How much Atarax or Vistiril? - Interstitial Cystitis (ICN) Support Forum

Sheila6830 · 09-28-2008, 05:35 AM

How much Atarax or Vistiril do you take a day to calm your IC?

Also - do you find that one works better than the other? I know they are both generic. My doc gave me 50mg caps of the Vistiril generic and it was either too much or it just wasn't working. I have now switched to Atarax 25mg tablets that I take 3 times a day.

I still have symptoms - not totally gone, so I was curious how much the other ladies are using to help them?

Tuckersmom · 09-28-2008, 02:17 PM

I take 50 mgs. of generic Atarax at bedtime.

cyd · 10-02-2008, 06:02 AM

hi everyone! here is my question. my worst symptom is : the urge to pee whether i really have to or not!!! will going up on my atarax help with this do you think?? i also have constant burning. i take 30 mg Atarax befor bed with my elmiron and 20 mg elavil. when i first started on this combination, maybe a year and a half ago or so, it was like a miracle. now, not so much. i pop up every 1.5 hours to pee all night long. i have constant urgency and bloated feeling. oy. i wish the atarax would make me drowsy, isn't it worth a try to increase the dose??? i appreciate any feedback y'all may have thanks. cyd

born2swim · 10-04-2008, 06:30 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyd

hi everyone! here is my question. my worst symptom is : the urge to pee whether i really have to or not!!! will going up on my atarax help with this do you think?? i also have constant burning. i take 30 mg Atarax befor bed with my elmiron and 20 mg elavil. when i first started on this combination, maybe a year and a half ago or so, it was like a miracle. now, not so much. i pop up every 1.5 hours to pee all night long. i have constant urgency and bloated feeling. oy. i wish the atarax would make me drowsy, isn't it worth a try to increase the dose??? i appreciate any feedback y'all may have thanks. cyd

Hey sweetie! I would say it can't hurt to talk with your uro about upping the atarax dose. You don't want to be overly sedated (meaning stopping breathing). I use Atarax liquid form... so I take 20mg/night. It knocks me out... for hours. It has helped me sleep thru the night... but also Lyrica is a major help to me. I couldn't tolerate Elavil, even 5mg was not tolerated... so I don't know what dose you can safely go up with that one. I do know of some people taking a sleep aid so you can get to bed and get at least a few hours of sleep. Atarax acts like a sleep aid for me, so I don't use mine (I have 2 different kinds). You want to be careful with OTC sleep aids. Their active ingredient is the one you find in benadryl. I don't know how safe it is to take atarax (strong anti-histamine) with benadryl (another strong anti-histamine). It took a few weeks for me to see Atarax helping my symptoms... but as soon as I started it, I was groggy at first taking it, but after a week or two, I don't hit the bed as hard!

I would say, talk with your uro and see what you can do with your current plan. What works for some will not work for others. You need a good relationship with your uro and find what helps you most! Oh... do try the IC elimination diet. It took 2 months on that before my symptoms improved. I can generally tolerate red sauce, but 2 days in a row... ouch. I leared all that by trying the diet and then adding back "ok foods" slowly!

cyd · 10-06-2008, 11:35 AM

thanks born2swim for your helpful advice! i'm now up to 50mg atarax, and also, my doc started me on flomax, i think both are helping some.

the biggest thing i know i need to do is: r e s t. why is this so hard???

this flare has caught me in a rip current and slammed me down on the ocean floor; only way i can hope to ride to the top of the wave again is if i drop everything and: r e s t!
so if i cant sleep at night it's because, i'm not doing anything during the day!

peace, sweet dreams, and good days ahead!
love!!! cyd

snowgirl · 10-06-2008, 12:36 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by cyd

hi everyone! here is my question. my worst symptom is : the urge to pee whether i really have to or not!!! will going up on my atarax help with this do you think?? i also have constant burning. i take 30 mg Atarax befor bed with my elmiron and 20 mg elavil. when i first started on this combination, maybe a year and a half ago or so, it was like a miracle. now, not so much. i pop up every 1.5 hours to pee all night long. i have constant urgency and bloated feeling. oy. i wish the atarax would make me drowsy, isn't it worth a try to increase the dose??? i appreciate any feedback y'all may have thanks. cyd

you might have to work with your md here and adjust some doses. Both atarax and elavil can make your retain urine. Vicky