Could anybody give me an idea what the initial side effects could be or were for you. Did it take long to adjust. My 84 year old mother has been prescribed it and is about nervous about it

thanks Lisa

I was put on it for pain relief many years ago. It turned me in to a zombie.......It was like I was just going through the motions, I would just sit on the couch and feel zapped of energy. I stayed on it for a couple of weeks, then stopped....

Is it not primarily prescribed for Depression?

It is an antidepressant yes, but it is also prescribed for certain types of pain. I imagine the side effects can be the same.

My dh was on it for pain also about 10 years ago. At first he was like above, then a moody shit with bad bad headaches. Took more than a month for him to be functioning normally. It was used to help him sleep, so that his nerve damage could repair itself.

Thanks for your replies.

My biggest concerns is the sleepiness as she not steady on her feet. She has neuropathy and now can't feel her feet well.she lives alone in another town and she is a worry but she is fiercely independent. Oh well she can but try it.

Thanks Lisa

I was on about 20 mg of amitriptyline for a chronic pain condition for about 5 years. I took it at night about an hour before bed, as it does make you groggy.

I got a dry throat, but not any other side effects I can remember.

For a short while I went up to 50mg for depression and I did feel like a zombie and like I was floating and my feet weren't touching the ground, but i would say that is just a short term (weeks) side affect of the body adjusting to the medication. I choose to go back to my 20 mg dose quite soon.

good luck for you mum. It definitely helped me to get restorative REM sleep and boost my serotonin therefore helping chronic pain. It also helped my stress to fade a little.

After about 5 years, I changed to nortriptyline on a similar dose, which suited me better - so keep that in mind for the future. It had less side effects for me and is in the same 'family' of drugs, and used for similar things.

If your mum is struggling, she could try halving the tablet for the first week or so, but probably check this with her gp first.

thanks for your reply

mum seems to be ok on it so far. She is sleeping well and not feeling to groggy.
she is only taking half so far for two weeks then upping to a whole pill if all is well

Lisa

I was on a low dose a few years ago for assistance with pain and sleep. I would take it before bed, about 10mg. Had insanely dry mouth but that got better after I adjusted. When I increased the dose it got worse so I decreased it again and it was fine.

Like NightSky I found it really good to assist with restorative sleep and my sleeping patterns improved so I would then feel better in the day both in quality and quantity of sleep. If I was in the same position again I would take it.

I was on a low dose and I didn't notice any hangover type feelings in the morning or anything.

WHen I took it I was told to slowly move from a half to a whole and just see how it went. Going slowly and reduce the side effects maybe.