, helped me sleep to start with, though they seemed to gradually stop working. They also seemed to make me hungry through the day. So I take promethazine (20mg) at night. They seem to work, but I tend to feel a bit groggy during the day.

[LindseyMid]

This article may be of interest:

fibroaction.org/Articles/Hi...

The review (from 2008) found that research does not support the use of Ami for Fibro long term or at doses higher than 50mg, because often side effects outweigh benefits.

[XmarciaX]

I am on 75mg at night .... And I reserched it that when you take it at night you should take it at 8pm and latest and 9pm. Hope this helps it has done to me so far, as not to slurry with words at the moment but I will see how long it last for xmarciax

[fibro in reply to XmarciaX]

i totally agree about the timing. its something that when you are prescribed they don't usually tell you, but having taken it now for 10 -11 years its the best way to elevate many of the side effects apart from the dry mouth.

If you take it late you are more likely to wake up with the feelings of a hangover. Its quite normal, even on a lower dose.

Assuming you are on more than 10mg when you first start taking it, the dose must only be increased gradually. same applies if you decide to stop them. you should never just stop taking them.

Originally meant as an antidepressant in higher doses but they were found good for neuropathic and night time pain.

Also on the plus side for the NHS they are relatively cheap drug, so are more widely used now. xx

[XmarciaX]

I did that fibro I come off them and advise never to do that apart from the spurt of energy I got I was shaking and my words were all muddled even my friends had a go at me and said take your tablets, cos they could see what pain I was in and couldn't understand a word I was saying, so please do not come off them like I did !! XmarciaX

[fibro in reply to XmarciaX]

I dare not after all these years. i think the amount of pain meds i take each day just keeps the edge off of it al for me, but am scared to keep trying different meds because of the different side effects. its not so much their individual effects but how they react with others. I have been taking Valium for months and on top of what i was already taking I started to get terrible blurred and double vision. even broke down having an eye test as i was so frustrated, but i was assured by a consultant that the valium shouldn't have done that on its own and he trusted me to self manage the doses of all i was taking to find a happy medium. i know they say you shouldnt stay on Benzodiazepenes for longer than a few weeks but Its been a year now, i have reduced the dose and taken out one Gabapentin and it has helped the eye problem. I have other problems as well as Fibro and can't remember what life was like to be pain free. Its been too many years, but I do worry the amount of drugs that i'm shoving in my body just to survive. Ive had an awful year and often felt that I don't even want to live any more as i can't see light at the end of the tunnel, but the only consolation is that Im still here so I must be surviving!! xx (((hugs)))