amitriptyline withdrawal

Hi HailsMctails,  i hope your symptoms do not last too long. We are all different and it effects us in different ways. For me the muscle pain was everywhere and accompanied by sever nausea, head aches, stomach cramps and bloating. If you look back at my taper it was very slow but still experienced awful symptoms and anxiety. I hope your brain chemicals sort them self quickly but, it may take a few weeks xx   

Hi, HailsMctails,

I think if you surf around all the posts here, you’ll find a plethora of different answers. I suffered no withdrawals (the exception to the rule).  Most people have terrible withdrawals. Some people don’t suffer withdrawals until about 11 weeks out after tapering the Ami. They think they’re fine and beat the odds, and then BOOM! all the withdrawals come crashing down on them like a ton of bricks. 

It’s NEVER a good idea to quit a drug cold turkey. It can cause black outs and seizures. Just imagine if something like that happened while you’re behind the wheel of a car. 

So, let me get this straight: you’re not sure if the pills even work for your undiagnosed abdominal issues, and you’re sick of taking them, and that’s why you want to got off them? If I’ve gotten that right and those are the only reasons you want to go off them, why bother?

Are you having side effects from being on Ami? If so, what are those side effects? If you’re not having side effects, again, I ask you, why bother going off them?

If you don’t have really strong reasons for going off them, and you’re three days into being off them and having serious withdrawals, well then, you could be looking at a few more months - or longer to completely rid your system of them. Maybe even a whole year (see Amand’s trials and tribulations she went through to finally be off Ami in 11 months). 

I’d take a hard look at your reasons why you want off the Ami compared to a list of what problem(s) they cause being on them, and then decide. 

Good Luck!!!

Hi Edie,

Thanks for the info! I've been off Ami for nearly 2 weeks now and feel a lot better for it. Apart from those said in my previous post (fatigue, brain fog), I am also getting very confused and zoned out. I also have gained nearly 40lbs since taking them (maybe more). If they aren't helping my issue then I see no point taking them...I mean I wouldn't want to put drugs into my body forever and feel like I have felt forever just to avoid withdrawals! Quite honestly after 5 years of constant weight gain and feeling like a zombie, I'd take a year or more of the withdrawal symptoms to get off these and return to my normal self. Hopefully I will be more lucky than poor Amanda and her awful 11 months, but the last 5 years feeling tired, zombied, extremely overweight, which in turn causes me to be very anxious, self conscious and even suicidal at times, I definitely needed to stop them. It's been quite a horrific journey!

Hi, HailsMctails,

Ok, yes, I see exactly why you want off Ami! Thanks for explaining!!! I, too, gained a boatload of weight, which, I have to say, is making me crazy. Especially since I haven’t lost a single ounce since I quit the Ami. I was lucky to not have withdrawals, but then I read about other people having terrible withdrawals, but they’ve lost 30 or more pounds!  Cripes! Which side of the grass is greener???  I also feel very unhappy and bummed about the weight gain and the inability to lose it, no matter what I do. I have a very healthy lifestyle, but the weight has attached itself to me for all it’s worth.  I sincerely hope you lose all the weight you gained and keep feeling better and better. 

I totally agree that you should not be on a drug that doesn’t seem to be helping you. Somehow, I missed all this info in your first post. So sorry!

I didn’t have the zombie/brain fog side effect, but a friend of mine did back a few years ago. She’s was on so many different medications that it was impossible to tell which drug or combination of drugs was making her look and feel like she’d had a lobotomy. She went through many difficult years eliminating one drug at a time while trying not to lose her mind completely from the various withdrawals. I would totally put a gun to my head if I ever had to face what she did. She sorta came out of it ok, but ... she’s still a bit “off,” although I think she’s not aware of it. Plus, going off the drugs that WERE helping some of her physical pain, brought all the pain back, and round and round she went. 

