I was wondering if anyone has had issues w this med. Ive read it can cause worsening tinnitus. I didnt trust the site so I thought id ask. Also weight gain? It seems to do that as well. I have headaches everyday so im wondering if its worth it.

Amitriptyline seems to effect different people in different ways.

One's individual experience with it should be the sole consideration. Just because is helps with head aches for one person does not warrant continued use by someone who does not see a benefit.

WComp doctors and insurance companies sometimes will try to say the injured worker is not cooperating with the doctor when refusing or discontinuing a prescribed med, even when the side-effects outweigh the benefits.

All psychotropic meds should be evaluated carefully.

Thanks Mark. It just seems like they are so quick to throw meds and w out a discussion as to what they really are. Scary stuff. I got referred to a psychiatrist to manage these so ill get there input. Im the less is better girl. Hate meds. Lol

I've been on Amitriptyline pretty much since December now. 30mg seems to be my magic bullet. I use a pill cutter to cut the 10mg pills and take 15mg in the morning and 15mg at night about 3 hours before bed. Went to 50mg at one point but that high dosage gave me much worse headaches. I went one week on Notriptyline after complaining to my Neuro about side effects but I couldn't sleep very well on the Notriptyline so went back to Amitriptyline. Amitriptyline will cause a lot of dry mouth and frequent urination but if you can handle those side effects its worth it. Yes, and more tinnitus but it's not too bothersome. Goes away in seconds. It has greatly alleviated much of my headaches(on 30mg) and helps me sleep big time. Nice deep sleep!

__________________________________________________ ____________
8 months under the wonderful spell of PCS ...Hooray. Current symptoms: Headaches(only after using the computer for too long), constant head discomfort(itching, tingling, cool sensation in face and head), tinnitus, easily aggravated, depression.

For me, I found that it made my mind wander and paranoid. It made me tired but my mind was too active to fall asleep. Also, experiences the dry mouth and discontinued use after 2 weeks. Strangely enough, my headaches went away for the most part a week or so after I started taking it. I dont' think that had anything to do it with it as Dr. said it would take a month to see any effect.

From what I've read, the low dose amitriptyline (10 to 20 mgs) is supposed to be effective for insomnia and head ache rather quickly. The anti-depressant effect may take longer.

FWIW, I was just researching treatments for tinnitus (for my wife) and several sites (including Wiki) mentioned tricyclics (amitriptyline, nortriptyline) in small doses as a treatment for subjective tinnitus.

However, benzodiazepines (alprazolam in particular) are mentioned as both cause and treatment - cause being part of benzodiazepine withdrawal, and treatment being to take/increase it again. Not the best of solutions, IMO.

I don't recall seeing it specifically mentioned, but tricyclics may work the same way - cause and treatment.

Doc

This was the first headache preventive medication I took. It helped some (more than nothing) but made me very groggy and dizzy. I also got to a point where it was not preventing the headaches so well any more. I had better results with topamax.