Amitriptyline side effects ????

[Apollosmum]

Help :help:

I need to know what side effects anyone else is getting from Amitriptyline. I am currently on a very small dose once a day and fingers crossed have not had a flare since I started taking them...

My biggest problems are the side effect of taking them... I am constantly tired, which makes going to work so hard as I feel like I want to sleep at my desk. I sleep on average 9/10 hrs a night, so it is not like I am having insufficient sleep.

I am also having strange dreams that wake me at night (this is extremely annoying as I haven't had to get up for a toilet run at night since taking the tablets). So either with or without the tablets I am getting disturbed sleep...

Anyone else having these side effects??? If so, did your body eventually get used to them???

[emilyrose197377]

Hello My body eventually adjusted to elavil so I wasn't tired in the morning when I woke up. It took me a few weeks .

[bigred]

I take three at night. This past week my doc. put me on 25mg more in the morning. I fee sometimes like I am walking in the fog. I am hoping this goes away. When it does he wants me to up it to 50mg in the morning and 75mg. at nigh.

[ICNDonna]

The side effects I experienced were just the opposite. My blood pressure went dangerously high and I was completely hyperactive. I had to stop taking it after only about three days.

Donna

[vm]

I was tired the first week or so, but it gradually went away. I also had bizarre dreams. Some people suggest taking it a little earlier at night to try to prevent that.

[Bianchi]

That's also my side effect: hyper activity. So after trying for one week or more, I gave up. Can't take it.
Bianchi

[JaniceB]

Fatigue/drowsiness is VERY common. For me, it went away after a few days each time my dosage was raised.

Am currently taking 50mg per day and I do not feel overly tired during the days. Well, some days, but maybe thats from chasing a 2 year old, LOL. I was on 75mg for awhile to and didn't feel any more tired on that than I do on the 50mg.

I was told to try taking it earlier in the evening, and not so close to bedtime. I think that helps.

I think for most people the super-tired feeling goes away once your body adjusts to it. It just takes some time.

Janice

[ICB]

The lethargic/sleepy feeling and the strange dreams happend to me too. It took me about two months to get over the tired feeling and about the same for the dreams. However, every now and again I'll get one of those strange dreams - thank goodness it's not often.

My doctor's advice was to take Elavil 10 to 12 hours before I wanted to be awake the next day, until my body adjusted to the medication.

For those that cannot take Elavil - have you asked your doctor if you can try Cymbalta. I have many people in my support group that are taking it and are doing extremely well, with a lot less side-effects than the tricyclic anti-depressants.

I suggest that you consult with your healthcare provider if you believe that the information above may be helpful; your healthcare provider will determine the appropriate treatment regimen for you.

The contents in this post are provided for informational purposes only. The contents are not intended in any way to be a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding your medical condition.

Best wishes, ICB :flower:

[~*~Christine~*~]

yes, I even made a thread awhile back on this side effect.
I only took 10 or 20mg's and my whole body was weak and my head felt weird. Just picking up a glass of water was difficult. It also made me feel depressed.
Haven’t tried them again, since, but for some that side effect subsides as your body gets used to it.

[trytosmile]

I have been on it since Feb 1988. It was orginally given to me for muscle pain sustained in a car accident. How many years later and I still have side effects. That been said I have a very low tolerance to any medications. I am on 10mg taken at night. Within 30 minutes from taking I'm out like a light. Other side effects are dry mouth, weird dreams (very weird dreams) and the worst is the sleepiness. I was first put on 20mg but I wasn't able to continue because I got nose bleeds all the time, 10mg was the magic number.

It does help my muscle problems, the IC I don't think so. Kinda hard to tell I've been on it for so long.

[Vicki]

Give yourself two weeks and the need to nap will be gone. On day fifteen, it is as though a curtain lifts and your body is finally adjusted. However, the nightmares and needing 9-10 hours of sleep never went away for me. I took 20mg of the stuff for seven years. I always needed two alarm clocks to get up. Even then, I would hit the snooze for 45 minutes. I finally wised up and set my cell phone to go off at 4 PM so I would take it earlier in the day. That helped me not be as drowsy in the morning but I was a bear trying to get my kids to finish their homework and go to bed. -Vicki

[Rosalie]

I am on 25mgs a day and now take it earlier in the evening. It only took about two weeks for the tired feeling to go away but I never had the wierd dream side effect. At first, I was zonked out an hour after taking it. Later I had trouble getting to sleep. doc told me to take it around 6/7pm and that has made a difference.
The pain relief is such that I don't care - for the time being anyway, what the side effects are. I just love the way it has changed my life painwise!

[angelgirl]

when you all say weird dreams are they scarey?????? ones?

I am considering taking it for pain. I am currently taking 10mg of prozac which is extremely low dosage and will be seeing my doc this week to see if I can take both or stop taking prozac.

