Anyone here taking Amitriptyline having any problems with insomnia or frequent urination??? I'm actually taking for insomnia, but I think it's quit working for me.

I'm supposed to be up around 9am...(hah! like that's gonna happen now!) I took the amitriptyline about an hour and a half ago. You'd think I'd be asleep right now..

I've been in the bathroom for most of the evening, because I think this is causing some pretty serious frequent (extremely frequent) urination. So, not only am I not sleeping, I'm uncomfortable. Other than the constant peeing, I dont feel like I have a UTI (and I've had a lot of those)

I've already figured out that it's causing me some water retention and weird cravings for sweet foods. (I'm starving right now!)

Why is it that every medication my doctors give me cause more problems than they solve?????


I just wish that I could sleep. I think I'm going to be asking for some Ambien.

Oh boy. You opened a can of worms with this one LOL!

I just quit Amitriptyline, after being on it for longer than my MS diagnosis.

I'll pull this from my Blog. These are the side effects I had on this drug, which did NOTHING to help my condition, and certainly didn't help my sleep what so ever:

I thought I'd share my list of side effects that I had on this drug (I have since stopped it, buh bye). Based on the information found at http://bipolar.about.com/cs/sfx/a/sfx_elavil.htm

(I'm not bipolar, lol. I was taking this for burning mouth syndrome, and it's often prescribed off label for migraine prevention).

And http://depression.emedtv.com/amitrip...e-effects.html

My side effects:

Lightheadedness (add low blood pressure as well to this)
Dryness of mouth
Headache
Unpleasant taste
Diarrhea (although, this could have been MS as well, so I'll skip that one)

Those above are the common or less common side effects. Now the scary part, the continued less common or rare:

Blurred vision (could be MS)
Decreased sexual ability, this refers to libido and ability to have an orgasm (and I only wish I was joking here)
Nervousness or restlessness
Anxiety (funny, I take an anti anxiety med that helps now)
Hair loss
Muscle twitching (I was on this one a while, since spring 2007, maybe this kicked off my facial spasm and stomach muscle twitching?)
Red or brownish spots on skin
Ringing, buzzing or other unexplained sounds in ears (why do you think I saw an ENT?)
Trouble with teeth and gums (my bottom row of gums is receding horribly now)

(by the way, those brownish spots are now fading since I quit this drug. I wish my gums COULD repair themselves, but sadly I think this would be a dentist stepping in to do graffing or whatever it is they do, provided they don't recede any further!).

Edit: I now take ONLY Clonazepam to help with burning pain. Small amounts at that, before bedtime. IT helps me sleep.

and she gargles with tabasco lol hello Laura Hello Erin, i was on it for some time i did not like it, gained weight and my gums went kerplucky too, not sure about urgency, might want to double check you dont have an UTI, just to be safe, I didnt like it, which really bites cause I liked the fact it did help my insomnia, i didnt care for the other stuff, hope this helps some, be careful about the UTI

Erin I stopped all 5 of my pills for two reasons tired of all these drugs and all the side effects, me thinks you will find a lot of folks who agree with your comment about why these meds cause more problems. it can be a real drag at times, give doc call talk to him or her and maybe something else can be used and or done to help alleviate your troubles, I have been finding if i play a game or two online for a while it helps me calm down and get to sleep, and trust me I have insomnia big time ask anyone on here, they are always getting up in the morn and telling me to go to bed lol

hopes you get some sleep and feeling better

I think I fell asleep around 5am, or 530. I'm up now so that I can take a shower before the boyfriend gets here to take me and my parents somewhere for the day.

I'd be calling him and canceling if it wasnt for promising my mom that we were going to the apple harvest. If I cancel, she's going to be irrationally angry at me. (she had a traumatic brain injury when she was 17, and is now starting to have some problems with memory and her ability to control her anger) I knew that I shouldnt have let my dad tell her about it till this morning.

I looked up Amitriptyline on the internet last night. I think I know why I had to go to the bathroom so much that I'm chafing now. The ami dries you out. I think it dehydrated me and I was drinking water because I was so thirsty. The side effects say something about causing kidney problems too, so I think I'll be asking my doctor to check my kidneys when I go to get a new sleeping pill.