The zombie brain is apparently very common for Ami patients. I didn’t have that. My side effects, other than the weight gain, we’re this weird tic and muscle jumping in my face with this bizarre jaw popping. I looked like I had Tourette’s syndrome. I lasted exactly one day with that, and then I said, “No freakin’ way am I doing this!” So I flat out quit, BUT I did take a whopping dose of Lorazepam (Ativan) at the time that my next dose of Ami was due, and I didn’t take the dose of Ami, and I am 100% convinced that that is why I had no withdrawals. Then I decided, what the hell, I might as well see if I can be totally drug free and go off the Ativan, too, and I did. The whole process of tapering down for two days, then doing Sammy’s titration for two days, then stopping the Ativan all together worked perfectly. I wasn’t on a very big dose of Ativan anyway, but still, even in small doses it’s still very, very addictive, but I was truly blessed and only had two nights of not sleeping, which was actually horrible so for people battling insomnia, my heart bleeds for them. I am absolutely no good without proper sleep and can become homicidal at the drop of s hat if I haven’t had proper sleep. So, it’s a dang good thing it only lasted two days. I also had a very mild headache and a bit of shaking in my left hand that only lasted a few hours and then that was that. No drugs. No weird side effects. No withdrawals. Completely drug free. Everything has returned to normal (except the weight gain), I’m sleeping fine, I’m not having any anxiety ... nothing. Now, if I could just lose this weight, I’d be very happy. With the weight, I feel like I’ve turned into a “fat old lady” literally overnight, and yes, it is debilitating because of the depression it causes. 

I hate to suggest another drug for your anxiety and insomnia (if you have that), but a very low dose and ONLY for a VERY SHORT TIME of Ativan will probably help you immensely. But again, and Sammy will back me on this: Ativan can be dangerously addictive, so if you did go on even the tiniest dose available, go into it KNOWING it’s dangerous and make up your mind that you will NOT take it for longer than 3 weeks at the most. Ativan is EXTREMELY helpful for anxiety and a low dose won’t make you hung over and foggy the next day. It’s a very fast acting drug and is in and out of your system quickly. Valium (diazepam) and Xanax (Alprazelam) are all sister benzodiazepines, but Valium and Xanax are longer lasting. They, too, are hugely addictive, so same set of precautions for them as the Ativan. A larger dose of Ativan or Valium and Xanax WILL make you a zombie and you might sleep for three days. But a low dose is relatively safe. Here’s the thing: whatever is causing the anxiety, you have to identify and conquer it before you stop the Ativan. Otherwise, once you stop the Ativan, whatever had you feeling anxious will still be there. If the weight is causing most of your anxiety, trying to lose it all in 3 weeks is unlikely, so going on Ativan would be moot. But if you’re having insomnia and an anxiety that you think you can fix in 3 weeks, then Ativan would give you the chance to clear out the cobwebs in your brain and kind of allow you to do a “do over” type deal. Did that make sense? The other thing with any of these drugs is that they help you sleep. So if you use them to restructure your sleeping pattern and take a dose and go to bed at the same time every night while you’re taking them, it kind of retrains your internal clock so that when you finish taking them, you should be able to fall asleep at your scheduled time just as if you still were taking them. A good night’s sleep repeatedly should help you to not feel anxiety when you get up. 

Well, I have blathered on long enough so I’ll quit now. Good luck and here’s to your consistently feeling better and better!🥂🍾 

Hi Hiccupmax, i know how you feel and how frightening the thought of stopping this drug will be. Amitriptyline  is used to alter the signals from the nerve endings to the brain which, allows the sensitive nerves to calm.  Coming off amitriptyline may cause you anxiety and this will exacerbate your vulvodynia. There are other drugs that will help you which, are not as bad as amitriptyline. your Gp like many will say  cut down to 10 mg and stop, this may work for you or may not. Some people come off this drug no problems but, as you have said you had nausea and zaps last time you tried to stop then i guess you will have to tapper slowly.  I had the drug in liquid  to reduce from 10 mg to 0 mg as my symptoms where severe. I am off the drug and feel  well.  St Johns wart can be used  as a herbal alternative to ami but, you have to get off ami foirst and check it does not interact with other drugs you are taking xx 

Thank you for your response!

