[PCSLearner]

Has anyone experienced Elavil withdrawal symptoms?

My daughter has progressed from 30 down to 10 mg per day. She was on 10 mg for about six weeks. Took her last one Thursday night.

Wow...nausea, migraine-like headaches, heart palpitations. Does this sound familiar to anyone? I have calls in to her GP and psychologist.

We are hoping this is withdrawal that will ease within a few days and not a return of hardcore concussion symptoms.

[Mark in Idaho]

Can she wean to 5 mgs and then try to get off the Elavil? 10 mgs is not a small does for an injured brain. She might even try 5 mgs every other day for a period of time. It half-life is thought to be 15 to 24 hours. This means there is a substantial residue to taper off. A couple more tapering steps would likely be helpful.

Withdrawal from drugs like Elavil is know to be brutal for some. The reports suggest sound nutritional support during the weaning, especially after discontinuing completely.

My best to her as she tries to get finished with it. I am not looking forward to getting off Paxil when the time comes. Paxil discontinuation syndrome makes Elavil look like a cake walk.

[PCSLearner]

Yeah...we should have tapered from 10 to 5 but we didn't. We are four days into it and she doesn't want to "go backward" ...so here we are. We underestimated how powerful 10 mg of something can be. Warning to all future readers!!

The symptoms are not constant but they are wicked when they show up. She made it through school today.

Day four she's got less nausea, less headache, less heart palpitation, more irritability.

Funny you should mention nutritional support. She feels like she can't get enough to eat and drink today. We are focusing on high protein, low sugar, low caffeine. Thank you for lending some credibility to this symptom!

After seeing her go through this I'm wondering how many of her symptoms in the past few months have been associated with her weaning herself off the Elavil and not the concussion. Why is it that every single medication has a side effect of headche, nausea, dizzyness?

We are anxious, and hopeful, to see where her symptom level is once she is medication free (a few weeks I guess).