Hi i was wondering if anyone has had any experiences of being prescribed amantadine for fatigue and what have been ypur experiences when taking it?. I have recently been prescribed it by my ms nurse along with gabaretin. Thanks
Yeah I am on the Amantadine. It is a strange one really in so far as it doesnt do anything to relieve the fatigue but for me it kept me awake and I ended up a bit like a zombie, fatigued but unable to sleep. I have reduced the dosage but I still wake up at 2-3am in the morning and then struggle to get back to sleep, There are some side effects which for me included having a really dry mouth and I also have the most vivid dreams. So for me the jury is out with the Amantadine, I am seeing my MS nurse this Friday and I will have a chat with her but I am not convinced that the Amantadine, on balance, is actually helping.
Good luck with it.
JC
Cheers jc. i cant decide if i want the possible side effects! If i asked myself that question last week i was up for trying anything but as soon as the “i cannot get myself out of bed” fatigue subsides im not sure.
I too found Amantadine did nothing to improve the way I felt or what I could do in the daytime, but I couldn’t sleep at night either.
Thanks flowerpot. I think its only successful for a small percentage of people but thats all the info i know and i dont want to google it and find lots of scary info plus i want the opinion from those with m.s. My g.p wrote me a letter to say that its not a LIsenced drug for ms and that he wants more info from my neurologist before he writes the prescription
I tried it for a couple of months and at first I was really please with it. I took one in the morning and a further one at about midday when I could feel my energy slipping away. I still needed a little rest in the afternoon but it really was a cat nap rather than slipping into a deep sleep which is more common without it.
However by the end of the second month I stopped taking it as I felt a bit ‘spaced out’ by the end of my working day (3.00 to 3.30 ish). I had to back my car into a small space and realised that I didn’t really have any spacial awareness and wasn’t at all confident of where the back end of my car was. That wasn’t a nice feeling at all so I decided that I would rather feel tired and know that I have to take extra care rather than feel awake but not fully alert. It was a very odd feeling (really hard to explain properly) and it disappeared as soon as I stopped taking amantadine. I keep wondering whether to try it again but I’m managing on 8 hours sleep at night and an hour in the afternoon. I know this way that I am not safe to drive any distance at the end of the working day or doing any tight maneuvring so I just avoid it. Straight home and off to bed!
Tracey xx
Thanks elmo. I dont fancy the spaced out feeling as i have to be alert when collecting my 4yr from school. I have to ask myself do i want to be soooo fatigued that i cant get out of bed to collect my child from school or spaced out. Medication decisions arent easy!
I’ve been on it a couple of months now, like Elmo I only need a cat nap now instead of the old 2-3hrs, I find it suits me, haven’t noticed any changes in my awareness. I think you need to try it to see what reaction you have.
Pauline
Thanks pauline.
It worked for me for a year, I only ever took 1 a day and sometimes did not bother but I did notice it gives you acidy stomach so
when I took one I would have to take a tescos anti acid pill.
Some who took it who I know had no difference with their fatigue so they switched to Modafinil.
I stopped taking them now as I have swung right round the other way and have trouble sleeping and energy levels are just stupid
not sure if its Gilenya or just my MS has changed yet again.
Oh just read Elmo’s post, I did not have any spaced out feelings or dizzyness nothing, it just took the edge off of the fatigue,
prior to amantadine I did 2 years on Modafinil but body got use to that so neuro said double the dosage now that did make me feel
light headed and spaced out.
Hello,
I tried amantadine for fatigue. Didn’t notice any major improvement. It therefore wasn’t worth putting up with the sensation of being drunk it gave me. Try teaching a class of 30 when you feel pi**ed!
Different people do react differently though so it might be worth a try.
Good luck.
Hi i was prescribed amantadine for fatigue the first day I only took once in the morning it made me so ill dizziness vitigo feeling sick anyway I spent the whole day in bed anyway I carried on taking them for a further 3 days by then I ended up having to go to the walk in centre where I was advised to stop taking them.i contacted my ms nurse who then put me on amantadine syrup which was working great for a month in which time I had another relapse so my doctor put me on gabapentin for the pain.anyway my syrup ran out so I go to the chemist for a repeat prescription to be told they cnt get it but I can go on the original tablets as I should be ok as ive got it In my system now.so the first 5 days I was fine but for the past week ive been dizzy and just feel lifelless my ms nurse and doctor say its not the ms and could be the medication and also the gabapentin which is for pain relief could be making my fatigue worse.Has anyone else been in this situation.also ive had a pain in my right eye for past 4 days and also was told this isnt ms.can anyone please help.