I'm considering tapering off of Carbamazepine because the combination of that and Gabapentin make me feel stoned while not reducing my pain. I keep telling the doc that this is the case, but so far he hasn't seemed to consider stopping it.

But I betcha if I said that I liked being stoned, he'd make me stop taking it.

If the R-Lipoic is working on PN pain & burning, (making gabapentin unnecessary) does/would it make sense to take amitriptyline anyway for this effect?

Doc

I really don't know.

The natural approach is correcting something that was wrong, and doing so very quickly for you.

I think you should continue the lipoic for at least another month, and then stop. See if the symptoms return. If not, that would show healing IMO.

You can take them together, but I would do a test like above, first to learn something about your symptoms.

You might want to try some antioxidants too-- the powerful ones. They also trap free radicals and help with inflammation.

MegaRed Krill oil with the astaxanthin and grapeseed extract.
You can buy the astaxanthin separately now, and neither is expensive. Something to think about.

Lipoic acid also reduces blood sugars and that may be happening too. Lipoic acid is added to "mitochondrial support" supplements to aid acetyl carnitine in them. So it has several functions.

I was thinking benfotiamine next, followed by CoQ-10, spaced apart so I know what's what.

Doc

Just started Amitriptyline, 5 mg. per night, and I do see a difference. I'm now tapering off of Lyrica. Tapering down off it by 25 mg. every 4 days per Dr. Down from 400 mg. of Lyrica to 350 in last week. Hope to get off Lyrica as after 6 months I still have side effects of memory problems and feeling High half the day. I also have had a problem with Itching which we thing might be due to Lyrica. So, only way to know if the Lyrica is causing itching is to stop it.

Wish me luck, hope Amitriptyline keeps working for me like it has for all of you.

Hi Rose I found Lyrica to be useless after upping the dosage to a point where it stopped working. At that stage I was a 90 year old brain trapped in a 50 year body. The brain fog has finally gone, thought i was going crazy! unfortunately the blurry vision is still with me for now.

here is a heads up about Amitriptyline. It is a brilliant pain reliever at very low dose, almost unbelievable.

However

1.The side effects for me were even worse than lyrica. Total detachment form mind / body.

2. insatiable appetite. A desire not from the mouth but from somewhere deep in the body. I have never experienced this and gained 15kg in the first month.

3. instant loss of libido. Absolutely no interest unless my ice cream was breast shaped.

I now take 10mg maybe once every 2 weeks if Im having a flare or insomnia. Amitriptyline is nasty stuff (for me)

here is website where people rate there use of Amitriptyline. 70% (approx)
do not recommend it and all for the reasons I have stated. some did not get pain relief. The rest absolutely loved it !

http://www.askapatient.com/viewratin...IPTYLINE%20HCL

just want to mention Amitriptyline really helped me taper off lyrica with its strong sedative effect.

The above experience was mine only I really hope this drug works for you :-)

I will just say briefly...I have dispensed amitriptyline for 40yrs+ and never had patient questions or complaints like those that appear on askapatient.

I've viewed that site, and I would caution people to read it with care. I've seen such trollish behavior I cannot believe over there.

Some comments seem legit, but others, appear to be fabricated for fun or mischief IMO.

A much better balance can be found here: Official FDA medwatch reports from healthcare professionals:
http://www.patientsville.com/
type in amitriptyline in the search and reports will come up.

For what it is worth I took a TCA over a decade ago for just over a year for a severe case of sciatica. I used doxepin in low dose for the pain so I could continue working. I took 20mg at bedtime (two 10mg caps). I didn't notice any major problems at all this low dose. It worked well, and my sciatica finally healed up and resolved.

thanks Mrs D for keeping everything balanced. I just want to stress here that it was only my experience. I still would reach out for Amitriptyline as a first choice for a flare, its a strong sedative and pain reliever/sleeping aid, perfect for the job.

Just cant do it full time however dont need to. The Doc opened my eyes to absolute minimal dosage of anything when needed. i thought he was nuts or didnt have any real pain.

The problem IMO is pain killers them selves have serious side effects which tend to keep us in the loop.

I still detest the high dose of lyrica which just made me stoned , but not enough to forget my next dose because its what we have to do.

These drugs are highly dependent and anyone saying they are not hasn't tried to come down off a high dose. Of course we have the super disciplined 25mg a week for 6 months but lets face it most of us arnt like that leading to yo yo side effects and back to original dose whilst we despair.

Amitriptyline is a slow acting drug. Slow to build up and slow to taper off of. At least 2 weeks or more to get going.

It is not like an opiate... at all.

Enjoying the chat mrs D. Your speaking in general , just cant stress enough (for me only)
Nobody can deny how I feel . Its my body.

Neurontin etc is the same, taking weeks or months to work, but some posters feel ill after 600mg. some can tolerate 8x and still have no relief.