Sevrage de l'amitriptyline

Hi Amanda so glad that you are finally feeling a little relief and that it didn't take too long even though it feels like a lifetime when we are going through it. The abdominal cramps I have had not nice at all, I agree with slowing your taper down jewellers scales is a good way i find writing a chart of what you do (as in reduction of pills) is important as some days we get brain fog I put all my doses in notes on iPad and also symptoms of what I am feeling so that when s**t hits the fan and it gets tough you can go back and compare so you know if it's the norm for you or something new that be unrelated.

have a nice time away and hope you continue to improve. Don't be in such a hurry the smoother the decent the better xxxxxx

Bonjour Amanda

Tous les symptômes que vous avez mentionnés sont corrects, c'est un effet secondaire de l'amitriptyline, mais quand cela disparaît, c'est ma question ? En plus de cela, vous avez listé les symptômes que j'éprouve, perte de désir sexuel, douleur de la vessie, qui peut m'en dire plus à ce sujet ? Aidez-moi.

Hi Sheena, amanda, dee, fussyfussy sammy and everyone on here. This is an update, feeling  deflated at the moment looking back over the posts which are months old. i am again back on 5mg but feeling stable again so again i failed  which was my third time. I have spoke to a mental health advisor as my gp referred me as he suggested i had health anxiety. The mental health advisor stated i have no mental health issues or health anxiety, she feels my Gp is not supporting me  coming off of amitriptyline. I am now 14 days of being back on 5mg and feel fine no anxiety no pains or any symptoms my ears and head feel normal. I have been trying to get off 10mg since jan 2017, such a long time to have only reduced by 5mg. i had only been on the drug 12 months. It is such a struggle  dont you think? I have now contacted  clearways a drug and alcohol support group to get some expert help re coming off this final 5mg which is tiny but,so difficult.  

Have been wondering how you are doing.  Can I ask, have you considered just staying on the 5mg indefinitely?  Can't remember why you decided to go off completely, but if you feel good on the 5, why not stay on it.  I decided to go off the 25 b/c I had read it was not good for you as you got older (I'm 73).  Last week I had an appointment with my new doctor (other one closed her practice) and he is highly respected and very knowledgeable.  He asked me that question "Why do you want to go off".  I told him I and he said, "I have no problem with you being on 25 mg the rest of your life - it is a good medicine.  It is a low dosage and if you have taken it this long with no bad effects, it isn't going to hurt you at all."  He is more concerned about the ambien I take, even though that is an extremely low dosage, too.  I am currently at 12.5  of  the amit and feeling good - have been there about a month, and for right now, I'm just going to stay put on that.  May try to get down to 10 so I don't have to cut pills, but I'm not going to worry about it or beat myself up trying to come off.  It has taken over my life, and I'm not sure but what the stress over trying to come off it didn't cause my side effects as much as the actually coming off.  Just a thought - may not be something you even want to consider, but I felt much better after my doc told me this.  Prayers in whatever you decide.  If you are still trying to come off, highly recommend the scales which will help you cut down at very small increments.

 

Hi Amanda

I'm sorry to hear that you are still struggling with this. It is definitely time to get a different approach and some good solid support. It's not impossible and you will get there. It will all be a distant memory one day.

I'm still stuck on 15mg after 11 weeks. I'm way overdue to reduce to 12.5 but my sleep is still too messy. I'm still travelling but will be relatively 'stable' over the next 4 weeks so might try to cut down again soon. I flew to Bali yesterday after 5 weeks in Canada and Alaska so I'm feeling pretty jetlagged at the moment. I'll give it a couple of days then try 12.5mg.

Good luck with the support group. Let us know how you go.

Hi Dee, I am 46 and do not want to take it for the rest of my life, one of my dear friends suggested staying on it also. Yes i feel fine now that i am back on 5 mg. I felt fine on 10 mg but, got to 5 eventually. I spoke to a drug advisor today he stated amitriptyline is not addictive and you do not have withdrawal symptoms as such, he stated the drug alters chemicals in your brain. So that when the drug is stopped or reduced these chemicals are not there causing your body to experience unpleasant levels of discomfort which, are distressing and vary in intensity from person to person.  I only took it form nerve pain and do not need it anymore, so will stop eventually. TBH  i am so glad all those unpleasant feelings have gone. I know i will have to experience them again but with a much reduced taper i hope to avoid the worst. xx 

Hi Amanda sorry to hear that you have had it so rough lately I know exactly how you feel, please do not feel defeated I am a couple of years older than you and I have been doing this for 2 medications of which I did not need as was misdiagnosed I have been trying to reduce both over the last 5 years. The ami is by far the hardest but still doable, you are lucky in one way that where you live you can get it in liquid form so I will put up another post after this outlining how it is done. I have done this myself by crushing tablets it is a lot slower but symptoms are not so agressive and you can slow it down as much as you like. 

