Had anyone been prescribed Amitriptyline?

Babs55

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Spiderman

Tried it.... supposed to help me sleep at night.(pain pre effective treatment !).. Nodded of at work! If you get dose timing right might help? I didn't persist with it. By all means read VA article. Bottom line,see how it effects you before you do anything!

SeaVixon

Yes I have been prescribed Amitriptyline , as it apparently blocks nerve pain, it's also used as an antidepressant. Other drugs used include Gabapentin .How ever In some cases it can course severe drowsiness , and clumsiness.

How ever saying that, many patients in the pain clinic I attended, found both drugs helpfull in dulling their pain .

Lilymary

I have it for mild but long term depression. Given the amount of pain I’m in I’m going to say it’s not working for me for pain relief, although of course I don’t know how much worse it might be if I wasn't on it. I can't say it makes me particularly drowsy, but these drugs affect people in very different ways, so I wouldn't rely on anyone else’s experience in this regard. (Eg I’ve tried other antidepressants that work well for some people but they almost pushed me off my perch altogether).

Clees1953

Hello Babs,

I have been taking 100mg. a night for many years. Although this is an antidepressant drug, the dose is lower for that prescribed for depression. It is used, particularly to relieve back pain as it blocks some of the pain signals to the brain, but in my experience it only really works for mild back pain. Gabapentin, another drug mentioned here is specifically for neuropathic pain, originating in the nervous system as opposed to muscular skeletal pain.

Best wishes

Christine

dreamdaisy

Yup. Didn't want it, won't use it.

Take it two hours or so before going to bed. DD

MARIE49

Hi, I take 2 amitriptyline every night as my doctor gave me as I wasnt sleeping with my hip pain.. they help, but if I do a sudden movement in the night, the pain shoots through my body..I could cry...

dreamdaisy

I think that medication has little to do with solutions to problems, they merely blunt, blur, dull, smudge and soften the sharper edges to varying degrees. Learning to live with what is left behind is the challenge we all face.

What did you actually want to know, Babs55? The question mark didn't give much information. DD

Trish9556

I had it when I was waiting for shoulder surgery, could only take 2 a night, made me very sleepy and like a zombie during the day. At least it helped with sleep. Have just been prescribed it again for my hand/thumb/neck pain, not too keen but willing to try anything once. Had Gabapentin 900 mg/day Again I wasn't keen but tried it. Took it for 6 months and put on 2 stone. Decided weight was not worth it and weaned myself off of it. Trish

Platt

Yes, couldn't hack it. Cant be expected to work whilst taking it. I work in a low paid, but highly stressful job. Had to stop taking it.

frogmorton

@Platt

It takes some getting used to I used to take it no later than 7pm so quite early I could function in the mornings. I can quite see why it's a problem at work especially if you haven't adjusted to it yet.

Having said that it really can help sleep when you are in agony.

Toni

Platt

Thank you for your advice, i may have to give it another go as im really struggling to carry on with any normal activity atm. I have a physio appointment on Monday and ( another) telephone appointment soon. Havn't seen a GP at all but i don't think thats usal these days. Xx

HayleyO

I was prescribed it for pain around my ribs caused by OA which was pressing on nerves. I read so many bad things about it I never took it. Fortunately, the pain has mainly disappeared, it some times causes a bit of discomfort, but nothing to warrant taking this. I was supposed to have an appointment in 6 weeks which would have been before Christmas to discuss how it was going, but never heard anything. I was prescribed it by a nurse who had a 5 minute conversation with a Consultant who I had never seen who was just leaving. I have since telephoned the department and managed to get a telephone appointment the end of next month. I also discovered my own consultant who I saw once left in 2019 and I no longer have a consultant. I hope others prescribed this have better monitoring and information.

waddington70

Hi, I have been on amatrypteline for a little over 4 years for nerve damage pain with no serious side effects. I know I can only speak of my own experience but can say it had some effect on my OA right knee and right shoulder discomfort and I am only on double the normal intro strength (since then I have been additionally put on far stronger meds by my current pain management team).

Woofy

Yup. Was given some to try before I was diagnosed. I felt like (swear word) needless to say I only took about three days worth.

I am sure it suits some folk, but not for me.

crinkly

I have widespread OA diagnosed more than 30 years ago and for many years I found low dose Amitriptyline an extremely effective muscle relaxant. It helped significantly reduce pain caused by involuntary muscle contractions that protect damaged joints - for me that was initially knees and lumbar spine. (I was formerly a national level sportsperson so had greater than average muscle mass.) I used it only at night because it made me feel quite 'spaced out' and unsafe to drive during the day.

I'm now in my late 70s and of an age when pain can seem easier to manage so I reduced the dose accordingly. During the Covid pandemic, when I became more anxious than normal, Amitriptyline seemed to add to the intensity of nightmares so I stopped taking it. I have not restarted and will only do so if I have really disruptive night-time pain but I have no regrets at having used it when I needed to be more active with family and would encourage others to try it. Just take heed of how your body responds to the drug.

As has been said Amitriptyline is not suitable for everyone but it definitely helped me and I had no difficulty stopping its use after around 20 years.