I guess that's why Elavil didn't work for me...

[green_the_fish]

A little story from Fishy...
I remember how frustrated I was when I was taking Elavil. I kept reading about all the ICers who found pain relief from it, but that never included me. After months of suffering from side effects every day and not experiencing a decrease in IC symptoms, I stopped taking it. Since then, I always wondered why it not only didn't help me, but bothered me so much.
Well, I figured it out now. It's because I was bipolar I all along! I just got the diagnosis a few weeks ago. I remember telling the psychiatrist at the psych ward what a bad experience I had with Elavil, and he nodded right along. He reminded me that Elavil was a tricylic anti-depressant, and that bipolar I people shouldn't take antidepressants. Too bad I didn't know back then, that could've saved me a lotta trouble :shake:
So, if you've read my posts about my bad experiences with Elavil: don't let that discourage you! It was because of my undiagnosed bipolar I. About 6 out of 10 IC patients do find relief from tricylic antidepressants.
However, if you have a family history of bipolar, also known as manic-depressive disorder, be very careful about using any anti-depressants for pain relieving purposes. You may want to discuss this with a psychiatrist (an MD with a psych backround) first.
That's my advice for today :)

[Janie Miranda]

Hi Fishy,
What kind of bad effects did Elavil give you?
Hope you have found some treatments that have helped your IC.

[green_the_fish]

Hey Janie.
Well, Elavil gave me a lot fo bad side effects, as will any antidepressant that is given to a bipolar I person. Some that I remember are: constant tiredness, dizziness, crying jags, and basically feeling like I got run over by a Mack truck every day. That was on only 10 mg! When I went up to 20, the side effects became so bad that I had to quit. Withdrawal was a pain too, although I was extremely glad to be stopping it.
Bipolar I + tricylic antidepressant = :(

Don't worry though, I have found stuff that works pretty well for me. I'm now on Atarax, Elmiron, and Urocit-k for my IC, and those are helping me. My pain is only at about a 3/4 daily, I go about 9/10 times per day, and I can't even remember the last time I woke up at night to urinate. I wouldn't call it remission, but I'm doing much better than I was before.

[tojanetoo]

Fishy,
I'm sooooo happy that you have found some meds to help your IC and get your pain level down. I hope you continue to get better and better. Which of the meds do you think has helped your IC the most? I've been on Elmiron for 5 months now and it has helped me a lot. I still have to follow the diet religiously though or I get a flare up of frequency/urgency but much of my pain is gone.

[green_the_fish]

Hi tojanetoo.
While you can never be quite sure with IC, I think that the Urocit-k and the Hydroxyzine have helped me. I take two tabs of Urocit-k, 20mg each, twice per day. I take 25mg of Hydroxyzine every night.

[emilyrose197377]

I am sorry that elavil didn't work for you. But I am glad you found new meds that work for you.

[vm]

He reminded me that Elavil was a tricylic anti-depressant, and that bipolar I people shouldn't take antidepressants.

That's not true - my dad is bipolar and has taken antidepressants for years and years. The caution is that when someone with bipolar takes an antidepressant they have to be very watchful that it doesn't set them off into a manic phase. Most people with bipolar also take an anti-psychotic to balance out the effects of the antidepressant.

[poetgirl]

My dad is bi-polar, and I take Elavil with no problem (other than it ocassionally making me groggy.) I can't take SSRIs -- just doesn't make me feel better and doesn't reduce my anxiety or depression. I just try to deal with it as best as I can.

Still, it's good that you found out what your body can and cannot tolerate -- that's the key to getting the treatment you need.

[green_the_fish]

Hey guys, I think I didn't make my point clear there...

I meant to say that bipolar people should take tricylic antidepresants alone, like I was. That's why I used myself as an example.

The doc at the psych ward told me that if bipolar person takes anti-depressants, they should also be taking some other drug (such as a mood stabilizer or anti-psychotic) to balance out the effects. Otherwise, there's a big risk of going manic or just getting bad side effects.

The problem with me was that I didn't know, and so I wasn't taking anything as a balancer.

Anyway, thanks for pointing that out. Sometimes I just ramble on and have problems making myself clear.