I have just started to use Amitriptyline for the second time to help me with me TN. It worked very well for me last time and I think it is starting to work for me again.
I just wanted to hear other people's experiences with this drug. Did it work? What dose do you take? And what side effects did you notice?
When reading about TN I am confused that I don't see this drug often mentioned as a treatment. The other drugs that are often recommended first seem to have worse side effects. I have only ever taken Amitriptyline for my TN. I am hoping that it will work again and I won't be forced to try other drugs.
Any feedback is welcomed :) This is a very frightening and lonely path to be going down again.
I am taking Nortriptyline which is close to amytrip... I found that it works well. Not as well as triletptal but the only side effects I have is dry mouth and weight gain. I have a lot more breakthrough pain but I can drive, think etc. There is also a lot of room to increase the med. Now I am not is crises pain so it works well, I don't know how well it will work in suicidal pain. I am on 40mg per day. The max is 100mg per day. I think you should use anything that works. If it works for you, keep it until it doesn't. I can handle the small breakthrough pain. And I can get it increased, at least for awhile. The anti-seizure meds make you fell like a zombie. It works really well but it slows down ALL neurons. So I couldn't drive, do math, and it makes you pretty dumb. However if the pain is bad I'll take them again in a heartbeat.
Thank you for your reply. I am only on 20mgs and working my way to 30mgs. I think it is helping. I just don't see that many people use this for TN. I do also think it might not work if your pain is through the roof. I seem to have Atypical TN and very lucky my pain does not seem to be as intense as other people describe.
Thanks again for your reply :)
tkal said:
I am taking Nortriptyline which is close to amytrip... I found that it works well. Not as well as triletptal but the only side effects I have is dry mouth and weight gain. I have a lot more breakthrough pain but I can drive, think etc. There is also a lot of room to increase the med. Now I am not is crises pain so it works well, I don't know how well it will work in suicidal pain. I am on 40mg per day. The max is 100mg per day. I think you should use anything that works. If it works for you, keep it until it doesn't. I can handle the small breakthrough pain. And I can get it increased, at least for awhile. The anti-seizure meds make you fell like a zombie. It works really well but it slows down ALL neurons. So I couldn't drive, do math, and it makes you pretty dumb. However if the pain is bad I'll take them again in a heartbeat.
I take Amitriptyline 75 mg at night, I have very dry mouth, I don't take it primarily for TN, I take it for nerve pain in legs caused by Spinal Stenosis but neurologist said it would probably help with TN too. I also take Carbamazipine 1300mg throughout the day and Cymbalta 70mg in am. I get more side effects from Carbamazipine.
I take Amitriptyline 75 mg at night, I have very dry mouth, I don't take it primarily for TN, I take it for nerve pain in legs caused by Spinal Stenosis but neurologist said it would probably help with TN too. I also take Carbamazipine 1300mg throughout the day and Cymbalta 70mg in am. I get more side effects from Carbamazipine.
I've been on nortriptyline for more than a year. It's been my best med for type 2 pain. At the highest point I was on 150mg/day, 75mg in the morning and again at night. Then I lowered it to 50mg morning and night and added cymbalta.
Now I've been on 100mg nortriptyline and 120mg cymbalta and oxyconton morning and night for a couple months. It's still much better than neurontin treated me and more effective (type 2 constant pain). Oxcarbazapine helped a bit but made me exhausted after I reached 1200mg/day and I never started it again after weaning off post mvd.
For me splitting the dose to morning and night helped the most.
I take Amitriptyline 75 mg at night, I have very dry mouth, I don't take it primarily for TN, I take it for nerve pain in legs caused by Spinal Stenosis but neurologist said it would probably help with TN too. I also take Carbamazipine 1300mg throughout the day and Cymbalta 70mg in am. I get more side effects from Carbamazipine.
I have Atypical TN with constant pain too. I have just started back on the Amitriptyline and slowly increasing. It wipes me right out. I am sleeping soooo much (which is kinda welcomed after being so anxious & in so much pain). But even during the day I am so foggy.
It sounds like it's side effects are much less compared to other drugs used for TN, though. And if it works to relieve the pain I will take it :)
Shindig said:
I've been on nortriptyline for more than a year. It's been my best med for type 2 pain. At the highest point I was on 150mg/day, 75mg in the morning and again at night. Then I lowered it to 50mg morning and night and added cymbalta.
Now I've been on 100mg nortriptyline and 120mg cymbalta and oxyconton morning and night for a couple months. It's still much better than neurontin treated me and more effective (type 2 constant pain). Oxcarbazapine helped a bit but made me exhausted after I reached 1200mg/day and I never started it again after weaning off post mvd.
