Hi, Everyone,
I think I may have stumbled on to a ridiculously easy way to come off Amitriptyline ~ FAST and EASY. I was on a monster dose of Amitriptyline - 150mg!!! to treat Interstitial Cystitis Syndrome (ICS). My bladder was SO destroyed by lesions and the pain so unbearable, I’d be lying if I said I didn’t consider putting a gun to my head every minute of every day. I had no side effects from the Ami for quite awhile when I first started taking it. Plus, whatever side effect I did have, it didn’t come close to being as uncomfortable than the ICS pain. After even longer- years by now - very slowly, I started to experience pretty much every side effect I’ve read on this forum. I also developed these weird facial ticks, my jaw would pop open and shut spontaneously, my right eye would blink rapidly, and my mind got very foggy and I’d forget words, or in the middle of my sentence I’d flat out forget what I was talking about. When I tried to talk, between the muscle ticks, popping jaw, weird memory lapses, rapid blinking, it fully looked as though I had Tourette’s. It was at this point I decided enough was enough and I had to figure out how to wean down or get off the Ami altogether. My urologist was completely against the idea of doing this because the Ami did do wonders for the bladder pain. But I have a medical background and I just kind of sat down, dredged up my pharmaceutical training from way back in the day, and I had a discussion with myself while looking at all the different drugs I was on. You know how that starts: you take a drug to fix a physical or mental problem, you get side effects from that drug, so you take another drug to treat that, and BOOM! ~ you’re in that never ending cycle of taking drugs to treat other drug side effects.
I was afraid of what would happen with the bladder pain if I tried to wean off the Ami, but at the same time, I just couldn’t deal with all these other wacky problems. One drug I was on is Lorazepam. Everyone will tell you this is such a dangerous drug because it’s so addictive and it’s only meant for short term, blah, blah, woof, woof. But I’ve been on the same exact dose for nearly 15 years, and it is ~ for me ~ the only drug I don’t have side effects from, and that actually treats what it’s supposed to treat. Lorazepam treats a whole host of problems. I took it as an anti-nausea, anti-emetic, anti-anxiety drug because all the other drugs would make me violently sick to my stomach along with terrible nausea, and then I’d fall into a major panic attack - because I knew once I started feeling nauseous, I’d start throwing up soon, and I HATE to vomit, and that’s when the panic would set in. And round and round I’d go. I knew weaning Ami could cause seizures and worse, so I really concentrated on what drug(s) were/was helping or hurting my situation.
So, as I was sitting down with my bag of drugs and having this discussion with myself, for no reason that I can actually pinpoint, I decided to take a larger dose of Lorazepam. I normally take 2mg at bed time or as needed when nausea or panic set in. I decided to take 6mg. In 20 minutes FLAT, all the muscle twitching, rapid blinking, and jaw popping just ... stopped. Honest to god, it just stopped as if a switch had been flipped off. I figured this was a fluke and any minute it would start up again. That was over 3 weeks ago. I’ve not had ANY withdrawal symptoms (except a little bit more thirsty than usual, but very mild). My bladder - so far, knock on wood, has been fine, I’ve had no seizures, I’m sleeping fine. It is the closest thing to a miracle that I’ve ever experienced.
I think most doctors would be horrified to hear this because 6mg of Lorazepam is a BIG dose. But since I’d been on 2mg for nearly half my life and it never caused me any problems, I figured what the hell, you know? Plus, it was a one time deal. I took the 6mg, the craziness stopped, and I went right back to my usual dose of 2mg. And actually, I’m even taking less than that because I’m not sick and vomiting or having panic attacks because my bladder is doing pretty damn good. Still, at only 3 weeks, who knows if it will come back. If it does, and I have to start taking Ami again, at least now I know - for me - how to get off it if it starts causing problems.
So, for those of you who have never had Lorazepam, I’d ask your doctor for a mild dose, like maybe 2mg. If you have taken it or are on a small dose, I’d bump it up just a bit. Just make sure you’re with somebody in case you get into trouble. My husband was with me and he said he could visibly see the muscles in my face relax and when I did speak, there were no lost words, no forgetting what I was saying mid-sentence, etc.
If you are on other meds, make sure Lorazepam is not contraindicated with any of them.
The funny thing is that Ami and Lorazepam are like 8th generation cousins. Ami originally was a mood enhancer/panic attack drug. But people discovered all kinds of off label problems that it helped. So, I don’t honestly know why this formula worked for me, and I don’t know if it will help other people having problems with Ami, but at the very worst, Lorazepam will probably put you to sleep for 2 days if you’re not somewhat used to it.
Also, Lorazepam, Valium, and Xanax are all sister drugs, but they tend to have different effects. For example, Valium does nothing for me at all. Xanax puts me to sleep, but it doesn’t help with panic attacks or nausea and vomiting. Lorazepam does everything it’s supposed to for me with zero side effects. But I can give my husband .5mg, and he’s out like a light for 3 days and wakes up with a hangover for another 2 days. He hates Lorazepam. Point is, drugs work totally different with different people. The Lorazepam performed a miracle for me. I have no idea how it will work for anyone else out there. But I felt obligated to share this info just in case it helps someone else, and I hope it does. GOOD LUCK and many blessings to you all.
P.S. If any of you try this, I’d be very interested in seeing how things go. I’ll keep checking in every now and then to see. If anyone has questions, I’m happy to answer to the best of my ability.
. I wish everyone all the best, and I will also stay here to encourage others.