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amitriptyline withdrawal

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amanda59745
amanda59745

Hi all, i have tried unsuccessfully to withdrawal from amitriptyline twice.  every time i get down to 5mg i start with awful symptoms, bad headaches, nausea, belching, abdominal cramps, back ache and  my bowels get so upset they feel like they are swollen i get bloated have wind and abdomen feels bruised. has anyone experienced this also?   

9 likes, 915 replies

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  • Sheena737
    Sheena737 amanda59745

    Posted

    Hi Amanda, Sammy, Dee and everyone,

    I'm still travelling so not much internet time. I've been reading your posts and keeping up with where you are all at. What a long slow process this is. All for a good cause though 😀. I'm still on 12.5mg (26 days now) and the sleep is acceptable. I was awake a bit last night but didn't mind too much as I've been having pretty good sleeps.

    I arrive home on 5th Oct after 4.5 months of travel. I'll give it a couple of sleeps then cut down to 10mg yay!!! My pain is quite a bit worse but it's hard to tell if it's because of coming off ami or just because my pain is worse when l travel normally. I have other plans to deal with that anyway so l'm not too concerned.

    • sammy85762
      sammy85762 Sheena737

      Posted

      Hey Sheena, Amanda,Dee and anyone else battling through.

      I have started titrating being fed up with cutting and shaving pills I just titrated the last 5mg into 50ml of water and my plan at the moment is to take out 0.1 ml per day over 10 days which will bring me down to 4mg then I will stay at 4 for a couple weeks just to make sure that I can tolerate any side effects that creep in.

      i am at 4.5mg so been doing this for 5 days and so far not too bad, a little bit of anger did creep in and yesterday depression like overwhelming feel sorry for yourself nothing will ever be good again depression although after a nights sleep (very disturbed night sleep) it does seem to have lifted, thank goodness fingers crossed. I will keep cutting to try and get to 4 but if side effects become too much I will stop and just wait a few weeks. I figure it has taken 18 months to get this far down so meh if it takes a little/lot longer, I would rather go slow and reach 0, than go too fast and jeopardise my health too much.

      Hope you are all doing well, if not jump back on here for some much needed support and know that you are not alone in doing this.

      cheersxxxx

       

    • amanda59745
      amanda59745 sammy85762

      Posted

      Hi Sammy and everyone, well done 4.5 mg xx. I am now on 3.5 mg only 2 days. I will go to 3 mg in 10 days or so if no withdrawal symptoms. So far so good. I am still experiencing ear fullness but, i think this is because my neck is so  tight and sore. I believe this is either perimenopausal symptoms or anxiety or both. Feeling positive , you all need to keep being positive , our brains will adjust xx
    • dee88278
      dee88278 amanda59745

      Posted

      So happy for you and Sammy being down to where you are!  That is great - and apparently the side effects have not been unbearable, which is very encouraging - and convincing that slow and steady wins the race!!  I think i have found it is a vicious circle - and I tend to get anxious over everything, thinking it is because of the withdrawing, then stop to think that sometimes I felt this way when I was on the full dosage, so maybe it is just life!  Will keep on keeping on and hopefully get to where you gals are before too awfully long.  Keep us posted - you are both very encouraging!  Sheena, how are you doing?

       

    • sammy85762
      sammy85762 amanda59745

      Posted

      Hi Amanda & Dee

      Wow go you! 3.5mg well done I am so pleased for you and glad to see you taking it slow, slow and steady certainly will win this race just like Dee mentioned. The ear fullness I think is definitely a side effect these drugs can become ototoxic, ever since I first cut a couple of years ago I started having problems with my ears at one stage I had ears that constantly leaked clear fluid and no one could explain why, that went on for months then it changed to ear fullness on and off, my ears went from clogging up with wax having to get them syringed to my ears not making any wax at all and getting ear eczema, now that I am getting lower in dose my ears are slowly starting to rectify themselves although I have roaring tinnitus which just never leaves. 

      Dee so so far side effects have been bearable, tomorrow I will be down to 4mg the worst for me is probably the overwhelming depression and anger it comes out of the blue but then disappears just as quickly really quite odd.

      I used to have the worst anxiety so bad I just wouldn't leave the house it was debilitating I have lost all my friends because of this as they just don't understand. All up I have been battling this for 11 years (only starting to come off medication for the past 5 years) so it has been a long educational road where I only got on the right track after doing hours of non stop research and talking to a lot of people from all over the world. 

      I now have the attitude that I do what is right for me, and with any other situation I think "it is what it is" and just find a way of dealing with it.

