Amitriptyline - whats going on?

[Paulann]

I started taking 50mg Amitriptyline for fibromyalgia, and having suffered insomia for years I thought it was great. I managed to cut it down after a few weeks to 25mg. Unfortunately after 4-6 weeks it didnt seem to have any effect so I increased to 50mg again. Now I find even this higher dose is not working. I am reluctant to increase again. Has anyone else had this problem with amitriptyline?.

[Joyia]

I have fibromyalgia and personally would not take any drugs whatsoever for the condition. Dr Lowe believed there was a strong link between fibro and the thyroid, if you look at his website you can read his findings.

A female GP gave an article to the Daily Mail stating she had cured her own fibro by following a low oxalate diet. Oxalates are found in plants, some more than others, it is a toxin used by the plant to deter predators, one of natures clever survival techniques. It made sense that perhaps some people's systems are seriously affected by these toxins when certain foods are eaten. You can find a list of low to high oxalate foods on lowoxalate.info/recipes.html Using this guide I have avoided eating high oxalate foods for some time now and have definitely found an improvement in my aches and pains.

We need to get to the root problem of our condition, unfortunately prescribed drugs only attempt to treat symptoms not to mention the side effects which in turn can create yet another health problem.

[BexyLS]

Ive been taking 75mg of Amitriptyline for about 5 years now for chronic headaches and migraines. I want to come off it and recently spoke to my GP about it. He said it is very likely that the amytriptyline is not working anymore as i've been on the same dose for so long ie your body adjusts to it and you have to raise the dose accordingly. The only real way that i'll know if it stopped working is when i lower the dose which( i'm scared to do), yet i also think the amytriptyline did stop working a while ago and i'm dealing with this on my own now (which is a good thing).

I guess what im saying is you probably will have to increase the dose to get the same effect again, what does your GP say? I regret starting the amytriptyline now and wish i could go back and not take the stuff because now i have to wean myself off it.

I dont know a huge amount about fibromyalgia but my partners mum has it and she says its worst when she hasnt slept. Would taking valerian root to help you sleep be of any use? I took that for some time and it really helped with my sleeping. Hope this helps.

[kashka]

I couldnt even take 10mg of that as it made my speech slurred i had rapid heartbeats and the shakes.I would never ever take that again.I dont recommend upping it as then it becomes an antidepressant.See your gp maybe he could recommend another form of medication to take with it Paulann.

[Paulann in reply to kashka]

Thank you all very much for the replies. I try not to go to the doctors if I can help it, I had been so many times until one doctor joined the dots and told me I 'probably' had fibromyalgia. Well I am disappointed, I certainly wont be increasing the dosage, I will go back to 25mg until my next checkup appointment. In the meantime I will look into the low oxatate diet and hopefully taking valerian root will help with my sleep.

Thank God for this site.

[BexyLS in reply to Paulann]

Good luck with it all and don't give up! you'll find a way to get better

[kashka]

Good luck Paulann,

Will be keeping my fingers crossed for you.x