Posted , 15 users are following.
After. taking. 10mg. amitriptyline. for. just. five. weeks. I. decided. to. reduce the. dose. and. come. off. it. surely. I. can't. be. experiencing. these. horrible. feelings (anxiety, nausea, shakes) after. taking such a small. dose. for. such. a. short time. I would welcome. any comments
0 likes, 14 replies
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louise78242 jean87388
Posted
afraid so ...
however give it time and those symptoms should go
i came off it but i had to go back on it as i just couldnt sleep ! im on 10mg too which is the smallest dose !
anne24778 jean87388
Posted
Hi Jean,
I've been taking Amitriptyline 10mg for over 8 years. I recently had to go on some blood thinners and was told that there could be an interaction between the two, so i stopped taking the Amitriptyline cold turkey. Since then i've had weird pressure and tingly feeling in left eye and side of head, persistent diahhorea, shakes, hot and cold flushes, heightened anxiety with several panic attacks a day, nausea, dizziness/lightheadedness. I literally feel like death, which for someone who suffers with health anxiety is a living hell ... i keep thinking i'm going to keel over any minute. The withdrawal was so unbearable that i have restarted taking them on the advice of my doctor. I'm two doses in and no change yet.
GERDY anne24778
Posted
you should never stop meds cold turkey. I suffered from horrible anxiety for years. It was awful I was in a support group and went to see a psychiatrist. She put me on Trofanil (impiramine). It changes my whole life. It stopped all the symptoms of anxiety and panic attacks.
phil34471 anne24778
Posted
Hi Anne, it's been a long time since you posted, not sure if you still check back on this site. Can I ask how long the weird head pressure thing lasted? I came off about 2 months ago and I'm still getting the head pressure/faint headache, particularly in the mornings. I'm getting worried as there is nothing written about this in the medical literature. thanks.
anne24778 phil34471
Posted
Hi Phil,
So this all happened at the beginning of 2020. At the time the headaches lasted 2-3 months, even though i went back on Amitriptyline quite quickly after originally being taken off of it by the hospital. But since then, i recently had another attack of these weird headaches and it has nothing to do with my medication as i haven't changed anything with that. I am left wondering if it was just coincidental the first time that it coincided with coming off meds and weather it was actually anxiety related instead.... stress in neck and shoulders or even grinding teeth at night (which can inflame small muscles in head). Not sure though, this is all spectulation as they never found anything wrong. Hope this helps.
phil34471 anne24778
Posted
thank you Anne, that's interesting. I had a GP appt yesterday and he agreed it could be lingering effects from Ami but also referred me to a myotherapist as he also suspects it could be anxiety and tension in my neck. I guess I will give that a go. Hope yours gets resolved too. Thanks.
GERDY jean87388
Posted
Your anxiety may be coming back. nausea and shaking is normal withdrawal. I always say if medication gives you a better quality of life that's all that matters.
theworriertx jean87388
Posted
if all you people have these symptoms with only 10mg ive been taking 40mg for 8 weeks now and im afraid to get off lol
GERDY theworriertx
Posted
Everyone is different
RSS28 jean87388
Edited
YOU ARE NOT CRAZY. This medication is extremely addictive. I was on 15mg several years ago for migraines and was told by my doctor to just quit taking it as it was such a small dose. Within a few days I started having nausea, zero interest in food, GI issues. I spent 6 months trying to figure out what was wrong with me. I literally couldn't get off the couch. It was the most horrible experience to go from an active 28 year old to basically bedridden overnight. No doctor could ever figure it out or connect the dots.
I got back on this med a year ago for migraines and ended up stopping it again. ALL of the issues returned. They were exactly the same. I have spent 6 months slowly coming off this med. With every drop in dosage I have about a week of nausea and lack of interest in food. Then it passes and my body regulates again. You might need to talk to your doctor about a compounding pharmacy making it in smaller doses as a 10 mg pill is the smallest standard dose.
Best of luck. If your doctor doesn't believe you, find another. This med is commonly given to people for GI issues so it makes sense that it is distrupting something in the gut as you come off of it.
pat81257 jean87388
Posted
Amitriptyline is an old drug from 1961 it was used for depression which didn't work.
My GP informed me that this drug was now used for pain and it would help me with my pain I was still having two years on since two major abdominal surgeries .
I was to take 10mgs 1-5 at night for 6 months.
Yes, they made me sleep like a log every night. I reduced to 1 x 10mgs as I was scared I would not wake up. Still had the pain so was advised to carry on taking them
I had a job to get out of bed in the morning. Eight months on after feeling knocked over every morning I just decided to just stop them . After a week or so I'm back to my normal self. I take Melatonin 10mg maximum does and sleep at night with no daily side effects, Great
lynn12863 jean87388
Posted
hi ive been on it for 17 years 10mg at night for neuropathy i increased it as working through the pandemic as a phlebotomist my neuropathy flared up .. on the 17th April i reduced it to 10 mg and i wake early hours with awful head pains nausea and sweating i'm now thinking of increasing it again as i have trouble going to work with head pains i have these weird electrical feeling running through my head like a electric shock .. im now wondering if i should have cut the dose slower ? xx lynn p
elizabeth86351 jean87388
Posted
Hi Jean: I know this is an older post, so I hope you see my comment. I'm having the same exact thing. I was on Amitriptyline 5 mg for five weeks (for migraine prevention). I didn't help the headaches so I decided to come off of it. I can't believe the awful withdrawl symptoms for such a low dose and such a short period of time (nausea, shakes, cold/sweating, body aches, anxiety). I'm wondering how long your withdrawl symptoms lasted? I'm hoping a short time given such a short time on this med. Thank you.
kaan88841 jean87388
Posted
Hello All,
I am a 27 year old Male and I was prescribed 10 mg of Amitriptyline (Laroxyl) for neuralgia on my chest, I had some other unrelated health problems and decided it was time to quit Amitriptyline after 14 days of usage, however, ever since that mark, I have been having these extreme sensations, symptoms that are debilitating and vary in strength, these are;
Feeling as if I am going to pass out
Ear ache (on both sides, more on the right) (It was gone but came back yesterday when I went to the theater and watched a movie)
Brain Zaps that are at their peak with lateral eye movements (These have somewhat weakened in strength over the last week)
Blurry Vision (like something or someone is pulling my eyes back) (Went to an eye doctor and they could not find anything)
Headache and pressure on my temples and side of my head (particularly the right side but both sides have this)
I stopped taking Amitriptyline around 8 weeks ago and did not even realize that the symptoms could be attributed to withdrawal as they are very similar (blurry vision, brain zaps and unexplainable headache)
I made some research but most people seem to think that 10 mg could not cause that hard of withdrawal symptoms, I came off Essitalopram and Misol (Sertraline Hydrocloride) and they too were very hard to go through, but this is no walk in the park either,
I went to numerous different doctors of different branches and two of them thought I had vertigo, one of them thought I had an idiopathic headache, and none of them even acknowledged any type of side effect or withdrawal effect of any kind,
I tried Omega 3, Magnesium and Pseudoephedrine containing Ibuprofen medication and all seemed to help to some extent but I am seriously thinking about going back to the medication just to make sure it is the cause of all this and get some relief,
Could usage of 10 mg of Amitriptyline for 2 weeks cause longlasting withdrawal symptoms such as mine for as long as 2 months?
I know it is unlikely but I am an otherwise healthy person and I had an MRI, blood tests and all that and the doctors could not find anything.
Thank you very much