Amitriptyline 10mg for headaches and anxiety please share

Posted , 31 users are following.

Hi, I am new to the forum.

​I have struggled for many years with health and general anxiety, i am at a ppoint now that I have to hold my hands up and admit I cant do this on my own anymore.

​I am on day 3 of taking the amitriptyline, i am scared every time i take it, what could happen.

​Please can you ahre your experiicene, if you have taken ami for the reasons i shared and has it worked for you.

​I have a busy job, mum and wife and need to be able to still do all these things.

​Also, i enjoy a glass of wine, can you ahve a drink, miss a dose??

​I look forward to the replys.

 

3 likes, 42 replies

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  • Posted

    Hey Jackie2016.

    I took trips for about 18 months and was on 200 mg a night for insomnia, ptsd & anxiety. It's an older medicine that's safe. Your dosage is very low. I would have a drinky poo on it. I had a drink on my dosage and slept AMAZINGLY, lol. Probably not doctor recommended but I didn't wake up dead, so that's a good thing! I no longer take it as it gave me issues with dry mouth. I have sjogren's and a vocal cord dysfunction so the trips were exacerbating those issues. Now I take zaleplon, which I think is too much and want to get off. I've been meditating and using Ashley Black's fascia blaster and those 2 things have helped tremendously. Many blessings! !

  • Posted

    Helllo AMITRPTALINE is a very strong & powerful drug & is also very addictive.

    It is a brilliant drug if you wish to stay on it  for years , if not until you are quite old like me.

    I am 70yrs next month & I have been on AMITRPTALINE FOR 38YRS+-.

    It did assist me with CHRONIC ANXIETY & POST TRAUMATIC STRESS SYNDROME however the side effects were terrible, Weight increase, dry mouth, & eventually FLUID RETENTION which damaged my Kidneys through long time use. Plus aching joints & muscles, bruising. plus many more.

    AMITRYPTALINE is a good drug if you need it & cannot cope, but, the side effects on them are horrific & coming off them is also horrific as well.

    I am about 14 weeks off them now as my GP informed me they are not good at all for older people.

    I only found this out when I asked if I could come off them with MAJOR ASSISTANCE.

    My GP has helped me to come off them by replacing the pills with FLUOREXITINE 20mg twice a day which are much safer.

    Jackie

    Please take care with this Drug, they are quite nasty, also why dont you contact an ANXIETY CLINIC it helped me so much & it was self referal.

     

  • Posted

    Hey Jackie

    Read your question and just wondering how you're doing with the amiltriptyline?

    Are you still on it and how's it's effects?

  • Posted

    Hi I'm new to this as well and just started taking amitriptyline due to headaches still taking regular pain killers at present as well as 10mg hefore bed how long should Ami last will there come a time when i don't need to take pain killers as well to get rid of headache doctors says i can take up to 30mg if i need to but only been taking it since 22nd so want to see if 10mg works first

    • Posted

      Hi I'm in exactly the same position; started taking 10mg amitriptyline a week ago to try & prevent migraines which are becoming worse & more frequent. Have you had any success with ami for your headaches & how long did it take for them to make a difference? I am at the end of my tether and am still taking paracetamol & ibuprofen for my headaches & Rizatriptan when I get a migraine. Thanks

  • Posted

    I tried it for awhile but eventually started having panic attacks in the early morning. I took it before bedtime.

    I like a couple of beers after work and also have heart conditions.

  • Posted

    Hi jackie, I advise you please do not drink on amitriptyline. I have suffered with depression personality disorder all my adult life. I was on amitriptyline 2010 when I first started I was on a low dose 30mg at the time my son was ten and within a month I was on 200mg I couldn't function I would sleep at night and day and when I was awake I wasn't able to cook because I would leave the cooker on. I also gained weight I was on other medications. I do recommend you never go up to a high doses it's very addictive and I became really close to suicide. Because I was unaware of my surroundings a psychiatrist had to come to the house and she made a decision to take me off it. I do recommend it in small doses without taking alcohol. I hope I was able to help. I do need to say everyone is different but I strongly recommend you keep to a low dose as you have said you have a family to take care of, it will help with sleep and might help with nerve cells .

  • Posted

    I was pascribed amitrip for rls but I read the leaflet and realised I can't take them u shouldnt take them if u have depression or anxiety they course them both and highly addictive u should never take ami my cusion says and she's a qualified nurse.

  • Posted

    This drug is primarily for Depression and to get to sleep, Depression is caused by boredom, mild boredom, everyday boredom and severe boredom but let's not go into that shall we. Lack of sleep is simply lack of oxygen in your bloodstream (it's a warning signal that you're leading a sedentary lifestyle and need walkies) (a greyhound trainer would say you need your lungs exercising for 500 yards each day but what would he know)

    Amitryptiline are excellent tablets in small doses, but even a low dosage tablet of 25 mg will cause you to be drowsy all day, they have a 36 - hour use, including a half-life of 12 hours, which means they will be in your system for 36 hours. I cut a 25mg tablet into 4 pieces using toe pliers  (kitchen knives don't work so I use toe-pliers instead) and they are great if you split the tablets into 4 pieces and much better. Do stick to the overall dosage prescribed, if you miss a day commence again when you remember but take no extra tablets. I know this seems a bit fussy to do - but do try it.

  • Posted

    As Jackie and others reading and responding to her request for advice have seen, there is no 'silver bullet' result from Amitriptyline. Doses vary from 5 mg to many hundreds! How's that for inconsistency. It's claimed to be non-addictive. Lies - it's very addictve - just read others posts on the awful withdrawal effects many have experienced.

    Long term there are questions about its effect on the brain possibly leading to dementia and who wants to risk that? It's said to be less effective on the elderly, so, if on it for life - how soon do you become 'elderly? 60, 70? 

