What are your experiences of amitriptyline? Y... - Pain Concern
What are your experiences of amitriptyline? You can select multiple answers; please feel free to add a comment.
The side effects were totally unacceptable - I was like a zombie and could hardly function as they knocked me out. Not taking any meds and due at pain clinic in July
I know just how you feel. I was first prescribed Gabapentin low dose. The effect was awful I was so dizzy could hardly walk in a straight line. I don't know where to begin with my health problems which really started after having been knocked over by a car through no fault of my own. The pain was treated right years ago with codeine paracetamol initially and then amitriptyline 10mgs. I cut tabs in half. They made me so sleepy in the mornings. I am trying them again for nerve pain to help me sleep. Constipation is another feature of the meds and as I have slow transit it's hideously difficult to manage. Some say eventually you get used to them. This is week one. Dolly
Also was like a Zombie next morning. Didn't matter how early in the evening I took them. I was given them to help me sleep. No great improvement in my sleep to warrent the after effects next day.
the higher dose does make you sleepy but the trade off for the nerve pain relief is soooo worth it for me. and i can alter the dosage to the level of nerve pain. there would be NO sleep for me without it!
The only i had problems with it was when i was put on tramadol. Then i was like a zombie and it also caused problems with other medical problems i have
a little relief first time round, tried again a few years later and could not cope with the side effects, ie sickness and loss of appetite, no pain relief at all
Hi everyone, Its great to hear what you think regarding amitriptyline!
If you want to learn more about amitriptyline, then listen to "Airing Pain Programme 2 – Neuropathic Pain" Find it here:
painconcern.org.uk/2010/10/...
ableradio.com/AbleExtra/pod...
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Thanks!
On switching on to link I was told it did not exist. Any suggestions? Woosy.
I wouldn't be able to sleep without amitriptyline due to back pain. It does make you incredibly drowsy next day when you start taking it or increase your dose, but that does wear off eventually. I've been experimenting with the dose (between 10 and 50mg) to get max pain relief for fibromyalgia and pain from scoliosis, now on 20mg which is about right for not getting too drowsy while getting pain relief. Any more and terrible vertigo sets in in the mornings several weeks after starting on new dose.
I have been on amtriptyline now for nerve damage for many years now. The fact of them acting like a sleeping drug has not really effected me, I take 75mg nightly and I find that it makes a great deal of differance during the day.to pins and needles in joints.
Although part of my symtoms can include tiredness and fatigue.
For nerve pain, I find Gabapentin is excellent. Amitriptyline did nothing at all for me.
All Amitriptyline did for me was make me feel horrendously woolly headed, extremely sleepy and very nauseous, even on the lowest dose.
While I was on it I couldn't function properly & since there wasn't getting any pain relief there was really no point to continuing to take it.
Thanks for all your experiences of amitriptyline. It's interesting that despite the small sample size, we got the same ratio of 2:1 of people who find it ineffective to people who found it effective, as Dr Mick Serpell reports in his article on our website:
painconcern.org.uk/2011/04/...
The article is really popular, which is why we thought the information given with the drug was insufficient, but the poll doesn't really suggest this. We now think that we're high up on google searches for amitriptyline because other sources like NHS choices don't give info on amitriptyline for pain, as it isn't licensed for this use. Interesting stuff!
I take 40mg amitriptyline at night with 1800mg Gabapentin for nerve and back pain,also 400mg of Tramadol with same paracetamol, and yet some days I am still in a lot of pain,I am going to ask about a pain managment appointment as i feel the results should be better than what they are at the mo!
After nearly 4 years of suffering using over the counter analgesia my doctor prescribed 10mg of amitriptyline I was very dubious about taking it but thought it must be worth trying and has been fabulous I now sleep the whole night instead of waking 3-6 times due to the pain. I have managed to go to the gym which is improving things as well. I do get a dry mouth and if I take it too late then then I feel a little wooly for the first couple of hours in the morning but worth it for the pain relief.
Amitriptyline gave me some relief, I was on 50-75mg at night to help relax my back muscles, it was enough to help full asleep for 3 - 4 hours.
