Just started taking this last night...doc put me on small dose to start (12.5) mg. It made me very groggy, which is good for sleep but I would imagine It would be hard to function on a higher dose during the day. It cut the pain a small bit in the hands and feet but I don't feel a big difference.

Anyone else having good results with this med?

Cliffman

Morning Cliffman,
Amitriptyline has been very helpful for me for finally being able to get some rest. I take 20 mg before bed. It makes me groggy so that I'm not waking up from pain as often. I also apply the Morton's empsom salt lotion to the tops of my feet, inner ankles and inner wrists before bed. During the day I take 1-2 hydrocodone as needed for pain. Have tried gabapentin and topamax but couldn't tolerate the side effects. Hang in there!

Amitriptyline's side effects usually go away within 1 or 2 weeks. It also takes some time to get going.

It is worth trying because there is a recent study showing it may enhance nerve growth factors, and hence healing.

http://psychcentral.com/news/2009/06...tors/6761.html

Nortriptyline is amitriptyline's metabolic derivative and may work in the same way. Many people here in the past and currently use one or the other.

Unfortunately, the medications for neuropathic pain aren't like taking an aspirin. They take time to work, and they have significant side effects. In my experience - if you judge the effectiveness or your ability to tolerate a medication by how the first dose hits you, you may never find anything that will work.

Of course there may be some things that just make you so sick that you can't continue. But I would say you need to give most of these meds about a month to see how your body will adjust to them as well as how effective they are for you.

That's the real catch-22, particularly for those of us who need to hold down a job. The reason we want to take the medication is so that we can continue working. But if it makes you too sick or groggy to perform at work, or to even drive to work in the first place, then it's of little value. That's why taking supplements is so popular here. They also take time to work, but they generally don't make you feel crappy, sometimes can help considerably with pain, and can help your body regenerate or at least slow the loss of nerves.

If you have started taking its great if it helps you, but the withdrawal will be awful insomnia and probably lots of pain. So possibly best to keep going if you've started unless the symptoms disappear. When I stopped taking it after two weeks it caused a lot more pain the effects of I'm still recovering months later.

The withdrawal sounds really bad...can that happen even if one has taken 1 or 2 pills.

Cliffman

I have only had one of these pills and I can't function today....plus, feeling depressed due to the foggy feeling. That said, I agree with you that I will need to give it time to see if symptoms get better.

Thanks for the advice

Cliffman

I was started on amitriptyline at 50mg at hour of sleep and it knocked me out for almost 18 hours! I was put on it as an antidepressant. I titrated down to 30mg which keeps my ideation about suicide from sneaking up and no longer makes me sleepy so i guess it is useful and free of any side-effects that i know about. It took more than 2 weeks to find the best dosage.