Generic Name: Amitriptyline for Neuropathic Pain (amitriptyline)
Amitriptyline for Neuropathic Pain Reviews
"Amitriptyline is a great medication. After over 10 years of taking strong painkillers as and when for neuropathic pain, I went to doctors and said enough is enough. I want something else. I was prescribed this drug and it's amazing. One pill a day and I feel normal. I'm absolutely over the moon. However... There is usually a 'however'... The dreaded weight gain. I've put on around 3 stone in around 4 months and no longer fit into my clothes. I walk 10,000 steps Monday to Friday and then walk for 3 hours Saturday and Sunday, and the weight will not shift (again like other people, it's the stomach where the weight has accumulated). I'm now at a loss as I am so happy that I can do things without discomfort. However, it comes at a price. I've only been on the tablets for 4 months and I'm worried that I'll keep on gaining weight. So I'm telling myself that I'll have to come to a decision at the 6-month mark. Anyway, hope this review helps anybody as this site has really helped me."
"Had a particularly nasty infection due to diverticulosis and developed a form of IBS afterwards. After 7 months of constant pain and massive weight loss, I got to see a specialist who prescribed amitriptyline. Started on 25 mg which was awful, just way too much. Felt so weird. Anyway, GP changed dose to 5 mg for a week, then 10 mg, etc., till back up to 25 mg after a month. Amazing. It has been a life-changer. No more pain. Can eat and enjoy life again. Have been taking it for 11 months. Have to drink plenty of water and other drinks so I don't get constipated, but all in all, as others have said, a life-saver. Sleep pretty solidly, and getting up is a bit tough, but other than that, all is good."
"I started having horrific toothache pain in January 2020, had a root canal done, but the pain still lingered horrifically, even moving into different parts of my head and face. I took a variety of medications, and nothing worked until I started taking 25 mg of amitriptyline at night. This pill has drastically changed my life. My pain is virtually non-existent. I’ve had no side effects, no weight gain. It has not increased my mood but has not worsened it. I still experience depression and anxiety, but I’ve struggled with that for many years. My dose recently has been bumped up to 50 mg a night. If I miss a day, I usually have significant pain. Anyways, this pill is seriously a miracle. I was suffering so much before this pill came along."
"I take 50 mg of this amitriptyline for diabetic nerve pains, and it does work for me very well. The only downside for me is dry mouth and a little groggy feeling, but that is small, and I can handle that better than the numbness and pain in my legs and feet."
"I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in January after two years of struggling with sometimes debilitating symptoms. When they started, I had a doctor that ran zero tests, gave me gabapentin, and sent me on my way. With a switch of insurance, I was referred to a neurologist who diagnosed me within four months. I told him I did not like the gabapentin because I felt that it would work for a few weeks, then they would up the dose again, and it became a vicious cycle (600 mg three times a day). So he offered this med to me, and I have never been happier with a medication. The MS diagnosis caused depression and some anxiety. This med has helped my pain level, my mood, my sleep. I have had zero side effects other than it does make you sleepy! Sometimes sluggish in the morning, but once I get up and moving, I am good! I currently take 20 mg at bedtime and will start 30 mg tomorrow night. I recommend this medication for pain and mood."
"I have lupus which is very painful and I used to get into a downward spiral of pain interfering with sleep which let to even worse pain. After 4 or 5 days of this I was basically not functioning at all. Amitriptyline is a wonder drug for me as it breaks the cycle. I only take it when I need it and I snip the tablets into bits to get the right amount, I've played around with the dosage and rarely need more that 10mg. Experiment and find what's right for you (within reason!) If you're feeling woolly headed the next day, take less.....snip a bit off your tablet!!!!!"
"I tried this a while ago for 3 days, but it was so bad: shaking, sleeping all day, so I stopped. Then, 1 month later, I tried amitriptyline again as pain from shingles was so bad, I nearly gave up again after 3 days, but now, 7 days later, it works. I wake up fine, I take 7 PM at night, ok in the morning, on 10 mg every night, pain nearly gone. I'm just so thankful I kept going. The only thing is not sleeping as much."
