Amitriptyline - any experience?

Amitripryline is a medication prescribed for depression but it was found that the part of the brain that it works on is also the part for back pain. So hey it is now prescribed as a pain killer for back pain. You usually take it at night as it makes you sleepy but my Dr has told me I can try taking it different times of the day, so I am at the moment taking 50mg at night and 10mg at lunch time when my back does start to give me pain if I lift a kettle, stand around etc. I am on day 3 at the moment I have felt ok, not been sleepy at all.

Harris - sorry, the amitriptyline has been prescribed for nerve pain, not osteoarthritis.
It's sooo complicated isn't it

Harris oddly enough (and also conversely), I was diagnosed with Generalised Anxiety Disorder over twenty years ago, but have only ever been prescribed antidepressants.
Sounds like it could be a panacea for us!

I take it for anxiety and it helps me sleep. But I sometimes do have rather disturbing dreams but nit enough for me to stop taking it as my anxiety was due to some traumatic time I was having and I wasn’t sleeping at all till I took this. I didn’t know it was prescribed for pain and I’m surprised as I’ve got Avery bad arthritic hip and wake some nights with the pain.

I was prescribed 10mg for atypical facial pain. It never touched it
so I stopped taking it.
A couple of years later I was prescribed it again for anxiety/disturbed sleep following my daughter being very unwell. This time I was prescribed 25mg which I take 2 hours before I go to bed and it’s really helped me.
Sadly, even with the increased dose I still suffer the facial pain.

Thank you everyone for taking time to reply, I really appreciate it.
I will read all of your replies later, as I need to take them in properly x

I had it prescribed for nerve pain and the best effect it had was to improve my night's sleep . GP asked if I still needed it and I said I did as had no bad side effects.

I think amitriptyline is a wonder drug!

I have Primary Progressive Multiple Sclerosis..had it 23 years.

One of the early symptoms was intense pain in my buttocks and in the back of my thighs. It felt like I was sitting on broken, jagged glass. It is nerve pain.

I was given the drug in 2000 and the dose was low...maybe 10mg. I had to keep increasing the dose until it stopped the pain.

I got up to 100mg and slept 12 hours every night and was painfree in those areas.

I gradually decreased it and have been on 50mg for several years. I sleep well most of the time and don't have that pain now.

I tried to lower it further, but the pain returned, so 50mg is my permanent dose..unless anything changes.

Living with pain is so demoralising.
Good luck

Definitely worth a try FannyCornforth. Like any medication some people experience side effects, others don't. Sadly it doesn't work for me (fibro, osteoarthritis, spinal nerve pain), even the smallest crumb triggers what I can only describe as a sense of overdose with nightmares and extreme lethargy. I was happy to try it though, its commonly used for pain conditions and usually well tolerated.

FannyCornforth, it made me constipated. If this should happen I personally recommend a low maintenance dose of Laxido however ,as always, please consult the doctors.

I have been on 5mg every night for some years, it has certainly reduced the number of headaches I was having. I have never had any side effects, but a friend had terrible nightmares when she was prescribed it. However another friend is on 50mg a day and it's certainly reduced the migraines which were blighting her life

I suffer from nerve pain in my neck and shoulder following a brain injury 17 years ago. It was so bad that I was simply unable to function, it was just a constant red fog of pain filling my mind. I felt so hopeless and would cry a lot. My neurosurgeon recommended 25mg Amitriptyline taken at night, it doesn’t totally remove all pain but it has damped it down to a bearable level. I would hate to go back to the way it was.

I've been taking Amitriptyline for about three years now.
Partly for my chronic back pain, for which I also take Solpadine. It has helped to reduce the awful spasms I was getting across my spine.
Also partly as it's a mild anti-depressant,- during a family crisis at that time I suffered from terrible anxiety during the night. It definitely helps me to sleep.
I was told to double the dose recently, so I started taking one in the morning (I usually just take one at night) but it made me so sleepy all day that I couldn't really do anything except keep nodding off. So I'm back to just one at night.
Mine is only a low dose, 10mg. But it works for me and I wouldn't be happy without it now.

Yes I take it, having been taking it since early March, for spinal pain thatssends me up the wall. Anyway, it worked. At first I worked up to 30mg (3 tablets) a day and took them just before bedtime. I found I was sleepy in in the morning until I got up and got going. It stopped the pain and I had a wonderful summer but the pain has been gradually coming back. I spoke to my doctor and he said I could take 10mg for every kg of my weight so as my weight was 70 kg I could increase up to 7.