      We definitely have to educate ourselves as Drs are either oblivious to what pharmaceutical companies are doing and just don't believe what we the people they prescribe these drugs to are going through.

      As they say there is no money to be made from everyone being well.

      So glad we have this little group and hopefully we will all continue to share. This group may be helping so many people who just come by to read it.

      Cheers xxx

    • dee88278
      dee88278 sammy85762

      Posted

      Mood swings and tinnitus are real problems for me, too.

       

  • dee88278
    dee88278 amanda59745

    Posted

    Glad to see all the check-ins this weekend, and that everyone is doing pretty well!  I am down to 11.5 (using a scale) - even with such an extremely low cut (from 12.5) I still noticed a little sleep problem - but after about 3 days, it is getting better.  Will stay here another couple weeks, then go down - maybe to 10 which is my goal by Christmas.  I do, most of the day, feel better - less groggy.  Tinnitus is still with me - as it has been for about the last 3-4 years.   I find I am a little more emotional, but that's okay, b/c for the last 20 years I have felt just kinda flat - overall, it is pretty much good. Glad everyone else is - at least for this day - this week - doing well.  Continued prayers for all of us!  We are making progress!!! That's the important thing.

     

    • Sheena737
      Sheena737 dee88278

      Posted

      Hi Dee

      Good to hear you've finally taken a cut from 12.5. Every little bit is a step in the right direction. I also think that l could feel more than l do. So, being a little bit emotional would be a good thing ?.

      I'm feeling very happy that, so far, I'm doing alright coming down this low. It's also lovely to see everyone else getting there, however slowly.

  • cathryn66666
    cathryn66666 amanda59745

    Posted

    I've tried 4 times unsuccessfully since 2012. I have now been completely off amitriptyline for 7 weeks . My doctor prescribed 200 milligrams of Gabapentin to relieve the Restless Leg that seems to be part of my withdrawal. This has worked but the one thing that is terrible is the itching. It starts on my scalp makes its way across my back down my arms to my ankles the tops of my hands and my wrists. So far I have not found any relief for this withdrawal symptom. Good luck with your quest of withdrawal. I am hoping that this will be my fifth and final time trying to come off this horrible drug

    • sammy85762
      sammy85762 cathryn66666

      Posted

      Hi Cathryn congratulations on being off but sorry to hear you are having side effects. The itching must be driving you crazy. When I got down to 7.5 I had one part on my scalp that got really itchy and it lasted for months it sometimes comes back but has at least subsided for now. How slow did you cut your dosages and over what time frame did it take for you to be completely off? Sometimes knowing helps others.  

      Thanks for sharing😁

       

  • seank43
    seank43 amanda59745

    Posted

    Hi how did you get on with the stomach pains I have been of 75mg Ami for 5 days everything seems fine just really bad stomach ache just wondering how long it takes to ease thanks x
    • sammy85762
      sammy85762 seank43

      Posted

      Hey Seank

      when you said you had been off 75mg of ami for 5 days did you taper or did you just stop cold turkey?

      Cheers 

       

    • seank43
      seank43 sammy85762

      Posted

      Hi Sammy I stopped cold turkey the tapering down was making me feel just had sick so thought just go for it was down to 25mg then just stopped
    • sammy85762
      sammy85762 seank43

      Posted

      Seank not familiar with doing cold turkey off ami so I hope someone else chimes in for you. 

      But this equation gives you a rough idea of getting it out of you system.

      Its elimination half-life varies from 10 to 50 hours, with an average of 15 hours. 

      If we use the maximum elimination half life of 50 hours it'll take 275 hours i.e. 11.45 days (5.5 x 50 hours).

      Lets hope it is less than that but it does depend on how long you were on it as well, and we all react so differently to these drugs.

      keep us posted and updated with your progress it may help others.

      All the best👍🏻

    • amanda59745
      amanda59745 seank43

      Posted

      Hi Seank, my tummy is fine now it becomes bloated and i get cramps when i drop too quick. If you have gone cold turkey wow your brave. It may last a while but, it will go i promise you. x keep us posted. 
    • seank43
      seank43 amanda59745

      Posted

      Hi Amanda. Thank you for your reply day 8 nearly over and can honestly say no cramps for 2 days stomach back to normal feel good felt dizzy for a few days when i stopped but that's completely gone. Glad I did cold turkey was tough but worth it. I go to mexico next week so was a little worried id done it at the wrong time. Happy days thank you all for your replys good luck everyone 😄

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