"I have had severe nerve pain in my back for 3 years. It got to the point where I was using a cane, had a handicap placard, and was just about to go out on disability. I went to a new Primary Physician and got put on a regimen of Amitriptyline and Tizanidine (muscle relaxer) GAME CHANGER!!! I rarely need the cane now and feel human again. Bonus it that is also an antidepressant. I have been on it for a little over a month and have experienced no side effects"
"I used amitriptyline for about 7 years. It was very helpful for sleep. But this is a "dirty old drug" according to my Phd wife. Over time I suffered constipation and dry mouth. The dry mouth destroyed my teeth enamel. So far my dental work has cost me $16,000 and counting. Beware of this!"
"I took amitriptyline for almost 1.5 years. It helped with my pain, but it caused side effects. I would have racing heart episodes and weird numbness/tingling in my hands and arms. I called 911 twice while on this due to freaking out from the unusual symptoms. The paramedics told me amitriptyline can do strange things to people. I know this first hand. I finally got off of it a month ago and no more racing heart spells or numb/tingly arms and hands. I had a week of somewhat restless nights weaning off this, but nothing unmanageable. It really did help my pain though, and I didn’t realize how much it did until I came off of it. I have to try some other meds now since I can’t go back on this due to the heart effects."
"I've been taking Amitriptyline 125 mg for 3 years now. It relieves my shingles and pancreatic-related nerve damage in my back, and eases my anxiety. I've been suicidal when trying to reduce my dosage. It makes it impossible to wake up in the mornings, and I have urinary retention issues. I've had repeated episodes of excruciating chest pain with very sudden onset. I take nitroglycerin spray to control them. My doctors have assumed that the chest pain was a result of Sphincter of Oddi dysfunction following gallbladder removal. This week I had dental work (2 days in a row), and was given Septocaine 4% with 1:100,000 epinephrine. Both days, after returning home, I developed excruciating chest pain. The only way to stop the pain was 3 hits of nitroglycerin spray. It turns out that there is a serious interaction risk between Amitriptyline and Epinephrine -- enough to cause a heart attack. Amitriptyline by itself has heart attack as a potentially fatal complication."
"I was taking Amitriptyline for my migraine / facial nerve pain suspected trigeminal neuralgia (TN). I am a 40 year old woman. Happy, single, enjoying life and then I take this medication. I had severe side effects. This made me depressed, I didn't want to leave the house, dry mouth... wanted to sleep and eat all the time. I'm giving this a 2 rating only because I slept so well. I told my dr no more anti-depressants to treat my TN... This was the only prescription medication I was taking"
"I’ve been taking amitriptyline for 5 months to manage chronic nerve pain in both legs and feet. I’ve experimented with very low (5-10mg) to moderate (40-60mg) doses in an attempt to find the right level to manage my pain and with out the side-effects. I’ve found tweaking the dose up and down depending on how my body feels each day is quite effective. I typically range between 30-45mg a day. While quite effective at reducing nerve pain (around 50-70%) there are persistent side effects. Heart palpitations, headaches, tinnitus, fatigue and short term memory issues - all tolerable compared to unchecked nerve pain. The drug also helps greatly with duration of sleep each night which in-turn assists in managing pain and mood."
"This drug really does work wonders for extreme pain. I suffered from excruciating pain for 2 years and within a month of taking it, my pain was reduced significantly. However, it gave me terrible anxiety and panic plus some psychosis. I was popping anti-anxiety medication every day to combat the side effects because it helped so much with the pain. My doctor refused to believe that it was amitriptyline causing the problem as I was on a low dose. I decided to stop taking the drug in November and all of my mental health problems have disappeared. Not everyone suffers from these side effects, but it's worth knowing what could happen. A truly frightening drug for me that I would never ever take again."
