Elavil- I start tonight!

[lauriecircle]

My URO decided Elavil should help with my main problems... SLEEP!, pain and urgency/frequency. After much study, I agreed to try it. I am PRAYING that I finally sleep through the night after 6 years of every 2 hours at best getting up to pee. :cussing:

I am praying this will work, cause next stop is interstim and I am nervous about that from all the horror stories on here.

I know about the weight gain, but I am on a pretty stick diet (fat flush plan) and have recently lost 50 pounds, so I am pretty good at not giving in to cravings, so hopefully this will not be an issue!

I would love to hear some GOOD STORIES about how it has helped you, to give me some hope.

I am open to hearing cautions and do's/don'ts too... So tell me your story.

And wish me good luck with sleep tonight!!!

[SharonA]

Elavil helped me get my life back. When I was first diagnosed, I suffered with horrible pain every day. That went on for several months. Then I found a PCP who understood how painful IC can be. She gave me a prescription for Elavil 10mg. I had significant pain relief the very next day. I did go up to 25mg and have been at that level for a few years, now. It really does not help me sleep better but with the pain relief it does give me, I am sure it does contribute, somewhat.

I hope this med works as well for you...:)

[leelee88]

If you can control the cravings then I think you will do just fine on this medicne.. I know it was a life savor for me a few years back when I was Dx with Vulvodynia and again when I was Dx with IC I did have to switch due to weight gain, BUT we are all differant. And trust me I did NOT want to give this medicine up. It had made all my symptoms almost go away! So stay possitive and if you already have your eating under control you will do fine:smile tee

[sickofmybladder]

I started Elavil 25 mg on 01/24 - and am already feeling better - it has definately helped with my pain - I can't tell if it helped my sleeping any since I have been on hydroxine for quite awhile - I did have a bit of a foggy brain side effect for the first week - and learned pretty quickly that I have to take it much earlier than "bedtime" - I normally take my dose at 7:30 p.m. and am fine to get up and go to work at 6:30 a.m. -

I am currently being monitored by my doctor(s) because of increased pulse rate - so this is something to keep an eye on -

Good Luck!

[Claredale]

Elavil really helps me when I was using it. You really need to be strong regarding the cravings..some people don't even have them at all...I am not a sweet eater at all, and Elavil definitely brought out the sweet tooth I didn't know I had. I have to go off and on it since my body gets used to it's effectiveness. The most I will go up to is 20 mgs at night. I hope that you will get the restful sleep that you need. There are so many encouraging stories.

Please also know that there are encouraging stories regarding the interstim. I have had my interstim since 2002. I love it and my life would not be the same without it. I know a few people that go to the same doctor I go to that have the interstim. I haven't heard them say that they wished they hadn't done it. The most important thing is to have a doctor you trust, talk to Medtronic about the doctor and be patient.

My signatures says it all. I never thought I would be where I am today, especially prior to my interstim. My IC was diagnosed back when there weren't places like this to seek advice and know that I wasn't alone. I truly thought my life was going to be nothing but flares and staying at home in pain pretty much 24/7. Now 20 years later, I am really much like a normal person. I haven't had a pain pill all day and I even ate at a restaurant that I never tried before and had Thai food (which was great). I had myself prepared for freq/urg or at least some pain. Even with the edginess of the weather last night, I took an Elavil when I first got home last night and slept with no pain meds at all. Life is truly getting back to normal for me!

T83

[megancolleen]

Elavil's the only medication that has helped me. It's by no means a miracle cure, but it keeps my discomfort at a dull roar.

[lauriecircle]

Thank you all. Well it changed my sleep pattern but I still was up every 2 hours. And I am WIPED OUT this a.m. But I had a late meeting and didn't take it until 9 p.m. and didn't fall to sleep until 12 or so. Ugh! I think like a pp said, I must take it way earlier, so I am no so dragging in the a.m. I will try that tonight...

[lisabar36]

Hi, Elavil was my miracle also. I started it in September, I started at 10 mg, I also seen results in a few days, then after a month I went to 25 mg. I took it early evening also and I did not have any problems at all with feeling tired the next morning, but I started such a low dose, my body had time to adjust, I noticed a dry mouth at first. I don't even notice it anymore. I was not sleeping and up half the night urinating and that really helped me with that. I hope it works as well for you. I did not have an increase in appetite with it, but we are all different. I hope you sleep better tonight. :) Lisa

[lauriecircle]

Yes clearly I need to take it WAY earlier. Cause I was so sleepy driving this a.m. I was really scared I was going to fall asleep! And yup I have the dry mouth too. So I am glad to hear that goes away.

