Amitriptyline and tiredness
Posted , 18 users are following.
I take 10mg every night usually beofre 8pm, sometimes it can be later.
I CANNOT wake up in the morning, i'm so sleepy, if I don't have to get up for work I can sleep right through till about 11am !! i'm usually awake by 9am. Does anyone else feel this exhausted ? I also can feel a bit out of it during the day too. I'm not even sure its alleviating my abdo pain in the mornings either.
My Doctor wants to put me up to 20mg a night, no way could I cope with the tiredness.
Apart from that I haven't really had any side effects from it. But I suppose 10mg is quite a small dosage.
One other thing is bugging me, my Neice took a higher dosage for headaches for 5 years. She now has a pacemaker and is having surgery this week to burn a dead part of her heart away, she is 39 !! her Doctor has said it is a direct result of taking ami. that's scary.
3 likes, 28 replies
molly18430 kim59492
Posted
I am now on 10mg + 10mg citalopram per night.
At one point my doctor prescribed for me to take 50mg/night, which resulted in me dropping out of my PhD as I just couldn't function until after midday.
I think you definitely get used to it, over the last couple of weeks there have been a few nights where I have forgotten to take it and the tiredness is back, though.
I know coffee helps in the morning but I can't really take caffeine - any other advice on how to wake up!?
I have also gained a significant amount of weight since taking amitryptyline (10kg)
Good luck!
Paula2019 kim59492
Posted
cam94z28 kim59492
Posted
If you really believe her surgeon that ami is exactly what caused part of her heart to die, then why on earth would you take it yourself with so many other options out there.
I don't think we're getting the entire story here. Did she have heart problems before starting the Amitriptyline?
I just started taking this for anxiety/depression, and I don't want to be wrongly fear-mongered.
emma42203 kim59492
Posted
vikki85040 kim59492
Posted
Hi Kim, I've been taking Amitriptyline for about 6 years; I get a lot of pain affecting my spine due to arthritis and probless with bulging discs. My spine specialist prescribed the Amitriptyline so that I'd have pain free sleep. Whilst this aspect of the drug works, I've noticed that recently I seem to be sleeping longer, - too long, - and feel zombie - like for a couple of hours when I do manage to get up. I've been taking 20mg in the earmy evening, so I'm thinking of reducing it to 10mg to see how I get on. By the way, I've had no side effects and my heart is okcals and symptom free. I hope you have found a good workable solution to your problem.
vikki85040 kim59492
Posted
Hi Kim, I've been taking Amitriptyline for about 6 years; I get a lot of pain affecting my spine due to arthritis and problems with bulging discs. My spine specialist prescribed the Amitriptyline so that I'd have pain free sleep. Whilst this aspect of the drug works, I've noticed that recently I seem to be sleeping longer, - too long, - and feel zombie - like for a couple of hours when I do manage to get up. I've been taking 20mg in the early evening, so I'm thinking of reducing it to 10mg to see how I get on. By the way, I've had no side effects and my heart is ok and symptom free. I hope you have found a good workable solution to your problem.
chris2 kim59492
Posted
I've just started taking 10mg - prescribed for neuropathic pain. The first time I took it at midnight before bed and I was groggy the next morning. But at least I am not awake at 5am and unable to get back to sleep. Currently experimenting with the best time to take it in the evening. My pain is lessening - with the unexpected bonus that my long lasting back pain is much better. Equally unexpected - my persistent hiccups (currently under investigation) have so far halved and I'm hoping they may disappear alltogether. The hiccups may be due to an irritated nerve in which case it looks like this is calming the nerve. So a thumbs up from me.
phil34363 chris2
Posted
Here's my story - which includes my "when to take it" learning: I am self-researched and self-medicated with GP supervision. I have chronic severe neuropathic pain. Without knowing how to take it I was initially instructed to take 25mg three times a day. After about a year it left me not able to work, so I stopped taking it. I then researched and found the best time was to take it at 8pm all in one go. It kicks in at about 10-10:30 and when it kicks in I am out of it (like a very drunk person).
I started that November 2017. At the time I was on Targin (slow release endone), immovaine/diazapam to sleep and codeine/paracetamol as pain ramped up. The Amitriptyline was enough to come off the Targin, and by increasing it (slowly) to 150mg once per day I was able to remove almost all codeine over 2018. It also enabled me to start exercising (walking). I am confident opioids were increasing my baseline pain and Amitriptyline was vital in getting me off them and allowing me to exercise. It wasn't all positive, getting up in the morning was very hard (too hard to describe), and I was constantly forgetting things - big things, not just small things.
So I started coming down 25mg a week from Anitriptyline. I've researched again and found that there is a neuropathic pain patch available for post-shingle neuropathic pain - it's a 5% lidocaine gel patch. I've been trying this for one week and so far it has surpassed my expectations. I am already more active, using fewer "support" analgesics and also realising just how large the Amitriptyline side effects were. I no longer have such trouble waking up, or losing 1/2 a day on weekends. I'm also using reading glasses less often - I am not confident it was blurring my eyesight. My intention is to come off amitriptyline completely but I am doing it slowly so as to not make a mistake that leaves me back on harder medications.
chris2 phil34363
Posted
Gosh, knowing how I feel in the morning on just 10mg, I can't even imagine how you function on that amount. Re neuropathic pain, part of my arm is so sensitive that the slightest accidental pressure causes a burning up feeling - like I put my arm in a fire. It lasts a while and is excruciating - it's had me writhing on the floor. So far, it won't tolerate any cream though Lidocaine might be different. Unbelievably, a nurse at the surgery suggested Capsaicin cream. Sounds like a plan - not! I don't think I can get that gel patch OTC here in the UK so I will ask at the surgery.
Anything with the power to do good also has the power to do harm and we all react differently to things. Our choices sometimes have to be about damage limitation and choosing the lesser evil. Anyway sounds like things are working out for you. Good luck!