Amitriptyline withdrawals been taking 10mg for 11months and quit cold turkey

Posted , 11 users are following.

Hello am having Bad withdrawal symptoms and was wondering if anyone could shed some light or help me in any way.

        I have been taking amitriptyline 10mg for 11 months for my IBS.  I started to experience long term side effects of really bad anxiety so I wanted to stop taking it. I did some searching and 10mg seemed safe to quit cold turkey. Boy was i wrong. The first 5 days I experienced extreme depression/anxiety and depersonalization. I wasn’t me at all.

       

        Then on day 6 I started to have physical symptoms as well  ; some nausea, dizziness/vertigo, loss of energy, loss of appetite, anxietywas still bad, and some chest pain which I think is connected to the anxiety.

         I am currently on day 9 and am feeling a little better but this whole situation has me really scared so if  anyone has gone through the same thing or knows how to deal with this or even how long it may last let me know please

0 likes, 15 replies

15 Replies

  • Posted

    Sorry for bad grammar/spelling I made the postcard from iPhone
  • Posted

    Cole

    I take this AD for nerve damage, I took 75mg for many years and thought I would reduce it to 50mg, I had a few side effects for a time, not that long and was ok aftera short period of time

    10mg of this medication is not very much and any side effects should be minimal. 10mg is also the smallest available dose so your only way is total withdrawal if you have discussed and agreed with your GP.

    Eventually given time say allow about a month, this time period is excessive you should be ok.

    If this mediation is working consider the implications of its withdrawal.

    BOB

  • Edited

    Even though it's a small Dose you should never just stop taking it suddenly. You need to taper off very slowly because of how it affects

    your nervous system.

  • Posted

    Even though it's a small Dose you should never just stop taking it suddenly. You need to taper off very slowly because of how it affects

    your nervous system. I took 50 mg for 20 years and am still suffering with withdrawal 4 months later.

    • Posted

      Pudsey67, how long did it take you to fully get rid of all your withdrawl symptoms? Or are you still battling them? Hopefully you are back to normal. I'm curious to know how long it took you to fully heal and be withdrawls free. i took ami for 6 years. i had to quit cold turkey, due to the heart condition it caused me. that was 6 months ago. i am still suffering the withdrawl symptoms

  • Posted

    Hi cole  on here is  a blog i posted some time ago. Coming off of this drug is horrendous i had to get it in liquid as went from 10 mg to 5 mg bad idea still had awful nausea, anxiety, cramps, pain, everything. it is awful. i have been coming of 10 mg since january so 11 months i am currently on 0.5 mls and still get some withdrawal when i reduce by a tiny amount. Hang in there it may take another month or so but you will start to feel better. x
    • Posted

      Hi Amanda 😊 I have read your posts regarding your struggle with Amitriptyline. I have been on 10mg for almost 2 months. My doctor said to just stop but I was very concerned that it would be to quick. So he suggested 25% each week. On Dec 10th I reduced to 7.5 mg and did not have any issues except taking longer to fall asleep. Then on Dec 18th I had SEVERE nausea, anxiety, very upset and scared as I had no clue what was happening. Finally on Dec 24 I could not take it anymore and decided to go back on 10 mg. Within 2 days I was feeling better, not normal but better. Was this the Amitriptyline?? From such a small decrease? Is it normal for the withdrawal to set in a week later?? I asked my dr and he said that going off 10 mg you should have no issues especially not a week later. Do you have any advice or clarification regarding what happened?? Thank you so much

  • Posted

    Cole,

    I've been taking 10mg Amitriptyline at night for 7 months for mingraine prevention. Towards the end I started to notice changes in my mood and wanted to stop, the doctor said this was unrelated but we agreed I can try to stop. Doctor said 10mg should be low enough to just stop.

    I stopped 6 days ago, I have had:

    - 3 days of cold/flu symptoms

    - 1 day morning nausea and vomiting - general indigestion

    - 1 day fine

    - 1 day morning nausea and vomiting - general indigestion

    As with you I'm hoping all this is just withdrawal, so I'm going to power through and try not to start again. I'd be interested to hear how you are doing after two weeks. 

    It's early days, but the plus side is my mood is up despite the problems. I hope it's a little reassuring for you to hear that withdrawal is hard even at 10mg.

  • Posted

    I'm a type 2 Diabetic .

    10 days ago I stopped talking Amitriptyline, Metformin and Gabapentin on the same day. What a nightmare.

    Cant sleep more than an hour at the time. Taste metallic all the time. I'm hoping that its going to be better soon. Just couldn't stand taking all that crap.

    My sugar is 20 points higher in the morning, but seems to be leveling out.

    Stay away from this stuff if you can.

    1

  • Posted

    Hi, I'm definitely sleeping better, thanks.

    I'm not back to sleeping all night, but I do get four hours at a time. I have to get up and pee twice a night. my doctor said it's my body getting rid of the sugar.

    overall I feel way better off the drug. not nearly as groggy during the morning.

    • Posted

      so glad you are sleeping better. are you able to return back to sleep after getting up or are you just sleeping 4 hours in the night. when did you notice your sleep starting to improve. thanks so much for your response

  • Posted

    Since gradually tapering amitryptilline I was on it for migraine since January 2019 from 25 mg to 2.5 mg ... a burning sensation over my right forearm which did not let me sleep that day it was 2 April I said I am gonna stop since I am on 2.5 mg....I had some melatonin so I can be able to sleep ... little I know I opened the door to hell the very next night I reinstated amitryptilline to10 mg then I was fine for a month but I thought that burning feeling was because of the melatonin and then I after a month I was again at 2.5 mg I cutting the 10 mg pill in 4 small pieces it so I guess it was not really 2.5 mg since some of those were less or more ... since May 15 I was gone into swirl of symptoms from burning feet burning skin burning trunk and back itchy scalp and severe anxiety and incapacitating insomnia I went though a battery of test from mri ultrasound Nerve conduction test all kind of autoimmune test let alone got problems and fast weightloss... but the problem of burning skin tingling stinging doesn’t seem to go away it lessened ain’t but I comes in waves days worse than others I wonder for how long what’s is the best treatment to alllievatr all this .//:I can not wear shoes anymore thin socks and flip flops. And the skin of my palms and soles became thin dry and super red my whole body skin backs flaky itchy tender to touch

    any similar experience

    • Posted

      so sorry you are dealing with this. i am suffering the severe insomnia after having only been on a short time as well. ive seen many people describe the symptoms you mention as part of withdrawal. check out facebooks group "amitriptyline takers" and "amitriptyline usage and withdrawal" you'll find many people who can relate. i hope you feel better soon!

  • Posted

    i hv bn on Amitriptyline for like 14 days & yesterday in the n8 i thot of discontinuing, but uuuweee...my friends let me tell oooh i almost died of anxiety, depression, insomnia. hmmmm i had to get up from bed and take the pill and that's when smh i got to close my eyes, my question is how do we get of this stuff.

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