Question, how early do you take it? 12 hours before you get up the next day or what?

[sickofmybladder]

I take my dose at 7:30 p.m. - and have to get up by 6:30 a.m. - It took about a week (even on this schedule) for me to adjust - at 3 weeks now - the dry mouth and dry eyes have definately improved (I am rarely using eye drops now - and don't even notice the dry mouth).

Even if I take my dose at 7:30 p.m. - I'm still able to stay awake until after 10 pm (it depends on what time I take the Visteral (hydroxine).

[lauriecircle]

#$%@! I tried 1/2 a tablet last night and was still up 8 times in the night, so clearly 1/2 is not helping... Since it is now a weekend, I will go back to a whole one and take it way earlier and see what happens.

Why can't we just have normal bladders!!!!

[sickofmybladder]

Laurie -

It takes a little while to build up in your system and to start working - I started noticing some improvement after a week and it has gotten better since then -

I hope you feel better this weekend.

[lauriecircle]

Nope I give up. I feel like I have lead for blood. The dry mouth and dry eyes make me feel like I just had surgery. It did not help my sleeping or my bladder pain. And I feel like my heart is racing.... Just too many side effects for me... I can't be this exhausted and drive my 4 year old to school, counsel suicidal people and live life... On to next idea... Bummer...

[SharonA]

You have given the Elavil a good try. I am sorry that it did not work out for you.

Talk with you doctor about Imipramine (Generic of Tofranil). That is what leelee88 is taking instead of Elavil. Find her posts about this by scrolling up on this tread. Then click on her name and then click on the "more posts by leelee88" until you find the one that is titled "Imipramine (Generic of Tofranil)". Also do a search on this med to read more about it. She has talked about this on many other posts.

(((Hugs)))

[lauriecircle]

Talked to Dr. today and she is starting me on Tofranil tonight. I hope I don't have the same bad side effects. However, just about every single pill you give me, I get side effects. So I am not holding out a lot of hope for this one either. Sigh....

[SharonA]

Hope this works for you. :)

[Braedley]

lauriecircle - my doctors told me it takes weeks to get used to the Elavil; they wouldn't let me give up on it until I'd done 6-8 weeks at the same dose (no changes) b/c it needs to build up a bit in your system...

the dry mouth and eyes do subside for most people, i don't have that at all anymore...and it allows me to sleep thru the night, even now being 38 weeks pregnant, i only get up 1-2x/night with a baby on my bladder constantly...

good luck if you try something else though :)

[SandyRN]

I am not sure I would give up on the Elavil after only 2 days of trying it. You have to give it at MINIMUM a week, maybe longer, to actually kick in. There are side effects to all medications and your body has to adjust to the medicine, and this doesn't usually happen in 2 days. I really hope you'll reconsider and give it a longer try, just try taking the pill much earlier at night so you are not so sleepy in the morning, or talk to your doctor about starting at a lower dosage. I've known so many people who have had great luck with it and I am one of them as well. I did stop taking it because of the weight gain, but I am terrible with sweets, and junk food on a normal basis, the Elavil only made me worse.

I hope you know I'm not jumping on you or anything, I just truly hate to see anyone stop it so quickly and not give it a good chance because for so many it really is a miracle drug.

Sandy

[lauriecircle]

I know it seems quick but you guys, I was not sleeping any better and I was literally falling asleep driving! I have a 4 year old in the car and I was terrified I would kill us both. Plus I am a counselor for people in crisis, so I can't fall asleep while talking to the suicidal! Yikes! So yes, in general, I agree, but in practice, I could not live with the side effects for another minute, let alone a week!

[lauriecircle]

So far none of the side effects with the 10 mg of tofranil that I was having with elavil. I am so glad. I didn't sleep through the night YET but I am holding out hope that I will someday! Maybe even tonight!

[karen10]

I'm the same way, react to meds every time. I recently read an article that said how we respond to meds is dependent on our genetic makeup. Some of us have cells that absorb the meds more, so we get toxic from them. I think I have that problem. I'm using diet therapy (really strict with the IC diet, plus figured out some of my personal triggers), Desert Harvest aloe and CystoProtek. I'm doing good most days, but I'm planning to add MSM as I've heard good things about it and still have regular symptoms. Hope you find some relief very soon!