In my opinion and with the research that I have done this drug stops your brain from making acetylcholine which is a neurotransmitter in the brain so when we reduce the brain has then got to start to make it again that is why we get all these horrid symptoms. Drs whilst they are good in lots of ways, do not know much about pharmacology and they believe what the pharmaceutical companies tell them about drugs and also about withdrawals so most don't know, unless they have done their own research or had other patients in the same situation. So we the sufferers are very much on our own much of the time.

i have not even informed my Dr what I am doing as when I first mentioned it I was told that no it shouldn't be giving you those symptoms and that I should be able to reduce 5mg per week and be off, what a joke!! And in my opinion dangerous. 

Anyhow it is what it is hey? But with supporting each other we will get there.

👍🏻👍🏻😁

 

Hi Everone just a rough outline of titration/suspension method:

The approach is sometimes referred to as a 'symptoms based taper'. This is hopefully how you can withdraw without suffering too much. This approach basically calls for you to heal with your cut rate by trying to stay virtually non-symptomatic and if/when symptoms appear utilising a slow down, a hold, or an up-dose.

REDUCTION METHOD

 1 ml  liquid amitriptyline and place in 100ml of water  which can be reduced over a period of time, hopefully giving you a slow and smooth taper with few side effects.

Below are the number of mls you would need to reduce each day to achieve the required number of (approx) days shown. Of course most people will be taking more than a 1mg dose, so you would take your additional dose (ie if your dose is 6mg, you would use the 100ml solution for 1mg and take an additional 5mg in tablet or liquid form). 

Reduce 100ml by 10ml per day = 10 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 9.5ml per day = 11 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 9ml per day = 11 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 8.5ml per day = 12 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 8ml per day = 12 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 7.5ml per day = 13 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 7ml per day = 14 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 6.5ml per day = 15 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 6ml per day = 16 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 5.5ml per day = 18 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 5ml per day = 20 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 4.5ml per day = 22 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 4ml per day = 25 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 3.5ml per day = 28 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 3ml per day = 33 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 2.5ml per day = 40 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 2ml per day = 50 days to reduce 1mg ******

Reduce 100ml by 1.5ml per day = 66 days to reduce 1mg

Reduce 100ml by 1ml per day = 100 days to reduce 1mg 

So, using the amount I marked with asterisks as an example, this would be your dosing schedule (+ you would also need to take whatever amount you needed to take in tablet or liquid  form to make up your full dose).

Day 1 – Drink the 100ml solution

Day 2 – Make a new solution and drink 98ml (so with syringe take out 2 ml and discard)

Day 3 – Make a new solution and drink 96ml (discard 4 ml)

Day 4 – Make a new solution and drink 94ml

Day 5 – Make a new solution and drink 92ml 

Day 6 – Make a new solution and drink 90ml 

etc etc…….. until you reach zero. Then you would start the process again, but reduce the amount of tablets or liquid you are taking by 1mg, because you have now reduced your dose by 1mg. 

Hope this helps 

Hi amanda  and dee,

I hope everything is moving a bit well. I would just like to mention that, every Dr has a defferent opinion for amitriptiline. Initially, I was prescribed Amitriptiline in Ohio, then it started giving me problems and I was not able to work, that time I was a Software engineer.  I had to quick my job and travel to Minesota to meet my familly for support. In Minsota many Drs even question why they have to precribe me ami, that ami is a ve

sorry, I was writing and something validates it up.

that ami is a very old drug with very bad side-effects. The doctors there asked me to stop it and take a simple ibuprofen what I did, and the withdrawal was very bad, today I am still having some effects (7 months after cold turkeys, and I only take 10mg of ami during 2.5 months).  I got a new job during that time and I travelled abroad and a doctor told me that he never prescribes ami to his patient. Please if anyone can go out of this drug then do it, do not wait too long. 