I just dont feel like I have a UTI, I've had enough of them, and for some reason, I just dont feel like that's the problem.

It just seems like the amitriptyline just up and quit working on me...and out of the side effects that Dmplaura listed in her post, I think I experienced just about all of them. Maybe not all of them, but probably about 85% of them.

I read on the list of side effects I found on the internet, that sensitivity to sunlight and photophobia could be a side effect, which would make a lot of sense to me now, since even with sunglasses, I have problems outside.

Oh, and numbness in the extremities! My feet went numb about a week ago.

Maybe I dont have MS, maybe all the drugs that the doctors keep throwing at me are causing me all the weird numbness because it seems like every one of them have "numbness in the extremities" as a side effect.

I better go wash my hair, I think the boyfriend will be here in about an hour and a half. Hopefully I wont fall asleep in the shower.

I would wake up with cotton mouth. I'm sure this also affected my gums terribly. Lack of saliva, thriving bacteria around the gums. No matter how diligent I am about brushing and flossing.

Plus burning mouth syndrome on it's own causes dry mouth. Why do they suggest Amitriptyline with such a common side effect (dry mouth) to deal with BMS? Unreal.

LOL Frank! I have not gargled with tabasco *yet*. Clonazepam junkie maaaaaaaybe ... since this helps the pain and helps me to sleep. (I'm kidding about the Clonaz junkie. I only take a very small amount for mouth pain relief).

Oh, just to add...

I laugh that it's called "Elavil". More like, "La Evil"

I originally started taking the ami for a burning/freezing/numb foot, and for insomnia.

Now I want to throw the bottle into the Missouri River (I wont, because I dont want to make the fish sleepy or dehydrated or totally wired)

My mouth is REALLY dry this morning. I'm sucking down water, and for some reason, it's not making me run to the potty every 5 minutes.

My eyes are really dry. That's been a problem for a few days now.

I guess I cant take the ami any more.

If it's a tricyclic antidepressant, is it safe to quit it suddenly, or do I have to do some weird tapering down of it?

I think I'll just start using my baclofen more often (oh yeah, I think the ami has been the cause of my spasticity for the past few days) The baclofen makes me feel sleepy, so maybe I'll just take that before I sleep so that my feet dont try to kick me in the butt with my heels any more.

yeah your right I had not thought of that Laura, god when I was on La Evil`, I could not get enough water and that did cause me to go more often I forgot about that, may not be uti Erin i forgot totally about going so much, cause that med makes you so dang thirsty

My neuro prescribed Elavil for me at my last appt. in April for depression. He told me the most common side effect for it was urinary retention. ( Well. after I pressed him on it. At first, he told me it didn't have side effects.) I haven't taken it for that reason ( I have bladder symptomms related to neurogenic bladder already) and because I usually am real sensitive to side effects and the side effects are usually worse than what I'm taking it for.

Erin, do you think you weren't emptying fully thereby causing you to have to urinate more often?

Thanks Laura for listing the side effects. I've been having hair loss too and have been on Copaxone 9 years next month so, I definitely don't want to take any other meds with that as a side effect.

I really think it all depends. Each medication we take has side effects. Some people get lucky and don't experience them. Others do. But you have to weigh the good with the bad in most cases.

Take for example, Clonazepam. It's done what no other drug has done for me, to date. Dulled the pain of my burning mouth. It also dulled the heck out of the burning pain I experience elsewhere with MS, and has actually made me 'headache free' as a result.

Clonazepam carries a list of side effects: http://bipolar.about.com/cs/sfx/a/sfx_klonopin.htm

It can also be habit forming. Thing is, this is the risk versus return for me. It's made me feel as a person "Without MS" (my symptoms are mild, mainly sensory which includes a pain aspect). For me so far at a very small amount, it's honestly a wonder drug. I take a very tiny amount at night, and it also helps me sleep peacefully.

Is it for everyone? Certainly not. It's wonderful in my case. I haven't experienced side effects thus far, thankfully.