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HELP!!! Just tapered off amitripteline and having a really hard time

Posted , 5 users are following.

lucien
lucien

Hello,

I need input and help from anyone who has come off amitriptylene entirely . i was on 100mg daily for years. i weaned off it over the course of months.

took it down to super small dose's till i was eventually no longer taking it . at first i dealt with the diziness , which was awful but it started to lessen . but now ive been hit with a much heavier depression and anxiety . had a panic attack yesterday , first one i have had since i stopped taking it . been feeling super anxious along with very depressed. is there anything i can do to try and lessen this ???

my last actual tiny dose of it was taken back on november 11th.

So im just shy of 2 months since my last tiny dose.

or am i going to need to start back on it at the lowest dose to make it stop ???

i went from 100 to 75 and did that for 3 weeks

i went from 75 to 50 and did that for 3 weeks

i went from 50 to 25 for 3 weeks

i went from 25 to 12.5 for 3 weeks

i went from 12.5 to 6.25 for 3 weeks

i went from 6.25 to around 3 for 2 or 3 weeks

please ANY help or input is greatly appreciated , i would post this but im REALLY struggling .

Would i be best to just go back on it and stay at a low dose until i feel better . And maybe try tapering off again ?

0 likes, 3 replies

3 Replies

  • chloe47204
    chloe47204 lucien

    Edited

    hi. how are you doing? i am currently weaning myself off this drug also. mine is a very low dose though and yours seems high. to be honest with all doses little or high you end up with awful withdrawal symptoms. I've tried for the past 2 years to come off this drug. this is my 3rd time lucky. the docs advised me to wean myself off slowly. meaning that i drop the dose every other night. and the days i dont drop it keep as my normal dose. so i am on day 3. x

  • Weeny
    Weeny lucien

    Posted

    Hi Lucien

    Sorry to hear about your struggle tapering yourself off Amitriptyline. Youre not alone but i know sometimes you feel like you are. I'll just tell you a little about my experience. Ive been on Ami for 25 years but was on a low dose for 15 years then 10 years ago I had a bad experience cos the docs took me off them abruptly & tried me on all different SSRIs without any joy. I was in a terrible anxious state, couldnt go out the house for 3 months etc etc. Looking back I think I was suffering withdrawal from abruptly being taken off the Ami, my doctor at the time was very unhelpful. Eventually i went back onto Ami & increased gradually to 110mg but over the last 3 years ive tried to taper off them. I went privately to see a physchiatrist 3 years ago & he said to me that you have to taper off this drug very gradually. He told me to reduce by 5mg every 4 weeks but if I had withdrawal symptoms to not come down anymore until I felt ok. He told me to go back up if I needed to. He said it could take me couple of years & that the lower I got i might struggle. Over the last year I have reduced from 50mg to 35mg but recently I started having acid burning in my stomach. I had some omeprazole tabs from doctor but this went on for couple of weeks but sometimes instead of having acid symptoms I would get terrible headaches. I thought to myself maybe its to do with reducing the Ami so I increased back to 40mg & the acid symptoms went although I am still getting terrible headaches & with a bit of increased anxiety, whenever I increase the anxiety hits me for a while. Im now on day 6 of increasing to 40mg & have bit of anxiety, a panic attack yesterday but its because Ive increased. I dont know whether I'll ever be able to get off this horrible drug but I will try my hardest. Looking back at your message I would say you have come down too quickly but then if you felt fine at the time I would have done the same. I think with these drugs its just trial & error but if I were you I would speak to your doc as it sounds like you may need to go back on them or try one of the newer meds. How long have you been on them? Have you tried the newer SSRIs. Hope you get it sorted soon as I know how horrible it is to feel the way you do. x

  • sherylee10113
    sherylee10113 lucien

    Posted

    hi lucien sorry to hear what your going through. I reduced my dose each Week by half and then stopped completely. My withdrawal symptoms are horrible and I am hoping it will get better sooner rather than later cause I really struggle each day.

    Hope you can beat this terrible drug. If i knew this would happen i would never had started taking it. My doctor wasn’t very helpful either he wouldn’t return my calls.

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