elavil questions

[babydkj]

Everyone's been so helpful thus far, that i'm going to put another message out there. I should preface this with the fact that i DO NOT HAVE A DOCTOR RIGHT NOW AND WON'T HAVE ONE FOR ANOTHER TWO MONTHS. so, please don't suggest that i talk to my doctor about what i'm about to post. that's not an option for me right now. i'm between health insurance coverage plans and i will see my urologist as soon as i am able, but for now, i still have some questions.

okay, so i started elavil 10 days ago. my urologist from the recent insurance plan prescribed me a year's worth of 50mg pills (since he knew that i wouldn't be able to see him anymore) and told me to cut them in half and take 25mg. so far, so good. i'm tolerating the drowsiness okay as long as i take the elavil around 8pm and not just before i go to bed.

i do not have bladder pain associated with IC, i just have the frequency and urgency. has anyone who has frequency or urgency had any luck with elavil? i hear a lot about people saying that it relieves the pain, but not much about the urgency/frequency relief. if elavil doesn't seem to work for IC frequency/urgency, what medication has worked for this?

[vm]

I have had some luck with Elavil. It has a side effect of relaxing the bladder - and that can help with any frequency/urgency associated with bladder spasms, I believe. The first med I tried was Detrol LA and that helped only a tiny bit, but I stayed on it. Next we added Elavil and that helped a tiny bit, so I stayed on it. We ended up adding three more meds before I found REAL relief.

You may need more time than 10 days to see if it helps and you may end up needing to add more meds at some point. For most of us one treatment or med in isolation doesn't seem to do the trick.

[kadi]

Yes, the Elavil helped my frequency. Before the Elavil, I was voiding every 10-20 minutes all day & all night. I was completely unable to sleep. The doctor told me it could take a month to work, but I had improvement the first night I took it. That night I was able to sleep 4 hours. By the end of the first week, I was able to sleep through the night with only 1-2 wakeups to go to the bathroom. It took longer to work on the daytime frequency, but it did help with that also.

Hope you feel better soon!

[Prinny Joy]

Hi, I've taken elavil, detrol, imiprimine, zoloft, and maybe a few more, it's been years and I've had best success for myself w/ ditropan. Still take ditropan as needed and it has done well for me. That is all I have to offer. try and see how it helps you and I do hope it helps. I know people that it has helped. PEACE and JOY

[classics]

I started taking Elavil (Amitriptyline) again last night after being off it for over six months. I start work at 8:30 am and normally around 9:10 I have to like mad but today I didn't go until 10:30. That's just after 1/2 of a 25 mg. It also made me constipated. Oh well......

[mags]

I have been on elavil for a week or so and it hasn't helped my frequency yet, but i can only take 10mg because the 25 mg caused retention for me. i don't know if it will work or not, but i can't up my dosage.