Experience reports on the drug Amitriptyline:
Amitriptyline User Reviews, Experiences
Posted in Nervous system
Reviews, Experiences, Questions
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I would like to share my experiences here, because I really have something positive to report and would like to encourage other sufferers.
I have been undergoing psychiatric treatment since 2002, but the first symptoms appeared as early as 1999, when I was still very unfamiliar with psychotropic drugs, but that changed over the next two decades.
It turned out that I have a borderline disorder to 50%, the other 50% was never named, there is disagreement between various doctors and therapists, I suspect schizotypal disorder because mild psychotic symptoms have also occurred in some cases.
The depression had never completely disappeared since 2002, I always had residual symptoms. Depressed mood, concentration problems, etc. I have taken almost the whole range of antidepressants (various SSRIs, various SSNRIs, SNRIs (reboxetine), mirtazapine, St. John’s wort, tricyclics, agomelatine,…). It all helped a little, but not really. To stay on the medication, the effect was never enough for me, so I kept nagging and asking if there were any alternatives, but nothing until 2017. That’s when I went to see a new psychiatrist and got amitriptyline. It was carefully increased to 150mg, and after 3 weeks it was like a small epiphany, I suddenly felt things, joie de vivre, exuberance that had been inaccessible for many years, and the restlessness and anxiety were gone.
Disadvantage: severe side effects (constipation (!!!), dry mouth, circulatory problems, potency problems. I couldn’t do much without laxatives, unpleasant, and at work in meetings my tongue regularly stuck to the roof of my mouth when I had to speak a lot. It really sucked. So if someone takes it and the pharmacy has doubts as to whether laxatives are really the right thing to take, they change pharmacies. Sometimes I was close to intestinal obstruction. It really paralyzes the bowel.
Half a year later I was given aripiprazole in rehab, it was called Borderline=Aripiprazole (Abilify). That was the second epiphany, after just 4 days. The stressful tension fell away from me.
The next few years went up and down, I didn’t want to take 150mg permanently, we reduced it to 100, and again and again there was a severe depressive phase, so the dose went up again… back and forth.then
At the end of 2023, I then urgently asked the doctor to use a 3rd medication so that I would have to take less amitriptyline. He didn’t want that because of the possible interactions, understandably. But he replaced aripiprazole with sulpiride, 200mg daily. That was the third and last enlightenment through psychotropic drugs. I have been cured of my depression ever since. As if all the efforts and all the therapy had taken effect at once.
My personal pain threshold is 100mg amitriptyline, which makes the side effects bearable. Slight constipation, dry mouth in the morning, no more potency problems, circulation better.
I would like to encourage everyone affected to never give up, to complain, to be annoying, to change doctors if necessary, even if this is difficult as a person with statutory health insurance.
For me, redemption came after 22 years.
I must now take up the cudgels for amitriptyline. According to the doctor, it is the most effective antidepressant, even though it is so old (1960s).And augmentation with atypical neuroleptics (quetiapine was not as effective) works well. Sulpiride, also old, has also often worked well for treatment-resistant depression, I’ve researched.
So keep going, never give up, everything can still work out!
I have been prescribed amitriptyline as a sedative after months of poor sleep and years of chronic pain due to tension. I take 2mg daily, some days 4mg.
The first two weeks I was so tired that I slept well, but… I was always dead tired for 15 hours of the day, sometimes I couldn’t even get up in the morning because of it. In addition, my mouth was numb for a few minutes every evening after taking it, even though I had dissolved the 2mg (one drop) in 100ml of water. I also had a lot of dry mouth.
After these two weeks I was no longer dead tired, but was able to sleep well every night. The numbness in my mouth decreased (I now always dissolve it in 50 ml of water, the numbness only occurs with less) and the dry mouth also got a little better. I also noticed that I had less pain overall. All in all, very great!
Everything was great!
Then, after a month, the “real” side effects started:
1. I have nightmares all the time.These are much less bad for me than before, I can calm down within twenty minutes and then go back to sleep, but it’s still annoying.
2. my dreams are generally altered, I hardly remember them, within five minutes of waking up the memories go away.
3. hallucinations. Luckily most of the time these are just shadows I see – I think there’s something there, turn around, but there’s nothing there.It’s just annoying.Sometimes when I’m stressed, these hallucinations get worse though.The worst one so far was a shadow flying straight at me, which my brain interpreted as a very large insect. Because of my trauma, I’m very jumpy and something like that really throws me off, even if I realize within three seconds that it’s not real…
The internet says that hallucinations only occur as a side effect in patients who already have schizophrenia; this is wrong, as far as I know I don’t have schizophrenia.
I have also noticed that I can no longer sleep without amitriptyline. If I skip taking it, I don’t get tired and when I lie down, I just lie awake for hours. However, I have noticed that this problem is solved as soon as I don’t take it for 1-2 days.
I can only warn against this medication. It helped relatively well with my bone pain, but the side effects are just awful. I had panic attacks, anxiety and was just not happy. My whole body fought against these tablets.
Even after three weeks, I am still not pain-free, but I am plagued by a pulse rate
pulse between 92 and 123 (also “slips” up to 150). The doctor has not yet responded to my complaints.
My GP prescribed me amitriptyline to treat depression and chronic pain. Shortly after taking a 10 mg tablet for the first time in the evening, drowsiness and confusion set in. The next day (today) I didn’t have the strength to get out of bed. I am completely powerless and tired. I also have suicidal thoughts. Consequently, I cannot recommend the preparation.
helped me in the worst crises, tried all the SSRI/bupropion/MAO inhibitors before and didn’t help at all, now a long-term customer of this great active ingredient. Not for nothing the former gold standard and, according to the family doctor, very effective in men. The pleiotropic active ingredient has a wide range of effects that are desirable in depressive phases/crisis states (analgesia, fatigue, sedation and of course elevation of mood and a few others). Side effects are few to non-existent
I was prescribed this medication to assist with some damage to my facial nerves. A pleasant unexpected outcome was a reduction in my monthly migraines. My initial dose of 50mg resulted in such dizziness that I was unable to raise my head. Now, I take a 25mg pill before going to sleep, making sure to get into bed immediately. I double the dose a week prior to my menstrual cycle. Unfortunately, weight loss seems unattainable with this medication, but the benefits it provides are well worth it.