    Don't get me wrong - I'm not saying don't use it, but I believe other - safer - ways ought to be tried, preferably non-drug.

    You might want to research the subject of seratonin, and I refer to this amino acid found in the brain, not in the gut where 95%+ is found in the body.

    In the brain it affects mood, sleep, anxiety, depression - and much, much more. It even helps regulate the other 9 brain amino acids that control just about everything the body does.

    It is not easily obtained from food although some is but most of this ends up in the gut. To get serotonin into the brain needs taking a supplement of which there are several, often in combinations. One is known as 5-HTP, which I am taking for sleep. Lack of serotonin, especially in the elderly where it becomes reduced due to the ageing process, leads to sleep-loss.

    It doesn't work for everybody, some experience nausea (not with me) but that often subsides after a week or so. It is working for me still after 3 months so am hopeful that will continue.

    As a bonus it is helping me to taper off a powerful benzodiazepine sleeping drug that, after 50 years has lost its use, but has severe withdrawal symptoms. My tapering is very gradual (will take 9 months) so brain doesn't miss the small amounts reduced each day. I am 30% into this with no withdrawal symptoms.

    Conclusions? Avoid drugs if you can - short term yes, OK, but long term NO - avoid!

     

  • Posted

    Hello I am a 48 year old grandmother of 8 young children 3 months to 12 years old.

    I starting taking Amitriptyline 25mg a month ago for mainly migraine headaches and sleeping issues. I take my medication once at night before bedtime and it has helped greatly with my headaches and rest but I noticed that I was sleepy during the day so I have been cutting the small pills in half. I just got a new lower dose prescription today July 10 2017 of the Amitriptyline 10mg so I hope this lower dose helps with daytime sleepiness has I really like what the medication has done so far for me. I was told by my doctor to take it only at bedtime and I don't drink or smoke so these are not issues but I read that you should not drink or smoke with this medication if you want to do this you should definately consult with your doctor 1st.  Bottom line Amitriptyline works well for me overall has helped me.

    • Posted

       

      Loretta.

       

      In my view taking 10mg regularly is too powerful for ‘newcomers’ to this drug.cIdeally 2mg should be the starting dose. Then 5mg, then 10mg. Listen to your body not the drug sellers. If I was you I would to reduce its powerful effects; I’d take ¼ tablet, one ¼ at 10am, the ¼ other at 7pm, the intention is to make you well, not sleepy. After 6 days miss a day, then start the regime again. I cut these hard tablets with toe nail pliers. At first, I was first prescribed 25mg, the first tablet knocked me out for 2 days. And do ignore friend’s advice “that you will get used to them you won’t.” To cleanse your body use outside-free air, get out and breathe softly for at least 5 minutes each day. Think that you are a boxer who’s been knocked out, and to revive you the Medics have placed an Oxygen mask over your face, that’s how powerful these tablets are, they do knock you out, if you ignore this advice – not too worry you can take up acting and Playa part in the Living Dead, When Zombie Attackers Hit NY, or a patient in “When the Men in the White Coats Come in. xxx. 

  • Posted

    I am on day 4 of 10mg. Amitriptyline for pinched nerve pain in my upper

    back due to newly discovered scoliosis. I have not seen much decrease

    in the level of pain yet but it does seem that the pain arrives later than

    usual. My doctor says give it few weeks and if pain reduction hasn't

    happed she will up the dose. I took this med when it was called Elavil

    some 40 years ago for panic attacks and anxiety from a abusive marriage

    and divorce. I took 100 mg a day for 8 years. When I decided that I did

    not want to take this drug any longer, I simply quit with no problems or

    withdrawal symptoms at all. I did the same years before that with Valium I had never been told you were supposed to withdraw slowly. I was

    thrilled that my doctor put me back on a med I am familiar with and had never had a problem with.

    • Posted

      Hi Alice, I am on day 6 of Amitripiline for nerve pain in my neck and up the back of my head for weeks now. Also bad Siattica pain. I've just come off Steroids for my pain after a year as the side effects were terrible. I have improvement yet from the 10mg so taking pain killers as well. My Doctor said to up the dosage to 20mg after 4 days if not effective but a friend a nurse advised me to hold off for s few weeks. I would love to know how you are getting on with your dosage as this is my first time on here.

    • Posted

      I will have been on 10 mg 2 weeks this coming Wednesday. If

      there has been any improvement, it's minimal. It does seem that the pain starts a little later in the morning than usual but the pain

      doesn't appear to have lessened. I will be calling my doctor on

      Wednesday to see if the dose can be upped. So far, no side

      effects except dry mouth. I am still hopeful as I do not want

      back surgery.

      Hope things are improving for you.

    • Posted

      Thanks Alice for your reply. I'm only one week today on 10mg and no big amount of improvement except the headache has eased but I'm putting that down to Phisio this morn. Pains everywhere else seems worse today so I'm tempted to go to 20mg tonight.

    • Posted

      Please post back and let me know how the 20mg is working for

      you. I am tempted to do that myself.

    • Posted

      Hi Mona.  I have just discovered this site as I have just been put on Amitriptylene a week ago for trapped nerve pain in my neck and I also suffer from sciatica so related to your post.  I am currently on 10mg and like you the doctor said to up the dose each week until pain relief occurs.  After reading your post and others on here I feel reluctant to increase just yet.  I notice you posted this a month ago so am interested to know what you did ie. stick to the 10mg as your nursing friend advised or increase the dose.  I have no pain relief as yet but do feel heavy and tired for a couple of hours first thing.  I wonder whether increasing to 20mg would make me feel twice as groggy.  Look forward to any comments you or any others might have.

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