Amitriptyline
 

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 :hug:

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.

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:)

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

Cliffman

Not likely...
You can search here and read past posts from older members here who have moved on...
Use amitriptyline and nortriptyline as a keyword.
I don't recall many complaining of withdrawal.
The doses used for PN are very low, compared to the old therapeutic use for depression which was over 10 times the PN type doses.

I took nortryptyline and was up to 50mg. It helped a bit but my vision got really blurry so I had to stop. It wasnt helping enough to continue anyway. I was really worried about withdrawal because of what I heard but I experienced no withdrawal. I was also on gabapentin for four months ( up to 1400mg) but weaned off of that too because It wasn't helping much. I just stopped about 4 weeks ago ( slowly weaned) and I didn't experience any withdrawal from that either.

Despite thinking I haven't healed AT ALL because my insane sensations haven't changed, my pain has calmed down. I still have pain all day everyday but I am now able to handle it without medication. So I am either used to the pain or it has improved a bit.

Just taking it once doesn't cause withdrawal, it only happened after two weeks for me. Just because it is a low concentration doesn't change the fact it is a strong mind altering drug that when if you stop taking it suddenly it will cause side effects in many cases. It makes you sleep like a log so insomnia for a few days if you stop taking it is to be expected like most sleeping pills. Can be pretty useful for some people though, I don't think it is for me.