How do I get off of amitriptyline?

[overitall]

[janbrooks2009]

after going through a detox to come off so many other pills & sacking one gp i signed up with a different practise..& was given amitriptyline which nearly finished me off, i got no help so just done it myself,, it took me a week..to 10 days,.it is hard but if i can do it you can,, its not nice but worth it hope this helps x

[Angelface]

I would never touch that poison, I am very sensitive to that kind of thing, Amitryptyline is an anti-depressant. This may not be a problem for some, but this led to some serious side effects for me...I would never touch the stuff again, tried it for ME symptoms 10 years ago, and after only 1 dose I was done with it. Good for you to get off such a powerful, mind altering synthetic drug.

[Hidden]

All I say is you must speak to your GP and wean off slowly over a matter of weeks, I was on 30mg to start and gradually weaned down to nothing the only side effect I noticed was looser bowels then normal but this did settle over a few a days. Good luck and I hope you managed to find an alternative, I assume it's not working for you? it didn't for me and I couldn't take a higher dosgage as the 30mg made me drowsy.

[Hidden]

I can only emphasise that you reduce Amitripyline as slowly as "you" require. I learnt the hard way with my doctor just stopping it without reducing it. I had been on it for at least a decade for my arthritis pain. At first I understood why I couldn't sleep due to the sudden stopping of a drug that can sedate but it was all of the longer term consequences for me. I've ended up having to go on a small dose to stabilise my body & then plan on very very slowly coming off it. I have grown up with a lot of health problems & have learnt that certain drugs must be reduced slowly or it can exacerbate your condition or cause other problems. For example steroids.

I found taking a natural sleep supplement helpful during the transition as well but eventually your body adjusts & you will not miss the Amitripyline in the long run. I guess it also depends on what dose you are taking. Just don't feel under any pressure to hastily come off it. Again through experience I tend to drop the dosage a bit & lose some sleep etc. but then when you start to pick up don't drop the dosage straight away but give your body a week to recover. When your ready then drop down again. Keeping a positive attitude towards the process & keep telling yourself it's just a short period of time of some discomfort. It's different for everyone though.

I wish you the best & hope this helps.

[LindaPhoenix]

I was on 50mg a day but had to come off it as it caused an irregular heart beat. I gradually reduced by 10mg a week, then when I was only on 10mg a day, I cut the tablet in half for a week (so 5mg a day for a week), then cut the half into quarters (roughly as they're tiny!) and took a quarter a day for the last week. I had no side-effects at all doing it like this. Good luck with it. xx

[Paulacg]

Talk to your GP first. Then get yourself a pill cutter. I cut down from 60 mg of nortryptilline 5mg a fortnight. I suspect you can do it quicker than I did but I was in no great hurry. Nortryptilline worked well for me at reducing the severity of my migraines without the terrible tiredness you get with ami.