At 19 being faced with taking a tablet forever didn't seem like a big deal, as I guessed it would never really be 'forvever' but many years later I'm wondering how it affects the rest of my body.

Again, thank you for taking the time to respond, I, like many others on this thread, appreciate the thought that we're not alone.

Hi, Hiccupmax,

I’d go straight to a Urologist or an OB/GYN and skip your GP ~ unless your insurance requires a referral from your GP in order to go to a specialist. In that case, I’d go to your GP and ask/beg/plead - whatever you have to do to get those referrals in order to see those two specialists. 

Plus what Amanda said, too. Coming off the Ami was easy for me. Apparently, I’m the 1 in a million who doesn’t suffer withdrawals, but all you have to do is read through these 600 posts to find out how awful it can be. BUT if the dose you were on for the Vulvodynia helped ease the Vulvodynia and you didn’t have any side effects from being on it, why would you want to go off of it? Remember, everyone has a different reaction to being ON it,  and from trying to get OFF it - from “Wild & Crazy” to no withdrawals at all. 

If the dose you were on helped the Vulvodynia and you weren’t having side effects, stay on it. However, if the dose you’re on gives you unbearable side effects, try to taper off it. 

If you do want to taper off it, search around these posts to find Sammy’s titration/reduction method. It’s a bit complicated, but SO worth the effort. 

Either way, Good Luck!!!

xxX💜Ooo

Hi scott when i was on amitriptyline i found i did not pee as much x

Hi Scott 

If you are coming off ami when you get to a certain point it can cause Nocturia which is having to get up and pee through the night. Especially if you wake frequently as when we wake the body sends out certain chemicals so the body will start the day right, one of those is to get up an eliminate urine. I started getting this when I got down to about 12mg I have been off ami for 17 weeks and still have this although not quite as bad. However it has persisted for a very long time. It is important to get blood tests done to make sure that there is no other underlying problem such as diabetes. Hope this helps.

Hi, Scott,

They put me on Ami for bladder problems. It allowed me to pee less frequently and actually PEE instead of just dribbling (with stinging pain, like a bladder infection) every five minutes. So, now I can pee far less frequently with a good normal stream and no pain, and it’s heaven. I didn’t like the side effects of the Ami, though, and have been off it for about 3 months now. I’m hoping and praying the bladder problems don’t come back after being off Ami for a while. If the side effects do come back, I’ll try a lower dose of Ami and see if that works without the weird side effects. 

There is another drug, a very old drug, that works like you wouldn’t believe. It’s called “Urispas.” The generic is “Flavoxate.”  Since it’s such an old drug, depending where you are, your pharmacy might have to order it. What Urispas (pronounced “UR-EEE-spaaas”) does is kind of like a muscle relaxant for your bladder and urethra, so it allows your bladder to relax so it can fill to a more normal capacity before it sends a message to your brain telling you you have to pee. Generally, if you’re peeing small amounts frequently, it’s because your bladder and possibly your urethra are in spasm, so the minute a little bit of liquid hits your bladder, you feel like you have to go, constantly. I’ve been there, it’s a freaking nightmare. 

But if you are peeing normal amounts with a good, strong stream, then that is something different all together. 

xxX💜Ooo

Why did they give you Ami in the first place, and what dose are you on? Also, how long have you been on it, and from the time you first started taking it, how long was it before you noticed the frequency of peeing kick in? Lastly, when you do pee, is it a normal, good stream, or a dribble-start-stop-start-stop type of stream?

Yes! -  I stopped taking them around 2 weeks ago and I am peeing like crazy since coming off of them! Think it has improved over the last couple of days though! 

