Does anyone have withdrawal info on Nortriptyline???

Hi Pinkmuffin

I'm currently taking nortriptyline. It's only been a month for me and I'm already feeling like my heart is racing every morning and i do get palpitations couple times a day. I also get a lot of muscle spasms and twitchings all over my body. Can i ask you what dose you were taking?

Hello, I was on 20mg. I noticed the side effects for after about two weeks but after eight months my heart was going 130 when I was resting. I'm part of a Facebook group for migranes and a lot of ppl have stopped taking it because of that. I also noticed an increased tingling in my feet, slurred speech and general dopeyness. The only good thing about it was that it got rid of pain but since weaning off it ive actually noticed less migraines and more energy.

Hi. I also started feeling my heart racing after taking it for 2 weeks. I'm at 110bpm when resting. It's more noticeable right when i wake up.and it usually lays for about 4-5 hours and then I'll be fine in the evening. Did you have any muscle spasms or twitchings?

Yep, same for me, I'd wake up with my heart racing then by the evening it would calm down. I ended up in a&e a few times because it totally scared me. I didn't get any muscle spasms or twitching with it but it did slow my reaction time and it made me clumsy. China section in john Lewis was a no no!!

Were you completely migraine free for the 8 months you were on nortryptiline? I'm actually not a migraine person but rather a chronic daily headache person. When i say daily i meant DAILY! I get the headaches 50-100 times a day. Since taking nortriptyline the intensity of the headaches decreased, but not in frequency. These headaches only started after a lumbar puncture. I was never a headache person or a migraineur before that so all this is new to me. Needless to say, the spinal tap has turned my life upside down!

No, nortriptyline did not get rid of my migraines, it just got rid of a load of facial and jaw pain I had but not all time. Currently researching into a supplement named Ambrotose which might be useful to you.

Hmm...just googled Ambrotose

I've been looking into into natural supplements and found that magnesium and vitb2 helped some people with migraines. I'm going to give the nori another month and see if the side effects will subside. If not, i think I'm going to try and look into natural supplements.

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Hi PinkMuffin, Nortriptyline did not completely get rid of my migraines either.  Just reduced the severity and frequency.  I did go back on Nort., because it helps greatly with IBS issues, especially IBS-D.  It is good for intestinal issues and pain.

 

Yeah a lot of people claim the benefits to supplements like riboflavin, magnesium, cQ10, vitamin E and all the b vitamins. I'm unsure on the doses though 

hello, apologies for the late reply. It's nice to hear that nortriptyline is helping someone. I also have ibs but I didn't notice it change whilst on it but mines very mild. Keep soldiering on and we'll be better at some point, it can't last forever 😀

So I checked my hart rate when I woke up this morning and BAM...130bpm! I'm not liking how it's affecting my heart right now. I'm just very afraid of stopping the med because it has done a fairly good job decreasing the number of daily headaches I get. And my heart is not the only thing that it's affecting. I've also noticed significant hair thinning and loss from the start of taking nortriptyline. Did you guys have hair thinning as well? And PinkMuffin, how is your withdrawal going? Are you getting any weird withdrawl symptoms? I'm going to have to taper my meds off in the next month or 2 if it continues affecting my heart and you're the only one how currently on a similar dosage as me, but that you've taking nortriptyline months longer than me. Thanks.

Hello Jac, I've recently been to see a cardiologist about the heart thing, I had to wear a 5 day ecg and they did a echocardiogram. Results were good but confirmed that it was nortriptyline that made the palpitations. Apparently it's a common side effect. I saw a cardio because I've ended up in a&e a few times. At the start I just noticed it every now n again but by the end of my eight months it was constant, I could feel it pounding and actually hear it too! Too much of a scary side effect to put up with. I've been weaning myself of 5mg a week, last dose it tonight, surprisingly my migraines are a lot better, dizzied are worse though, less fatigue and yes, my heart is more settled now. Thankfully. I've not had any bad withdrawal symptoms at all. I heard it take nine days for nortriptyline to get out of my system once I've stopped. Hope everything calms for you 😀

Oh I heard that some ppl go on a beta blocker to calm the heart if the nortriptyline is helping you so much, but me personally prefer not to take any more strong meds. I have also heard of the hair loss but not experienced that myself.

Hello again PinkMuffin. I'm actually wearing a loop monitor to monitor my heart rate for 2 weeks. I'll likely continue on taking nortriptyline for another month or so to make sure my headaches are under control and then I'll try and tapering off to see if the headaches come back. I am also pretty sure it's the nortriptyline that's giving me heart issue since it has also increased my blood pressure since I started taking it (I'm currently sitting at 115-120/80-90 while on the drug when I'm usally 90/60).

i tapered off 10mg per week   i have low energy malaise back chills back or heart palpatations - felt in the back with chills

I know it's been awhile since you've posted but hoping you might still see this... I took norti for the same thing (facial and jaw pain) for several years. It helped for awhile but lately it hadn't helped much (& I had all the heart racing, along with other side effects), so I recently stopped taking it. Just wondered if you had any success with any supplements to help alleviate the head and jaw pain?

I have the same problems jac ben on 10mg 1 per night for just 1 month I am not sure if I can just stop them after such a short time on them

Hi,

I don't think a low dosage of 10 mg and being on it just a month would cause you similar withdrawal symptoms I experienced last fall. I'd check with your doctor to be safe.

My doctor didn't advise me at all to wean off of Nortriptyline slowly which caused my serious migraines to come back a month later. I sent him the message through his medical assistant and told him I'm going back on them. 25 mg - 1/day.

I am sorry you have to go back onto it Cindy what dose were you on when you stopped taking it .Think I will just try stopping and see hoow I go its a low dose and not been on it long so fingers crossed

Hi Joyce,

Thank you. Just 25 mg once a night which is considered a low dose too.

Hi Jac, it sounds like you have a CSF leak. I am currently going through treatment for mine and had to have a blood patch completed. Mine are not caused by typical means, so my situation is different, but many people get them after a spinal tap or epidural and don't know that they have them. They come with debilitating headaches and a ton of other stuff. Not sure if you're still suffering, but definitely something to look into. I was being treated for migraines when I really had this going on and am currently weaning off of my Notrip. Hope this reaches you.

I suffer from vestibular migraines. I also had significant hair thinning when I first started on Nortriptyline about one year ago. I was on 75mg everyday with sumatriptan as a rescue. I also experienced 20 pound weight gain, increased heart rate with palpitations, constipation, urination issues and was just tired and lazy 😂. However, it did help with frequency and intensity in the beginning. It stopped working and I knew all they were going to do is increase my daily intake again. Well, I’m not having it. I’m sick of being on pills that only slightly help and give me a dozen other issues on top of it. I started weaning myself off a few weeks ago and took my last this Tuesday. I’m still on the struggle bus and in withdraw. Thought I had the flu without the vomiting until I read all of your posts. If the 8.25 day estimate to clean your body of it, I’m almost there. I’ll just rely on my rescue med when I need it. I’m not dealing with all those side effects. Good Luck in your journey!

Hi Jackie -

How are you doing now?  I’m weaning off of nortriptyline now and am having withdrawal symptoms.  Been decreasing for about 10 days now.  I went from 25mg to 20 mg for seven days and am now at 17mg for the past three days.