Hi Marie,
I do not take amitriptyline for depression; this dose (10 mg) is allegedly too low for that anyway (I think any change in my mood is due simply to getting better/more sleep).
How to Take Elavil (Amitriptyline) for Chronic Back Pain
I couldn't say for sure that it's helping any neuropathic pain because
1.) I'm asleep while it's working, and
2.) my burning pain from PN is alleviated entirely by taking RLA (100 mg) daily.
As I mentioned in post #8 ADDENDUM, I tolerate this dose of amitriptyline
very well—with no side effects whatsoever.
If you haven't discussed it with your doctors already, you might ask/suggest them about switching from
Lyrica (pregabalin)
& Elavil (
amitriptyline) to
gabapentin & nortriptyline.
Study finds that the combination gabapentin plus nortriptyline reduces neuropathic pain more than either drug alone
I believe (not certain) that this may be the referenced study:
Nortriptyline and gabapentin, alone and in combination for neuropathic pain: a double-blind, randomised controlled crossover trial.
Quote:
FINDINGS:
.... Pain with combination treatment was significantly lower than with gabapentin ... or nortriptyline alone... At maximum tolerated dose, the most common adverse event was dry mouth, which was significantly less frequent in patients on gabapentin than on nortriptyline (p<0.0001) or combination treatment (p<0.0001). No serious adverse events were recorded for any patients during the trial.
INTERPRETATION:
Combined gabapentin and nortriptyline seems to be more efficacious than either drug given alone for neuropathic pain, therefore we recommend use of this combination in patients who show a partial response to either drug given alone and seek additional pain relief. Future trials should compare other combinations to their respective monotherapies for treatment of such pain.
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Nortriptyline is a
2nd generation
tricyclic antidepressant, while amitriptyline is
1st generation. As such, nortriptyline is
generally better tolerated with a lower side effect profile.
I looked briefly for any similar study using
Lyrica and
amitriptyline, but did not find any (doesn't mean there isn't one—I just didn't find any).
Hope this helps, & Best Wishes,
Doc