Hi Borderrier,  i have been off amitriptyline  for a few months  i had the drug in liquid form to enable myself to get off it as experienced severe anti cholinergic effects when tried to stop the tablets. x

Well done Amanda

I have taken this medication now for near on thirty years and I had attended Pain Clinic where I learned how to reduce this medication with others including Opiate medications, so I have needed to reduce many of my drugs then I have to increase them when I become back into pain. Withdrawal can be problematic for me although the support I was given helped me control my drugs. It became me controlling the drugs not the drugs controlling what was medium drug addictions.

As long as you have managed your journey and are ok now

BOBx

Hi, Bob,

Why do you say it’s not advisable to drop from 25mg to 10mg and stop from there without halving it to 5mg first?

I was on 150mg of Ami and started having side effects that were very uncomfortable. I wanted to quit the Ami cold turkey and anticipated withdrawals, so I took 6mg of Ativan when a dose of Ami was due and never took another Ami again. I had ZERO withdrawals. My normal dose of Ativan was 2mg, so After quitting the Ami, I wanted to see if I could be drug free and I dropped to 1mg, then .5mg and did Sammy’s titration method for two nights and then just quit that and the drug altogether. I didn’t have any problems with quitting the Ativan except 2 sleepless nights and a day of a very mild headache, and then after that ... nothing.  It was very easy. It’s been ... oh, about 3 months now, and not one single problem yet. Sammy’s withdrawals didn’t kick in for 11 or more weeks, so I’m keeping a close watch in case the Ami withdrawals kick in later.  But I just have this feeling that I’m free and clear of all drugs. Hopefully!

Hi, again, Bob,

I just read your post about being on opioid pain meds, too. If you don’t mind me asking, what specific opioid meds were you on and for what pain issues? Feel free to send me a personal message if you don’t want the whole world to know. The reason I ask is that I may be facing that very same situation and I’ve been doing everything I can to circumvent that whole Pandora’s Box. 

xxX💜Ooo,

Edie

Hi, Amanda,

What exactly is the difference between pills and liquid Ami? I didn’t even know there was a liquid form. Do you drink the liquid (or hold it under your tongue to let it absorb into your system like you do with many herbal remedies and then just swallow the rest?)? Or do you have to inject it?

xxX💜Ooo

Hi all..just thought I would check in as it’s been a while..well my sleep is still very rough mostly getting 4-5 hrs sleep and always waking up @5am and unable to get back asleep..I have terrible anxiety on and off which I’ve never suffered from before hence vaping cbd e juice which is helping seems some days I’m totally wracked with it and it’s just awful..sooo the nightmare goes on..hope everyone one else is doing ok xoxoxo 

Hi, Tessa,

Yeah, my doctor suggested that, too. Not only did it not work, but the part about inhaling it into my lungs nearly choked me to death.  We went through every form of edible CBD there was and nothing worked, then finally THC and THAT was the worst of them all, so medical Mary Jane and I had to get divorced. It was an absolutely terrible experience for me. 😩

Hi edie..no it doesant suit everyone I find it defo helps with my anxiety which is great.. I'm the same again this morning full of anxiety as soon as I'm awake it's awful and really getting me down now..xoxo

Hi Edie, amitriptyline in liquid form is expensive so your GP will not mention it  but, as i was struggling to get down to 5 mg i asked for it. it only lasts one month once open, so used it to get to  7.5 mg then took  half a 10 mg tablet and a quarter tablet. Then used it to get to 5 mg then went on half a tablet. I then used it to drop to 2.5 mg then used a quarter of a tablet. Then used it to go down to 0. It is a suspension 10mg/5ml. I used a syringe and syringed into my mouth.  xx

Wow. Just reading the math that you had to figure out gave me a headache! 😱 I’m so glad it finally (mostly) worked out for you. Is all your anxiety and bits and pieces of nausea and other things that were coming and going - are they pretty much all gone now?

xxX💜Ooo