Amitriptyline Hydrochloride?

[Shani]

Hi everyone, yesterday night I tried to take the new med Amitriptyline or labelled as 'Redomex' over here being an anti-depressant I took a dose of 25mg.And told it can take up to 5 weeks to take effect, if at all.Maily for nerve related pain.

It after a few time to kick in, it immediately made me feel all weird and unresponsive, totally knocked me out so I thought it'd be ok after a night sleeping(it said to take two hours before to sleep etc)But even today during the day I felt a mix of possibly drunk, hit with a hammer or just anything.Really not able to talk to me at all, I wouldn't have a clue, all I wanted was to sleep because I felt so strange and couldn't function.
I'm giving this untill monday before I go to the Rheumy, so he can see it too and I'll tell him of course.
I wonder if anyone else had it occur?
The 'annoying'Neuro-Immunologist didn't even warn for this and said 'some people' can get an efffect listed on the descriptions but that I shouldn't look at it in the first place...

[Maria3667]

Dear Shani,

I can't believe you were given Amitriptyline...
The exact same effects you experienced happened to me too... In fact after the first doze I totally zoned out for 24 hours.

Also, Amitriptyline is not new.. It's been around since the 70'ies... And for Sjogren's it's about the worst AD you can get (because of it's drying effects).. Even worse, I suspect Amitriptyline might have made Sjogren's manifest in me.

However I have to admit, for anti-depressant purposes, Amitriptyline was the best medication ever! Only soon after commencing I got these weird dry patches on my skin (including a corn on my foot)... A little while later unbearable mouth & eye dryness... so I was forced to quit.

So be careful!

[Shani]

Thank you Maria!

My Rheumy is not aware of this yet but I really think the worst thing to do when also having Sj?gren and worse fatigue...to up it some more by prescribing that.

My dose is 25 and for nerve pain purposes and so on.But I don't like so much this zombie feeling.

I also find this scary seeing that I'm still 17.
But age doesn't have a matter these days.

[Aquarius]

Amitriptyline (also known as Elavil) is an older antidepressant in the tricyclic family.   I took it years ago together with an SSRI, Prozac.    I could only tolerate 1/4-1/2 of a 25 mg tablet.  25mg would knock me out and leave me feeling hung over the next day.  Elavil also increased my heart rate, something I didn't need.   

It is indeed very drying, probably the most drying of any tricyclic.  It is good for insomnia and pain control.   

Because of its drying effects I can no longer take Elavil, no matter how small the dosage.   

[Skylar]

Did you call your doctor and explain how it made you feel? I had a lot of trouble finding the right antidepressant that didn't cause miserable side effects yet was effective. There are so many choices that there is no reason for you to feel weird and unresponsive, maybe your doctor will even suggest a smaller dose to begin?

[Joe S.]

Amitriptyline = very dry mouth!

[irish]

shani, The amitriptylene is indeed a very drying medication. I took it years ago and it knocked me out also and made me "loopy". If you are in dire need of it you might ask your doc to decrease the dosage. They do make it in 10 mgm tabs.

Also, I would call the doc's office and tell them what is happening to you from the med. I would not continue to take it when it makes you so sedated as a person can fall and hurt themselves to say the least.

There are other antidepressant medications that can be used for nerve pain. The others on the forum will have better suggestions than I do. Also, are you taking gabapentin for the nerve pain at all?? I don't know if someone your age is able to take it or not but it is labeled as an anticonvulsant drug so it might be able to be taken by a wide variety of ages. Good luck. Irish

[Scottietottie]

Hi 

I was given Amitriptalyne for nerve pain. The doc wanted me to take 25mg but I found it was too drying. I did find that 10mg taken at bedtime helped though. Eventuall that bout of nerve pain went away (after about 2 years) and I was able to stop the Amitryptaline. I'd go back on it it the pain returned though.

Take care - Scottie