BETH693
I TOOK AMITRIPTYLINE FOR ABOUT TWO YEARS, IT DID NOT HELP ME PAIN WISE OR SLEEP WISE. MY THEN DOCTOR WAS SURE IT WAS HELPING!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I HAD BAD NAUSEA AND A DRY MOUTH, ALSO I FELT UNSTABLE IN THE EARLY PART OF THE DAY.
I wish I was taking amytriptaline.now ..... was offered this but remembered the side effects, however i can't sleep 
I thought the side effects of being sleepy the next day were bad, but i think i could plan around that to get a decent sleep sometimes. . at the moment i am on a mix of nefopam and
co-codamol which is good at first but then my tolerance goes up quickly.
side effects were a nightmare, really sleepy the next day, not good with 3 kids under 3 & while taking them if i went out in the sun i had really bad prickly heat.
I haven't found any significant pain benefits but I find that it helps me a lot with sleep issues and muscle jumps (think myoclonic jerks). I can stay awake on it but I will have to sleep longer, so I use it at the same time each night so when I can feel it affecting me I can use it as a marker for when to go to bed. It's also quite good at helping me get to sleep dispite pain levels provided they are not too high. It's not perfect by any means but if it can help me get more sleep then it's a useful tool. Some noticeable side effects but I find these tolerable.
At the present time i take Tramodol, Kapake and amytriptaline, i get very lillte pain relief but the amytrypaline defineatly helps me sleep at night. so much so i couldnt sleep without them now which is a bit of bummer. it also helps my shakey legs when i go to bed at night.
I get attacks out of the blue of terrible pain (torture) due to nerve-ending damage. These
attacks are random, between 2 and 7 weeks apart, normally at night, waking me up. The
remedy, suggested by hospital neurology Dep.t., is 75mg Amitryptiline with 2 x 30/500 Co-
codomol. They take about 1 hour to work, but then knock me out so I CAN sleep; the next
morning I am brain dead for hours, or all day if I continue the Co-codamol. Hours, weeks, probably years of work have been lost to (1) pain & (2) the effect of these drugs.
I have read that Amitrypt. is also linked to urine-retention problems which can cause bladder infections.
I didn't know it was used for pain. It was my first ever anti-depressant. I can't recall how effective it was but do recall it making me feel "fuzzy". It's one of the older type drugs given by GP's because it's cheap.
Hi..they didnt work for me on pain side till 100-150mg a night, but from 25mg they were worth it for the sleep..yes ur groggy..nothing that some strong coffee and ice cold OJ didnt fix, I was working at the time, caring for parents and 2 young girls to deal with.. had zoplicone 7mg, the metalic taste 24/7 was horrid and didnt work for me due to other medication..Amilt.is the best pill for sleep iv ever taken,( I suffered night terrors as well)...and iv been on a lot over the years due with cronic pain., But im sure we are all different with tolerance, taste etc..do for you what works best for you.
It has really helped with nerve pain and restless legs. I am taking them combined with neurontin
Tried it to try and get some sleep but I couldn't function on it just brain dead til the effects wore off
The problem often is that too high a dosage is given to start with.I say start with 10mg together with painkillers at night and increase every 4 or 5 days until you get the sleep without the hang over effect. It does tend to give a bit of a dry mouth but it is all about balancing good and bad effects of tablets.
I took it for chronic pain, and then again for neuropathic pain. Zombiefied at times, but the dose wasn't too high, i think 25mg only. Didn't do anything for pain by my memory, if it did it was mild. I could manage with the side effects as I felt that way without meds due to pain and fatigue anyway (although I could tell the slight difference between the two).
I found that Amitriptyline , gave me a fuzzy head , but the worst side effect was every time l had a meal within 10 minutes l felt sick and that stayed all day and as soon as l had another meal the same occurred.
75 mg at night for severe pain renders me brain-dead the following day. 25 mg at night renders me fairly brain dead until about midday. I take it in combination with Pregabalin. They take about 2 hours to work, so in order to sleep through the night I take them about 8 pm. But they DO kill the pain, so I accept the "side effect" of sleeping in / cancelling work / feeling brain-dead with short-term memory loss.
