Medication side effects
 

I've been taking nortriptyline for a week now. I started at 10 mg, and on sunday night, switched to 25 mg. That night, and again last night, I've had horrendous stomach pains. At first I thought it was related to my thyroid, and just being hungry at night.... but I feel fairly certain that it's the meds.... So now, since my physiatrist is on vacation, I'll have to go see my family doctor.... The headaches have been very much under control, and while I don't want to stop taking the meds, the pain is pretty severe...

So - Any suggestions on what I could be prescribed to help with the headaches? I need something that is at least somewhat safe to take during pregnancy (the plan is that once I know I am pg, I'll stop taking it)... I just don't know that fam doc will know what else to suggest.

Stomach upset is a listed side effect of nortriptyline.

Have you tried just icing your head and upper neck?

a little, the cold seemed to make things a bit worse... my neck is not sore, just the front right side of my head, behind my eye. Some days its a dull roar, others a loud scream. With the meds I have had almost no headache at all. Still foggy, but at least not in pain.

At one point, I went up to 30mg of nortriptyline and it was giving me what I think was bad heartburn. I would get horrible pain in the middle of my chest in the evening.

Currently I take 10mg of nortriptyline and 25mg of topamax and get no headaches unless I get really overstimulated or overdo it. I'm not sure if topamax is safe to take during pregnancy though. I think it's a pretty serious medication. Hopefully your doctor will have a good recommendation.

Thanks Lagr. I think I could handle being on just 10 mg of nortriptyline. It worked just fine... I'll tak with my doc tomorrow afternoon and see what he says.

Decided to veto the doctors appointment and ditch the meds till my specialist is back in town. Just had a huge dizzy spell where I nearly hit the ground. Cannot imagine that would have been good for my head. Thankfully there was a seat right there, so I managed to hit the seat before I hit the floor.

I really just wish I could catch a break... the meds were working, headaches mostly alleviated.... grrr

I had bad side effects with amitriptyline. It made me very dizzy (I also had a near fall) and I was sleepy ALL THE TIME. I ended up switching to topamax which helped alleviate the headaches better and caused fewer side effects for me. I haven't been as dizzy or as groggy on topamax.

The one downside is that topamax does cause problems with word finding so it adds to that.

Hope you find something that works soon!

Thanks Eowyn. I'll talk with the specialist on thursday next week. I've stopped taking the nortriptyline, and thankfully today I feel great except for the headache brewing... but half dozen of one six of the other right? I'm not going to complain. There may not be many options for me, since we will still be ttc next month again (on a month off on the recommendation of our fertility specialist)... and if that's the case I'll just deal... I've gotten this far without much headache help, and if I have to simply suck it up, that is what I will do.

Topomax mad me much worse in every way. But my neurologist said that I'm more sensitive to medication than most people. I definitely think it's worth a try though.

I'm very sensitive to medications as well in general.... Anything with a sedative effect hits me like a wrecking ball... Gravol literally knocks me flat for three days...

I'm happy, the headache is not so bad today... Hopefully this means that I'll stay on an upward trend.

Elavil, nortriptyline affects the serotonin level in the stomach. Some times doctors prescribe for Irritable Bowel Syndrome. I was on Elavil (10 mg) which helped my IBS but did nothing for my headaches. Increased my dizziness and made me lethargic always. Switched to nortriptyline which did nothing even for my stomach.

It took few weeks for my body to adjust. I took elavil for a long time which helped my stomach but didn't see a point continuing and my Neurologist wants me to stop it. Seems like some have good success for headaches and other symptoms without much side affects. Seems like it is commonly prescribed for PCS.

Some natural headache remedies you could try:

1) When you HAVE a headache, put your feet in hot water (really hot, as hot as you can stand) and put ice packs on your forehead and neck.

2) To PREVENT migraines, you can take 400 mg riboflavin (vitamin B2), 500 mg magnesium, and butterbur daily (max dose of whatever brand you get). Since the riboflavin and magnesium are nutritional supplements, I would imagine they'd be safe for TTC/pregnancy. You'd have to ask about the butterbur.