at last, no pain

[mas]

:party: I can't believe I would ever get here. So here goes. My wonder drug that I thank God for is Elavil (Amitriptylin 25mg) once a day. My pain went from a 9 to 0. I have been on it for a year. I can walk, hold it longer, and sleep much better. I can't believe what a change it has made. I did gain weight, but I'm overweight anyhow. But now I can walk it off, before I couldn't.
I do not want to be without it, cause I don't want the agony again. :yikes: I never would imagine a success story that is wrapped up in a little blue pill. :) :woohoo:

[SunDaze83]

congrats! :)

[kadi]

Yay!!! Very glad for you:)

[Iris]

Hey I know the feeling, so happy for you, I also am on Elavil 25 mgm daily, and I totally agree, yeh for the med, it has made life a lot easier for me also, so glad to know it has made a difference in your life, hugs Iris. :woohoo: :hi: :dance: :thumbsup: :flower:

[SharonA]

That is so wonderful. I am so happy for you. :dance: :thumbsup: :bouncy: I have been on Elavil 25mg for over 2 years. I am absolutely convinced that it is the med that has made the difference for me. Before I was given Elavil, my pain level was way off the boards. Now, I have my life back and I live a pretty normal life style. There are even days that I forget that I have a bladder. Just like the good ol' days before IC. I am so happy that it has worked for you, also. :D

[vm]

That's awesome! Thanks for shaaing that with us! :)

[JudyS]

I'm so happy for you! :woohoo: :dance: I wish that Elavil worked so well for me!!

[mas]

mas, Yeah!!! I am SO happy for you!!!! Did you stay on the same dose the whole time? I'm on 10 mg and it is helping some, I wonder if 25 mg would make me feel almost IC-free???? I wish!!!! Congrats!!!!

Yes, I have stayed on the same dose. It took a few months before I felt better. I can eat or drink anything and it doesn't bother me. I do feel more interested in sweet things, thus the weight gain. But I'd rather have weight gain than the pain. (Hey, that rhymes). :biglaugh: I also try to take it by 7pm, so I'm not to groggy in the morning. :dizzy:

[blondiecat]

CONGRATS! I am so jealous....but very happy for you. I just started taking Elavil and Elimron about 5 days ago. So far I haven't gotten any relief. My dr gave me a 50mg dose of Elavil. I have been able to sleep since I started to take that but the groggies are the pits in the morning. I haven't slept more than 4 hours a night in years so this is all new to me. A whole nights sleep.

[mayray518]

I have been on elavil for 6 years now and it saved my life. I went from going 30 times a day and being in chronic pelvic pain to 4 times a day and no pain. I went back to work and resumed my life. I am on 5 mg now. Thank God for elavil.

[virtuallyayla]

All the people who are on elavil -- How long were you on elavil before it started working? And did you ever have a point where it stopped working? I've been taking elavil (and neurontin) for a month now. After a few days of taking it my pain was vastly reduced for about a week then got worse again. Just curious how long it took for any of you.

Thanks,
-Ayla

[virtuallyayla]

CONGRATS! I am so jealous....but very happy for you. I just started taking Elavil and Elimron about 5 days ago. So far I haven't gotten any relief. My dr gave me a 50mg dose of Elavil. I have been able to sleep since I started to take that but the groggies are the pits in the morning. I haven't slept more than 4 hours a night in years so this is all new to me. A whole nights sleep.

You might want to ask your doctor about starting at a lower dose and working your way up. When I first took elavil 25mg made me groggy for the entire day, but if I only took 10mg I wasn't groggy at all. I'm not able to take 20 (after 4 weeks) without any groginess. I guess your body can adjust to the medication over time.

[windwalker]

I started on 10 mgs of Elavil in May and still on 10 mgs. I slept the whole first nite, felt a lot better. Groggy and headaches lasted about a week. Now, I (my personal opinion) think I need a higher dose of the Elavil. I take it around 10 pm and by 11 pm I am "going" more than I do during the day.

[hopeful]

awesome, its so refreshing to take a look at the positive side of this illness. I feel like ive gotton mine under control a bit too. I was given elavil also but i havent started it yet see im odd i guess i can deal with the pain i have a high tolerance i guess and i have really bad anxiety about taking meds their side effects and i took effexor a yr ago and gained 30lbs. ill prob get on it when i feel worse but for now benadryl is helping i think along with prilief.

[donutgirl]

I am sooooo happy for you!! I hope you continue on an upward path.

:woohoo:

DIANE

[kadi]

I started at 10mg almost a year ago. Within 3 days I went from peeing every 15 min, unable to sleep at all, to sleeping 4 hours! (I was thrilled). After about 10 days, I could sleep through the night with only 1 wakeup.

In April, I increased to 20mg to see if that would help more with the pain. It did, but didn't completely eliminate it.

A couple of weeks ago we tried to increase it to 30mg. It made me so hungry I couldn't sleep, in spite of eating the equivalent of 2 potroast dinners & 3 desserts. No matter what I ate, I did not feel like I'd eaten ANYTHING. So, that didn't work. Back to 20mg & there I stay... (Rats - was hoping to get rid of that last bit of burning, which I still have most days)

Overall though, I am so grateful for this medicine. Just to be able to sleep again was amazing. I was able to go on working because of it.

[XoChelsey03Xo]

congratulations!! Chelsey

[tigger_gal]

so glad to hear this... hope that you never have pain again:)
Brat

[ICLori]

Congratulations, that's wonderful! I think with more time, you will find it works better and better for you, maybe even eliminating totally that last bit of burning!

I had a bad reaction to Elavil and can't take it, but I've heard so many good things about Elavil, I am convinced it's one of our best drugs against IC!

Blessings, Lori

[neugass@yahoo.com]

To answer the question if you need more as time goes on & how long it takes to work: I have been on the same 25mg dose since 1999 & it works beautifully. I'd say it took a good couple of months to kick in fully where I am completely pain/freq free. A few times over the past several yrs I've trie weaning myself off elavil but each time I've had a relapse. In those instances, it took about 2-3 wks to get fully back to my pain-free state. Good luck!

Beth

[shinana]

Good for you!!!!
Just spoke with my Dr today about Elavil and left without the PX. After reading the results I am calling on Monday and having the office phone the PX in.
Diana