For me splitting the dose to morning and night helped the most.
I’ve been taking Amitryptilyn for a long time, first for irritable bowel and now for Atypical TN. I have been doing a lot of reading lately and have noticed that in the UK and Wales and Scotland according to the NICE guide it is one of the first drugs prescribed to a newly diagnosed TN patient. I take mine at bedtime only and have varied the dose from 75 to 150 mg at my discretion for my IBS, although the IBS is not much of an issue now since I can’t keep much food down now. Now I take 75 per night. Good luck.
TL and Anan:
I’m so curious now. I have IBS and I’ve been having leg and now recently hip pain. Not joints though. I just went to instacare today about the pain in my left side and he thinks it could be nerves. I have actually been considering asking to try Amitriptyline because I have ATN and I read that the anti seizure meds aren’t always as effective with type 2 but the class that amitriptyline is in seems to do better. Seems to have less scary side effects which is why I haven’t taken my Gabapentin yet. Do both of you have good experiences with amitriptyine treating the IBS, the leg nerve pain and the TN. If it helps with all of that I may have found a jackpot if it works for me. Thanks for the info.
justjane37:
I’m sorry you have to go through this again, it is scary and lonely. Good luck with your med. Please let us know if it works again for you and what effects you experience. I hope you can find the relief you found last time. I will be curious. I’m trying to find a good comfortable med for me.
Thanks!
I just read that nortriptyline is also good for IBS. I had no idea. I have IBS and was wondering why I wasn't having as much pain or diarrhea. Good to know.
Thanks that is very helpful. I haven't settled on a med yet as they all make me nervous but I've had IBS most of my life and the leg pain started about a monthish ago. I would love to take care of multiple issues with one med. There have been a few good discussions on amitriptyline recently and I think I'm going to talk to my doc about it. I swear I have aged 20 years in the past 6 months from all this pain. I've gotta find something to bring some life and energy back.Thanks again!
anan said:
Hi Bells
I find the amitrptyline definately works for leg pains overnight. If I take it about 2 hours before bed the pain does not wake me.
I take amitriptyline for fibromyalgia. I just started on Tegretol, I can not handle much amitriptyline at all. They started me on 50mg and slept for 4 days straight. For me it has helped with sleep for sue. Other than that I do not now.
I know some people use Ritalin in conjunction with anti-seizure meds, I am starting Ritalin in about a week as a kicker for my anti-depressant meds. But I have an unusual brain chemistry and while most people find Ritalin as an energy booster, I get drowsy. It works in children as a mild tranquilizer and usually in adults as a drug than increases focus, concentration and increase in energy. It's something to look into.
I used to take nortriptyline before MVD and it helped quite a bit. I asked about amtriptyline but was always told nortriptyline had fewer side affects and wouldn't make me as tired. I was already have issues with constant fatigue so I stayed with it. Just a thought for those of you that said amtriptyline makes you tired.
Been taking it for 30, ever since I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, continued when I was diagnosed with atypical facial pain, still taking it for what I believe, and my current neuro, accepts is TN2. It helps.
I once took 600 mg a day, but now down to 150 mg. Or if I need it, 200. I take it and Xanax. Together they give me some good hours, when I can even forget about the pain, and takes some of the bite out of the bad hours. It will not make the pain go away. I've never experienced that. Initially, it put me to sleep and made me a zombie the next day. But you get inured to that. After 30 years, however, it may explain the loss of libido. But 30 years may explain it, too.
I take Amitriptyline 2_25mg at bed for my fibromyalgia . It helps me sleep at night . I also take Gabapentin 300mg at bed . When I first started gaba I had a hard time with it . Over time I have developed a better tolerance for it.I really did not have any noticeable side effects on the Amitriptyline. Take it at bed 1 hour to 30 mins before. With this said everyone is different and different things work for different people
Hi, I am new to TN having it diagnosed about three weeks ago, my doctor put me on 25mg amitriptyline straight off and it gave me about 20 hours relief however I would then get a very painful time after that time. He upped it to 50mg and so far it has proven effective although I still get some minor pain toward the end of the 24 hour period. It tends to make me drowsey so I take it in the evening as I would not want to be driving immediately after taking it. I'm not aware of any other side effects at the moment.
From what I can make out amitriptyline is taken for a number of ailments, I have a couple of friends who have it prescribed for other reasons and they find it very helpful with little in the way of side effects. It's early days for me yet but if there is any change I will post it on this site.