The major problem is people don't let the drug work they always say the side effects are awful and I couldn't take the morning after plus the weight gain/loss I've just woke up here 11.33am feel awful it's like having a really bad hangover but I slept like a full night last night I went to bed in agony pain was full on I woke up around 6 in pain but soon went back to sleep everyone is different but it's been a god send for me
I have been treated with amytriptiline since 1978! I have no side effects other than some dryness of mouth and I am used to that. It has been a wonder drug for me.orginially it was prescribed for depression but now it's prescribed off label for pain!
i am currently taking them and only at night. I take one before bed and it helps to relieve back pain, anxiety and help me sleep. I have had no other side effects from it
It made me feel as if I was recovering from anaesthesia but not pleasantly. Very anxious on it too. Also gained weight on it within a week (this happened to me before with Ami) Told GP that, when he prescribed it and was told that Ami does not.cause weight gain. Strange that as.it is actually one of the medications that are given to Anorexic sufferers to increase their appetite. After two weeks giving it a try I stopped. My mood on it was really unpleasant. I was tearful, anxious and bad tempered.
Amitriptyline is a tricyclic drug, I'm allergic to tricyclics, it is noted on all my paperwork (that hasnt conveniently dissapeared) states that my immediate response is excrutiating lock-jaw! & I mean full blown agony!
ps I've been offered amitriptyline many times, I realise that our gps are buried in paperwork and a time limit, but really?, maybe I should ask for it to be written in BIG so it's not overlooked?
Regards Lynda 😨
I had not been taking amitryptiline very long when my hair started to fall out badly. I have a large bald spot about an inch from my forehead. I stopped taken them as I discovered it was one of the side effects and fortunately my hair has started to grow again. But I guess everyone gets different side effects.
The dose that I needed to control the pain meant that I was to spaced out to be able to function properly at work. I've remained in work throughout the 14 years of pain and tried pretty much everything out there to control the pain, even a little. The doctor changed me to nortryptiline which can be used in much higher doses without the same zombie side effects, so slowly increasing my dose to a level that makes a dent
Took amitriptyline for 4 nights at 10mgs and my muscles started to stiffen with a lot of tension. GP said not the med so second week increased to 20 mgs and that night could not sleep at all. When I got up I felt faint and heart was pounding. I took 5mgs following night to wean off and didn't take another. By Friday I started having withdrawal symptoms the same as the ones when taking it. All week I had terrible dreams but only slept for short periods. I took another 5mgs that Friday and symptoms are a lot better. The site Drugs .com gives you advanced information on amitriptyline of which the leaflet doesn't. I have transverse myelitis and been having terrible nerve pain in buttocks but I am staying away from this med.
its helped me with my pain of syatticer...which I.ve only been suffering from for only a short while..but the other day I had a flare up which the pain lasted for two weeks which was nearly unbearable and I felt like tearing my legs off but after taking amitriptyline its improved greatly...
I had a horrible time on amitriptyline,the side effects were worse than my complaint,violent headaches in the early hours,waking up shouting,arms and legs thrashing out,and the last straw having increased the tablets,ended up in hospital with a rapid heart rate,so a bad experience for me.
developed sleep apn. had to come off the amitriptyline at doctors request at the sleep & res. clinic, was sorry to as it worked and allowed me to sleep.
I was like a zombie on amitriptyline, that with the itching from tramadol was not a nice experience. Could function, no way I could have driven. Now on nortriptyline, so much better, now running a successful business, caffeine helps with the tiredness! Tried to come of it 3 times but the nerve pain in my face is horrendous, but happy to stick with new solution
I had to come of due to bladder retention
At 40mg it's almost completely stopped the frequent migraines I get. Lucky to get a dull ache now. Really not sure about peripheral neuropathy though; I still get pins/needles and cutting/pinching sensations. I did want to try a higher dose given I've had no side effects but I was unfortunate to see a bad GP.
Tends to make me sleepy a couple hours after I take it; it's minimal, cosy and just enough to make me want to retire to bed; thus my cicadium rythm hasn't suffered like it used to.
I take it alongside sertraline 100, contraindicated but known combo - no side effects from either and no perceivable effects (i.e. I feel normal) aside that it's tipped my quality of life from pain/badfeels to ok/ok more often than not. The difference is just enough to make things manageable. They'd have to pry these drugs from my cold dead hands because I've had zero luck with most of the antidepressant class.
I should probably mention I did feel a bit rubbish on both at first. Akin to being hit by a bus but it resolved.
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