elavil dosage and flares

[sbbear]

Hi there,

I have had a pretty yucky flare for the last week and have upped my elavil dosage from 25mg to 50mg to try and control the pain. I am wickedly tired though.

How long until the tired feeling goes away???

What can I do about the frequency I am experiencing now that the pain is pretty much gone? I also take Elmiron and have been for 8 months. This is my first flare in 8 months!!!!!

Should I go back down to 25 mg if my pain subsides???? :hmm:

Any suggestions would be sooo great!

sue

[Victoria L]

Hello, i have been on elivil for a month or so and i take it at bedtime (50mg) and i sleep through the whole night, it's wonderful and i wake up by 8:00am and i am not too groggy at all.....not after a couple cups of coffee. The only thing is that i started water areobics this week and broke out in a rash and my eyes got horribly swollen so i need to know if it's the elivil that is doing this or has anyone had this happen to them? I believe it is sun sensitive, please advise. Victoria L

[hollipop]

It took at least 2-3 weeks to start feeling normal again after going on 50mg. I slept all night every night for six months, and now that I don't need it, weaning off it is much worse than I thought. I only wish I could sleep now. It helped with the pain after just a few days of starting the 25mg.

Oh, the frequency was helped tremendously. I went from 10 x day to only 3 x day. It was so cool! Now that I've gone cold turkey from it, I'm surprised that my frequency hasn't changed much...maybe 5-6 x day now...which I suppose is normal.

[Briza]

Victoria
I see the same warning on my Elavil bottle to be careful of sun exposure but I haven't had any problems with that and I'm on the beach almost daily, with sunscreen and umbrella, of course, but I still get plenty of sun. I am only on 10 mg, and haven't experienced any side effects. Maybe you should talk to your dr or pharmacist regarding the rash, etc.
Maybe the rash has something to do with the chlorine in the pool? I know I can't tolerate chlorine.
Have you looked at the IC diet? Coffee is a big trigger for most of us with IC.

Hollipop
So you're feeling better? That's great! I've went off Elavil cold turkey a while back with no problems, but again, I'm only 10 mg. But within a few weeks I was up to 30-40 times a day. Luckily for me, like you, after a few days on it my frequency was under control again. I hope you continue to feel better. What other meds have you been taking?

[Romans8:28]

I'm on 30mg. It seems to make my joints ache and make me restless. if I take it during the day I'm tired but my pain is better. So not sure what to do!

I did break out in a rash all over my face recently while in the sun at an amusement park. It does say to stay out of the sun, so does the instructions on the antibiotics! Was there any bleach in the water at your aeorbic class. I know bleach is a big one for me and it could be the combination!

Shelly