"I took this for two months for nerve pain. It gradually helped somewhat and it did help me get to sleep easily. However I felt immense brain fog every day and lost motivation or energy to do much at all. I also found I was getting random bouts of depression and anxiety. Since quitting I have so much more energy and my mood has returned to normal."
"20mg seems to numb my polyneuropathy and low back pain as well as oxycodone, but without the drugged up feeling which is good but not as much sedative effect at night as I had hoped, I still have trouble sleeping. And it does cause some sexual disfunction which is the downside."
"Been on amitriptyline for 2 months at low dose (5 mg each night). It has helped I little for neuropathic pain from paralytic polio (from when I was 2) but has also helped with sleep. Also greatly reduced migraine & auras. Was on pregabalin but the side effects for me made it not worth the benefits. So far so good."
"After dealing with bowel cancer, radiation and extensive chemo plus multiple operations I was left with excruciating nerve pain in my finger tips, legs and feet (feet are the worst) I was finally prescribed this after other meds made no difference. I’m seeing a massive difference with my sleep quality and the pain during the day is also less. (I recently tried to reduce the dosage and feel the neuropathic pain is worse"
"Amitriptyline prescribed for serious spine problems which resulted in very painful nerves. 30 mcg nightly and it worked like a dream, much reduced pain and terrific sleep. After 6 months, it had no effect on sleeping, developed RLS, possibly connected, but it really helped during early months, and side effects were bearable. I'm now down to 15 mcg nightly"
"Watch out for this bad drug. It helped my bad back pain but withdrawal from it is nothing short of horrific. I was on it for many years, withdrew very slowly. Now 9 weeks off of it and my back pain is bad and I never sleep more than 3 hours. Stay away from this drug unless you intend to commit to it for the rest of your life. You might think you are ok on it now, but just wait until you want to get off of it. Awful."
"Using amitriptyline responsibly and keeping a low dosage, this drug has helped massively combined with pregabalin, same with the dosage. I use this for Chiari malformations, degenerative disc disease, spondylitis and crushed discs Because of the chronic pain I was left debilitated, in agony and as a result depressed. The two above-mentioned drugs, give me some normality back and they seem to stay in your system for 24 hours. I can't thank my old Dr enough for trying various medications until these two worked. No side affects other than drowsiness so taken before bed"
"I was given amitriptyline for sciatic pain, along with 30mg codeine. Both helped with the pain and with sleeping, once the most severe acute sciatica had eased a bit. After about 6 weeks on 20mg a day, I woke up a couple of times with my heart rate loud in my ears and resting pulse of 90bpm, way above what it should be. This appears to be a common side effect and one I wasn’t happy with. 4 weeks after my last dose of amitryptiline and codeine, I fall asleep ok, but wake up within an hour and cannot get back into a restful sleep. I’d be cautious about taking this stuff and wish I hadn’t started."
"I have been prescribed this medication for pins and needles and crawling sensations in my face and head. I’m on it one week and already noticing a reduction in these symptoms. No obvious negative side effects as of yet. Will update later if necessary."
"Initially it helped me sleep through pain and worked as intended for over a year. I ran out of medication for 2 weeks due to circumstances out of my control and it caused horrible withdrawal and gave me a psychotic episode. The effects of which I’m still dealing with today. It no longer works for me. Also, don’t take this with alcohol. nothing terrible happens, it just makes you feel really weird. dosage 10/mg every day, been on it for over 4 years."
"I had 5 months of pelvic pain: acute pain at the urethra tip, perineum ache, rectal nerve twinges, short bouts of penile numbness, and general pain up and down the penis. My urologist thinks I had chronic prostatitis that in turn aggravated my pelvic floor and/or my pudendal nerve. 1/4 pill of amitriptyline worked after the first night, which shocked me. I've been on the medication for 13 days now, and it has reduced both the level and duration of my pain by 98%. It does make me more lethargic each morning, but the pain relief is worth it. I also take magnesium glycinate at night to help with muscle relaxation."
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