Amitripyline

[Cara_amy]

Hi everyone. I have been to my doctors this morning and he has pescribed me with amitripyline for migraines. Im a bit worried about taking them as they are an antidepressant. Has anyone had these before and if yes what are they like? thanks

[Wishes_]

Hiya, I was prescribed these a few months ago and like you I had my doubts. At a low dosage they are used to treat pain not depression, I was prescribed them for pelvic pain and increased my dosage last week to 20mg. They are only used as anti-depressants at a higher dosage. I've been fine with them and they help me sleep.

[Cara_amy in reply to Wishes_]

Thank you, ive been pescribed 10mg. It says take 1-3 tablets at night but im just going to take 1 to begin with and see how I get on.

[Wishes_ in reply to Cara_amy]

I was prescribed 10mg to start with which was one tablet at night which I took for 2 months and I've now to take two at night. So yeah best take it slowly to see how you get on.

[Cara_amy]

Yes I will probably do the same as you. Thanks

[MuddyPawS77]

I've always been a poor sleeper -obvious trigger re migraines- so couldnt cope with propanolol as a migraine preventative as it resulted in severe insomnia - gave up after 2 terrible weeks . I was then prescribed 10mgs amitryptaline to take before bedtime but found , although this rapidly knocked me out in evenings -(like a pre-med )- , I couldnt wake up next morning for work and spent most of day in total haze .. As 10 mgs is lowest dose tablet available, my GP suggested I cut tabs in half so I now take 5mgs. I also make sure I take the half -tab early in evening , about 6.30-7pm... I start to feel the "doziness" feeling about 10pm and can get to sleep within a reasonable time when I go to bed . I wake up at a sensible time ,still feeling a little dozy s/times even on 5mgs but not to the extent that I cant function all morning as was happening on 10mgs .

BTW I still have migraines but at least poor sleep is not the trigger it used to be for me .

[Cara_amy in reply to MuddyPawS77]

I never have trouble sleeping, I haven't quite figured out my triggers yet. I was thinking to take 1 10mg tablet tonight at 9pm and go to bed about 10pm. Im up at 6am so im hoping its not going to knock me out too much! Have you found your migraines are less frequent with amitripyline?

[MuddyPawS77 in reply to Cara_amy]

Migraine triggers are ever-changing unfortunately.. so I couldnt say definitively they are fewer in number as so many factors interact w , e.other .. e.g.on occasions I find can get away w eating / drinking s/thing that on another occasion would floor me within hours.. so its clearly s/thing to do with body bio-chemistry INTERACTING with other factors .. ( stress / excitement / late nights / delaying eating causing low blood-sugar !!. this last is really significant for me as Im often busy , not actually feeling hungry & then realise its hours since I last ate . .. then Im in trouble re migraine brewing even if I do eat . Right now the muggy rainy weather of last few days in this part of UK (south-west ) is the main culprit ... when barometric pressure changes I can feel migraine-symptoms brewing ; if it settles into EITHER rain OR sunshine, after a couple of days Im fine so Spring is always difficult for me as weather so changeable ..

[galewicks]

I was given these by my Dr. They did nothing for my headaches - just made me so very tired all the time, to the point where I couldn't function

Hope they work for you

[hennersg]

After 1 year, I am up to 50mg Ami......I take it a few hours before bed and aside from sedation early on, I am doing very well on this dose which controls both my vestibular migraine and neuropathic neck pain....sedation will ease after a short while and an early bonus was great, deep sleep.....the trick is to see if you can exercise, as this will help you metabolise the med quicker and so lessen the sedating effect that many complain of.......you may also have dry mouth for a while, so suck sugar free sweets and have water to hand.............remember that it may take 6 weeks + to feel best benefit and you may consider increasing dose slowly to find optimal dose for you and your symptoms (discuss with your health specialist).........also, no weight gain for me as I now exercise regularly and infact am nicely shedding kilos thanks also to a low carb/high protein diet.....it's worth a try, if no good, then you just come off.....also, I beleive that the newer drug Noritriptyline has fewer side effects......good luck

[Vicster05]

Hi,

My doc put me on 20mg nightly amitriptyline to reduce the frequency of my migraines. I take it as I go to bed, but it doesn't make me sleepy at all - yet another example of how medications are totally different for different people, reading the other comments on this thread!

It really helped pretty much straight away, I went from having a few each week to one a month, but I also worked on what my triggers were (figured out its stress and anxiety) so by working on those I've reduced them even more. Taking the amitriptyline actually helped lower my anxiety as I felt I was being proactive and doing something to fix my migraines, so perhaps it's all in my head and now I'm less anxious about getting a migraine because I know I'm taking something to stop them, I get less migraines because I'm less anxious!? It's all very psychological!

Good luck with it, don't worry about the pills, that won't help!

[Cat00]

Hi,

The Anti-depressants dose is in the 100mgs, 400 mg is not uncommon for Depression, for migraines it tends to be in the 10mgs I went up to 70mg. Most side effects of occur and wear off in the first 6 weeks. Unless it is unbearable or you are allergic to it it is best to wait this long before deciding if it is right for you. If not you are at risk of dismissing a drug that may actually prove to be excellent for you in the long wrong. Amitriptyline knocked me out for the first couple of months, I learnt to take it earlier in the evening bc that makes mornings easier. I couldn't be without now and it has absolutely no soporific affect on me anymore. I still have chronic migraines and other chronic pain conditions but it certainly takes the edge of them!

Xx

[Cara_amy]

Thanks everyone, I took my first one last night and feel very tired today! I didnt think it helped me sleep much either. Will see how I am over the next few weeks.

[SouthFloridaLady]

Has anyone gained weight on this?

[kuksy]

Yes I did- lots.

[galewicks]

I took these but found that they made me way too tired to be able to function properly.