I now take 60mg a day and I take them about 7 pm so I am not so sleepy in the morning. A great pain killer.

Fanny, ( sorry,don’t know how to highlight your name), it’s difficult to say when I noticed relief from the Amitriptyline as I was used to the constant pain having had it for many years. What I found after gradually increasing the dose was the pain was less severe and I didn’t get the intense pain spasms which occurred when it felt like even the bones were aching- hard to describe how that felt. I have stayed at 40 mgs as that puts the discomfort into the background and makes it much more bearable. I did try 50mgs but gained no greater relief and prefer to keep the dose as low as possible as it’s a long term treatment. Trial and error really to get the best outcome, I just wish I had been prescribed it sooner so am grateful to my GP for suggesting I give it a try. Hope it works for you.

FannyCornforth prescribed Amitriptyline for Shingles in my back - miracle relief.

Marydoll Your allergy experience not dissimilar to mine and Hypertension drugs. Long conversation with family pharmacist, to discover this very often due to the fillers used in the manufacturing process rather than the drug. In such cases she would always recommend the proprietary brand rather than a generic brand (one made under licence from the origin developing company) because different manufacturers use different fillers. Any future problems maybe worth mentioning to your GP/Pharmacist.

I had the same experience as marydoll nightmares and no help with sleep or pain control but it works for other people so worth a try.

Hi Fanny
My friend and neighbour has spinal stenosis.
She takes strong painkillers but was also recently prescribed Amitriptyline and then had the dose increased.
It seems to work for her in helping her sleep.
She is very particular about timing in the evening, she explained but I can’t remember the details.
She is away at the moment so I can’t check.
Good luck if you decide to take them.

This is the FB Group I joined: Osteoarthritis Support Group (UK only). It has 10K members and is full of information. Also check out Versus Arthritis which is a website with loads of info. My arthritis is manageable as long as I keep mobile and do targeted exercises. I prefer to do this than to take pain relief. I notice a real deterioration if I miss a day of the exercises.

Hi Fanny I was prescribed Amitriptylene for muscle pain due to having M.E. but it relaxed me so much that I kept stopping breathing (like a form of sleep apnoea) and would wake up suddenly, gasping for breath.

After a week of this, which I had never had before, my GP told me to stop taking it.

Re your arthritis, which I also have, have you joined an arthritis Facebook support group? I joined one for the UK only, and have learnt such a lot on there with reading other people's experiences.

I take it for migraine and it does help, I also sleep much better. .
One of the side effects I do get is a very dry mouth.

Oh wow!
Couldn't get more different experiences Spinnaker and Mary.
Thank you both.
(I spoke to the consultant's secretary yesterday and she said the report has been done and she would post it that day.
I'm not entirely sure why they don't email it.)

I took Amitriptyline when waiting for a hip replacement as I couldn’t sleep it worked really well my doctor said it was a very low dose just enough to relax muscles and aid my sleep. I was very grateful but made sure I took it 2 hrs before bedtime as it did make me a little sleepy in the morning otherwise.

Fanny, I'm sorry to hear you still have had no results for your MRI.
Unfortunately for me, Amitriptyline wasn't a success. It was described for chronic pain to try and help me sleep. It had the totally opposite effect.
I had nightmares and I became so angry and agressive. When I recklessly argued with my scary head teacher, I knew I had to stop. I would have taken on the world.

I believe many people find it beneficial, but I have a long history of drug allergies and bad reactions, so that is probably the reason, not the drug itself.
I hope you get some kind of relief. I would give it a go, what have you got to lose?

Great results for me. After suffering for many weeks with excruciating sciatica I finally gave in and went to see my GP. She prescribed Amitriptyline and I have to say it was like being given a new body, in that I could walk, bend, twist and stretch freely like never before. It saved the upcoming holiday too and I was out walking across Dorset without discomfort or pain - it also helped with my sleep. I only had a month's course but could have had more if needed as it doesn't always take effect as quickly as it did with me.

As mentioned above the dosage is lower for pain use than it is as an anti depressant, but have another chat with your doc to out your mind at rest.

Hope you feel better soon