Morning everyone! Not been on for a while…sorry! Just been prescribed amitriptyline for pain and depression. Have any of you any experience of this that you could pass on. Don’t know what to expect in terms of side affects and/or efficacy please?? Thank you and keep as well as you can. Dawn. X
Hi Dawn, nice to see you onboard again!
I take amitriptyline for nerve pain and they do their job brilliantly. Been on it for 13 years. I am on 75mg at night.
Some people find the drug makes them too woozy and even zombified in a morning! But it has never made me feel at all like that. But initially it did make me sleep 12 hours a night! It was lovely sleep too.
I think you should start on a low dose, maybe 25mg and then increase slowly.
I know the dose for depression is higher than for nerve pain. What dose are you on?
Good luck hun.
luv Pollx
Thanks Poll, Lovely to hear from you and hope things are as well as can be for you? Just starting on 10mg, increasing weekly to see how I go initially. Looking forward to it helping with sleep as been getting by, just, on 5 hours! Maybe this hasn’t helped my dark mood either! Fingers crossed, eh? Bless you. Love, Dawn. xx
xxx
pollx
I looked this up because although amitriptyline is an anti depressant the dosages or pain relief and anti depression are different.
I got this from Pain Concern:
The way antidepressants give pain relief is completely separate from the anti-depressant effect. The dose required for treating depression is much higher (often over 150 milligrams (mg) a day) than the doses used for pain relief. Also, there are many different antidepressant drugs available that are effective for treating depression, but only a small number are also effective pain killers.
If it is to treat depression too it looks as though you need to be on quite a high dosage. I used to take just 50mg for pain relief. It would be a pity for you to be looking for a lift in your mood if you are not taking sufficient to do that.
Jane
[quote=“arkady”] Morning everyone! Not been on for a while…sorry! Just been prescribed amitriptyline for pain and depression. Have any of you any experience of this that you could pass on. Don’t know what to expect in terms of side affects and/or efficacy please?? Thank you and keep as well as you can. Dawn. X [/quote] Hello, I tried this for headaches last year but it didn’t work for me. My daughter takes it everyday, 75mg for an autoimmune disease, she’s been on it a long time and never had any problems. All drugs have side effects…even paracetamol. Give them try, they may work for you. If not it will be a case of finding the right one for you. I’m sorry about your depression, its bad enough coping with pain isn’t it? I hope you have close people you can talk to. Take care,
Hi Dawn,
Sorry to hear you’re not well. If it’s any help I take amitriptyline at night for nerve pain and it helps me sleep. Just take 1 x 10mg (blue one - makes me laugh as blue food colouring usually keeps children awake) but can take two if i need to but that does make me feel a bit dozy in the morning. Otherwise on the low dose i’m fine.
Hope it helps you.
Jen x
Hi, I’m on 50mg and at first I was very drowsy in the mornings, then someone suggested I take it 10 hours before I needed to get up rather than an hour before going to bed which was what the doctor advised. I’ve been taking it for six years now. No ill effects other than a rather dry mouth, and I feel rather well all things considered. I’d say give it a chance and try not to worry, Yvonne
Tried Amitriptylene for pain-relief a couple of years ago, but unfortunately it didn’t work for me.
Glad to see it does indeed help some people, though!!
Dom
I take 35-45mg each night and it does help stop the twitching etc. that stops me settling.
Whilst I understand what we take is in a lower dose than what would be precribed as an anti-depressant, it will help you sleep even if a small dose and sleep helps make sure coping systems all work a bit better 
Sonia x
thats the one tablet i wont do without.
helps me drift off to sleep and is good for nerve pain
i take it in the evening along with tizanidine because the neuropathic painkillers make me feel a bit stoned and i’m always out in the car during the day
carole x
Hi Dawn, Tried ammytiptoline many times over the yearsfor pain and depression. It never worked for me nor anyone else I have known ( non of my patients when I was nursing either). But give it a try if you must but it does make you very sleepy and messes with your head.
I now don’t take any drug just use possitivse thinking and diversion therapy.
Read my post on mindful if you want.
Thank you guys for taking the trouble to reply, it’s much appreciated and interesting to read the comments. I will persevere for a while and keep fingers crossed that I’m one of the lucky ones for whom it offers some relief! I’ll be back at some point to tell you how I’m getting on! Now I have prepare for yet another MRI on lumbar region after the last one on thoracic area showed the incidence of a new lesion causing narrowing of the spinal cord, grrr!! Take care everyone, Dawn. X
Hi Dawn I have taken it for nearly a year with no problems at all. I take between 20 and 50 mugs depending on how I’m feeling. My neuro felt that it ticked all the boxes for me…pain relief, trouble sleeping and depression…and it certainly does. I, like Carole, would not be without it now. Xx
Hi Dawn,
I have been taking it for about 5 years now at 15-25mg. I was first prescribed it for my headaches and it helped immensly. After my diagnosis last year it has helped drastically with tingly feet and hands. I haven’t had any side effects from it. The only thing I would say is that they recommend that you take it an hour before going to sleep. When I first started it I would slip straight into REM sleep and have horrific nightmares and sleepy hallucinations in my bedroom. I then started taking it just before I went to sleep and I was fine. Now that my body is used to it, I can have it without the disturbances and it doesn’t effect me if I don’t go to sleep. I think it was just because it was something new.
I hope this helps