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[MaryTH]

Good morning all, I had to see my GP yesterday about my meds and explained that I am not sleeping because of the pain. I have only been taking paracetamol along with MTX & HCQ. She suggested I try Amitriptyline. I am not really keen on taking another tablet and wondered if anyone else was on this and how they feel about. Have a good weekend and enjoy what could be the last of the nice weather X

[Heathersmum69]

Good morning Mary,

I am on Amitryptyline. I take it about an hour before bedtime,and by the time I am ready for bed I am sleepy. I very rarely wake up in the night ,so yes I think it does help. Also I am prone to get a lot of headaches,this helps with that.

Have a nice weekend. Enjoy the sunny weather

Jane xx. ☀️

[MaryTH in reply to Heathersmum69]

Thank you Jane, I will try taking it tonight x

[Livingston]

Low dose amitriptyline is often used like this. It amplifies the effects of painkillers and also normalises sleep patterns that are out of kilter. When I took it, it really helped me. It does tend to make you feel a bit sleepy soon after taking it, so helps send you off to sleep too. Usually it is taken in a single dose at night.

As a nurse I found that people had a bit of a dry mouth for the first few days but if you bear with it, this does tend to die down. I also found that the initial feeling of sleepiness went away too after I had been taking it for a while, but I could still go off to sleep easily.

A good point is that there is a wide range of doseages that can be given - so if it helps but doesn't do quite enough, there's room to increase it.

You need your sleep - it might be worth a try.

[MaryTH in reply to Livingston]

Thank you, yes I will try it tonight x

[mauritius21 in reply to MaryTH]

Hi Mary TH try Amitriptiline. I have taken Amitriptiline a low dose of 10mg for severe pain which helps and also to help with the sleep at night. I suffer from severe pain of sciatica as well. I take it when the pain is unbearable. Hope your pain will ease up. Just watch the side effects. It is also use as an anti depressant and in general hospital it is given for pain.

[MaryTH in reply to mauritius21]

Thank you, I did take it last night and actually slep til 5 am which is good. I am quite stiff this morning tho'. X

[nomoreheels]

Another here extolling the virtues of amitriptyline. I was prescribed it as part of my OA meds (as a muscle relaxant for neck & back pain) as I was so uncomfortable in bed & waking regularly, not having any restful sleep. My GP started me on 10mg & increased it monthly until I reached 50mg which suits me fine & I now have full nights sleep.

One thing I've found is if I take it with my other evening meds around 8pm I fall asleep in the chair so try to take it a couple of hours before I want to go to bed. If I'm going out in the evening, particularly if driving I don't take it until I get home! It's another of my meds that makes my mouth dry so I've also been prescribed Biotene gel to help with that.

[MaryTH in reply to nomoreheels]

Thank you for that x

[earthwitch]

As has been said, low dose amitryptylline can definitely help with pain control, however if you are having pain because your RA isn't adequately controlled, then my personal preference would be to try and get a treatment review by the rheumatologist. Much better to deal with the cause of the pain, than the result.

[MaryTH in reply to earthwitch]

Thank you earthwitch, I did wonder about that. I have only been on MTX & HCQ for 2 months so still hoping they will start doing what they should. I wasn't keen on taking another drug as I am already on a lot of different pills. x

[benjijen]

I had that prescribed to me some years ago but had to come off it as I had hallucunations. Never had that happen before or since! Very frightening. However, apparently, it's not a side affect!!!!!

[MaryTH in reply to benjijen]

I must say I am not keen either x

[nomoreheels in reply to benjijen]

Not the actual words hallucinations Benijen but listed in my PIL under the heading Brain & central nervous system is "delusions, seeing things that are not there", which I would think covers it, possibly you were misinformed.

[barty105]

I have the same problem as you - I was put on amatriptaline - i was anxious like you and it works for me - x

[helenlw7]

I am on amatriptaline. I take 20mg about 15 minutes before I go to bed. I fall asleep with 10 minutes. I do still wake up, but tend to go off straight away. It doesn't really work when my legs are restless again or when my chest is bad (bronchiecstasis and asthma) but mostly it works well?