[bluebyrd88]

I also had to give this medication up after 3 days, I was so out of it I could not get out of bed, was on very low dose. I also could not eat !!!THe very thought of food make me feel sick. Husband had to force water down me. So THis one came off my list real quick.
I have friends who take it and except for being tired and some weird dreams they like it for the relief they get from pain.
Good Luck

[gcereghin]

I have been taking 25 mg for 3 1/2 years at night. I haven't found anything that helps except for bladder instillations. I get very sleepy with the pills in the morning, but I take it around 10 p.m. and still have trouble getting to sleep. I also take 25 mg of Atarax at the same time, but again, no help. I see my doc in April, and am going to talk to him about going off all the meds (Elmiron included) because they don't help me at all. Only the instillations help and even then, I have major problems with urgency. But if I can get through the first couple of days after the instillation, I feel so much better as far as the IC symptoms go, that I will continue them forever if I have to. I also have trouble with pain on the insertion of the catheter, but again, the relief I get is well worth that small amount of pain. And my night time symptoms are much better. I have only been getting up about once a night now instead of 4-6 times.

[lonen86]

I took it for about a year but gained too much weight. I requested a change from my Dr and she prescribed atarax which makes me less tired and drowsy. I also lost 6lbs in the first weeks . I think the combination of elmiron and atarax is wonderful . elavil made me too tired and I also felt like I was in a haze.

[bluetart]

Iv'e started taking it a couple weeks ago and found that 25 ml was to much and split the does in half, it made me tired.... really tired but I am slowly getting my energy back. It also helped with my symptoms with the 25 ml, but made me depressed. I am hoping that with the does split in half it will still help and not make me depressed.

[amartaingirl]

the dreams are the BEST PART!!!!!! are you kidding me.
They are awesome...vidid....

[Krisssy]

How many of you have had weight gain from Elavil?

[Julie B]

I had to stop Elavil because of heart palpitations.

[Krisssy]

What did they give you as a substitute for Elavil? Did it help? Did the Elavil help?

[Julie B]

I take atarax, but that acts differently than elavil. The Atarax was a lifesaver.

[amartaingirl]

dreams are the BEST part of that pill
lol

they are so vivid...and remember them....and some times...i can be dreaming...wake up to pee....crawl back in bed...and continue the SAME dream!!!!

last night....i had a naughty dream..about the IT guy at work...boy the things he did to me...lol

i cant wait to go to sleep tonight...to see how it all works out...lol

[Krisssy]

My Dr. told me to try the Elavil first, and if there was a problem with it to try the Atarax. Which do you all find helps the best? Krisssy

[BT2008]

Like several others have posted, I could not take Elavil (Amitriptyline) either.

Instead of making me drowsy, it made me very agitated, hyper, dissociative and extremely anxious. Plus, I also had heart palpitations and my hands shook!

I too had bad dreams. In one dream, my left arm had been cut off (yuk) and I was trying desperately to find a doc who would agree to sew it back on!! And in another dream, I was in my urol office and I began to hand him wads of my hair which was falling out in globs whenever I ran my fingers through it!! (yikes!!:lmao:)

My urol then had me try Imipramine (also a tricyclic) and, granted, this drug did not cause the same horrible mental side-effects as the Elavil (except hyperactivity), but it did absolutely nothing for the pain.

As you probably know by now, all of these drugs affect each one of us differently. What works for one, does not work for all. That is just one of the many frustrating things with IC--for both sufferers and probably the docs as well.

Apollosmom, I hope that by now you have found something that you can tolerate! If not, keep your doc on the ball. We should not have to deal with "losing our minds" while dealing with the horrors of IC.

Take care!

[lm0630]

I know elevil is mostly used for pain but I was wondering if it has helped anywone with the chronic need to urinate? Also, the pain i feel is more of a fullness in the bladder no matter how much i go to the bathroom. is this the same pain you are all talking about?

Thanks

[BT2008]

Dear IM0630,Also, the pain i feel is more of a fullness in the bladder no matter how much i go to the bathroom. is this the same pain you are all talking about?

No, that is not the type of pain that is so devastating for me. Yes, it definitely hurts when I feel that bladder fullness (I assume it is bladder spasms), but that pain is actually very minor compared to my other types of bladder pain.

And no, the Elavil did nothing for my frequency issue either! But maybe it did for some of the others on this forum, so maybe they will chime in...

Take care,
~Beth

[breannavich]

I was put on 50mg from the start. The first week I took them I would pass out 20min after taking them-I literally couldn't keep my eyes open. I adjusted about two weeks after being on them and started taking them an hour or so before bed and did fine. However, I did have a hard time getting up in the morning..I would sleep 10hrs and still feel like I could sleep more. After 6months I lowered my dosage steadily over a few weeks and am now on 25mg which is working much better for me. I'm able to sleep 8hrs and wake up on my own and have more energy during the day. Also, my dry mouth has gone away. I had severe dry mouth on 50mg. I also have crazy dreams. Sometimes nightmares but more often just really animated dreams which I always remember.