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Severe amitriptyline withdrawal

Posted , 4 users are following.

andrrw14074
andrrw14074

Hi there...ill start off by explaining they i have been taking this drug for over 5 years at 30mg a night. This was due to severe back pain from degenerative disc disease. I received a spinal fusion back in June last year and for months after the op was prescribed butec 10ug patches.

Around November I felt the pain had died down enough for me to come off them...also they made me feel a little ill. So (not knowing about the withdrawal effects) i quit them cold turkey and was really sick (insomnia, nausea, temp fluctuations) for about a week, the physical symptoms went but i was still having trouble sleeping so my doc prescribed zopiclone which helped a bit.... but the insomnia came back. He considered upping the dosage of amitriptyline but decided to stop the prescription instead when i said i felt it wasn't helping me. So i got stronger zopiclone and just used what remained of the amitriptyline. I was sleeping a little better at this point but when i stopped taking the amitriptyline (first week in december) again i thought i had caught a cold as i was vomiting, couldn't eat, really dizzy, really bad insomnia etc.....looking back now and understanding the withdrawal symptoms its easy to see what happened next.

gradually my mood went lower and lower, i became depressed, easily irritated and, compounded by the bad insomnia, by xmas i was having suicidal thoughts. on 26th dec i said goodbye to my pets, my wife was out so i texted her goodbye and i went upstairs, in a bit of a daze, got my gun and had it pointed at my head but for whatever reason i just couldn't pull the trigger. the next thing i know the police have arrived and im being taken to hospital.

I was never told about the withdrawal symptoms, wasn't advised to taper the drug to stop taking it. i took it every night for over 5 years then quit cold turkey, and that was the result.

Please learn from my story, never quit cold turkey and educate yourselves about the withdrawal symptoms. If I had recognised mine then all of that could have been avoided.

0 likes, 4 replies

4 Replies

  • barney34567
    barney34567 andrrw14074

    Posted

    You write

    I was never told about the withdrawal symptoms, wasn't advised to taper the drug to stop taking it. i took it every night for over 5 years then quit cold turkey, and that was the result.

    I belivee you! I got the same treatment when I was put onto Prednisone. No tapering mentioned. No hinto of HUGE withdrawal side effects.

    Seems to be common practice,

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