Amitriptyline

Hi there

amitriptyline is a drug with a very long history of use in much higher doses. Ie there are people who have been on 200mg+ for 30+ years for depression with minimal problems.

It has a long half life and when I worked in Chronic Pain we always recommended that patients take it 12 hours before they were due to get up. This minimises the muzzy head side effects that you often get when starting or increasing the dose. You may feel sleepier than usual for a couple of days during the day, this will usually pass. Amitriptyline can take two to three hours to kick in so bear this in mind when timing your dose.

Generally it is problem free for the huge majority of people and having taken it I can attest to its efficacy at low dose for sleep problems, early morning stiffness, chronic pain and even at low dose it can help a little with mood.

Hope that helps. I appreciate tonight is probably too late to ensure you take the dose early enough as I've just found this post (still at work) but hopefully you will be able to adjust things.

Let me know if you need more info or advice. PM me if need be.

Hi,

I was prescribed Amytriptiline for post herpetic neuralgia which I still have after three years! All the staff at the hospital said it was wonderful! I would sleep so well and it was a brilliant painkiller. It is not actually night sedation. Its primary use is as an antidepressant but it is versatile and has many other uses.

Well, it did nothing for me. I stopped taking it. My doctor was hopeless. Very non-supportive so I now still have pain and do not sleep as you can tell by the time of this message! So, Amytriptiline is good for some but not for others. Good luck. I really hope it works for you.

Maggie xx

Sorry to hear you had no benefit. You are right that as with any drug/treatment some benefit but others don't.

What else have you tried for your PHN? Unfortunately that can be one of the more difficult neuralgias to treat even to provide a little relief. I hope you manage to find something that helps. When faced with chronic pain and fatigue it seems a lot of GPs "throw in the towel" because although it seems to be increasingly common many do not have any real experience in the field so unless there is a good specialist in the area people don't get proper support and advice let alone a fair shot at all the possible options.

Hiya

I've been on Amitryptiline since 1995 and now take 25mg per night. I agree with the take 12 hours before you want to wake up, but for me this means taking it at 6 pm and I then start feeling tired at 9 pm, so no more late nights for me!

Another thing to say is it might take a month to have an effect,and the other poster who said it didn't work for her - did she take it for long enough? You must persevere with this one, unless you get unbearable side effects.

I'm on it for pain relief (I passed a kidney stone that damaged a nerve which won't stop firing), but when I had shingles 6 years ago I upped the dose to 75 mg to cope with the post herpetic depression, and it worked. However, the anti-depressant effects took about a month to kick in, while the sedative effects took about 24 hours!

Hope this helps

Hi Chris,

Yes, I agree, this drug does take time to 'kick in' but I took 25mg Amytriptilene daily for nearly three years! I think I gave it long enough to work! I am just one of the people it does nothing for. I know many others who take it for a variety of reasons with excellent effect. I am a registered nurse and am aware of the possible effects, or non effects.

I resort to Zopiclone to sleep occasionally but I don't want to take that on a regular basis even though it is not thought to be addictive. Even then I wake after a couple of hours with the neuralgia and then I am back to square one!

Maggie xx

Hi Mog

It's quite possible the 25mg was not enough. I started on 75, then reduced to 50, and now find 25 is a maintenance dose. I have some 10s which I use when I work at the Beer Festival (18 hour days! - no time for much sleep), and sometimes I split the 25s. But the 75 knocked me out for 3 weeks - which was what I needed at the time. I dropped to 50 after about 6 weeks, and then 25 after about 10 years! I go back to 50 if I feel slightly depressed, or need some sleep.

I used to flick between 10mg and 20mg and still have some in the house from my last prescription should I feel the need for some sleep but so far I've been ok. I really needed it when I was taking it as dh was having health problems and there were so many other stressors I just wasn't coping and not sleeping and then coping even less.

:hippy:I was given ametryptaline last week by my gp, because i have arthritis and it acts as a muscle relaxcent, plus it helps you sleep which is good if like myself you dont sleep very well.
i am only on a small dose but i find it works,

take care

Thanks!

🙂 Thanks for your all your comments.

I have to admit I was a little worried about taking medication (of any kind) for the PVFS but after a few days on the Amitriptyline I've noticed I'm less "fidgety" at night and have less aches and pains which I tend to have on a regular basis. I'm sure once they've kicked in a bit better I'll sleep a bit better too!

A friend recommended that I also tried Yoga so I'm hoping a combination of both will help me.

Thanks again! 🙂

As i have already said on anbother CFS post there is a book about adrenal fatigue.

It also cites that docs often prescribe various antidepressants which do no good whatsoever.

You have to tackle the adrenal fatigue first and foremost. It has all to do with the fluctuations in cortisol levels. Many people with cortisol problems often do not sleep well and awake in the morning still tired.

You really have to address this first instead of looking for a magic pill to do it for you.

Patchouli

i was given amitriptyline for nerve pain following an op.

Amitriptyline is an antidepressent, but in small doses (10mg) it acts as an anti-neuralgia. It isn't like a pain killer as such, it actually reduces your perception of pain.

I must say that these were the most fun drugs i have ever taken. I was well chilled out for about 4 days after taking one, and i slept like a baby, day and night.

As it turns out, i think i have a condition where by I am sensitive to such drugs and hence the 4 day effect from one pill.

They're safe in small doses and I was advised to just take one when i needed one, rather than one a day.

Hi, I'm not sure, but think I have Post Viral Chronic Fatigue / CFS - in the bad stages and when I first battled to sleep properly my GP gave me Amitriptyline. The first day I felt really good, but the 2nd I felt a little mis and weepy, by the 3rd day I was suicidal. I stopped taking it. Not sure if it was the drug, or just my state of being, but I wasnt going to continue!