Hi there, just reading through this thread. I was taking 100mg of amitriptyline for around 6months for chronic migraines. I decided to come off it due to weight gain and it exacerbating some of my migraine symptoms. I came off it cold turkey. Since stopping approx 5 weeks ago, along with a lot of other migraine symptoms returning, some nasty withdrawal symptoms (well I think that is what they are) - the thing that is bothering me most still is the aching pains in my legs and they feel so tense all the time. Also most of my joints ache, does this sound similar to you? Just after some reassurance really. 

Thanks in advance 

Hi Emma, You can probably say that whatever you are feeling is more than likely due to amitriptyline withdrawal. It could take months to feel normal again. We are all at different stages here and coming off in different ways after being on different amounts for different lengths of time. I was on 50mg for over 20 years and I'm tapering very slowly. I've been down to 15mg for about 11 weeks now. I'm overdue to drop down to 12.5mg but will try that in the next few days. My sleep has already started to become messy so I'm reluctant to go down any further. However, l am determined to get off amitriptyline completely by March 2018 and hopefully get a chance to lose some weight in the process.

Good luck and stay in touch. There are a few of us floating around here.

Hi Mikayrawr, I have 2 friends who have stopped amitriptyline and no symptoms, one was on 10 mg for a few months, the other 30 mg for a couple of years. Try not to worry about it as this causes more anxiety and your body becomes more tense, easier said than done though. i am currently suffering with  an upper gum problem. my dentist thinks it is nerve damage from a sinus infection which, started when i commenced my 3rd failed attempt to cut from 5 mg to 2.5 mg. It has been 9 weeks and gum still feels raw and sore with no visible  ulcers or anything. She asked me to go back in a few weeks and she will refer me to hospital if no improvement.  I am olso experiencing a burning throat. I have had a sore neck and shoulders muscle aches since march this year. i do not know if this is the amitriptyline or anxiety. I neveer ever suffered with anxiety before starting amitriptyline. Keep on at the Drs re your aches and mouth pain we should not just have to live with it xx keep us posted.  

Hi Armandolev, i too never had anxiety issues before amitriptyline and fear i will never be me again. I cry lots because i'm sad that i am lost. My Dr also said i have health anxiety and advised me to seek  a mental health professional. i did and they said i'm not depressed or have health anxiety but, said i am on a drug i want to come off which , has  horrible side effects and i'm not being supported by my Gp. Can i ask  do you feel lightheaded/ spaced out at all or dizzy? Did you have any hearing issues when you stopped? I'm on 5 mg and and struggling to get  down further. x 

Hi Emma and Sheena

Emma last year I dropped my dose from 15mg to 10mg and had the same aching legs as you are experiencing at the time I had started walking 5kms a day and thought it was that but it went on and on for like 8 months I couldn't even sit on the floor little alone crossed legged. I asked the Gp if it was side effect and they said no, but it definitely was but it has all gone now. Amitriptyline affects us all differently it's a horrid evil drug.

Sheena sorry to hear about the sleep I am down to 7.5 mg and my sleep is all over the place as well up and down all night drives me crazy but I will endure I figure as long as I am getting some sleep then that is ok with me. 

How is the holiday going? Envious would love to be somewhere with warm weather ☀️ 

best to everyone

I was on 25mg and gained 35 pounds in a year and went down to 10mg and then stopped completely after having other side effects. It took 8 weeks to leave my system and to feel better. I went through weakness, dizziness, nausea and diarrhea. Now I feel great, I have no side effects and have lost 20 pounds.  Stay strong it will be rough but it will pass. 

You did great!  Glad to hear a success story!  I have made it down to 12.5 after being on 25 mg for 20+ years.  I started cutting back in May.  Have been at 12.5 for about 3 weeks, and I am finally feeling pretty good, so guess after another week I will go slowly down at least to 10.  Then level off there for a few weeks and try another little bit off.  I measure mine on a scale, so I am pretty sure that my doses stay pretty right on.  My doctor said I could stay on, but I intend to get at least to 10 (I'm tired of cutting and measuring pills).  Thanks for the encouragement to all of us!

 

Hi Cierra

It's nice to hear from someone who has come out the other side AND lost weight 😃Yay!!! I'm expecting it to take a little longer as l was on 50mg for over 20yrs but the important thing to remember is that it will pass. My next goal is to get down to 12.5mg from 15. I'm almost ready to take the plunge lol. I might even try tonight 😨.

Thanks for your encouraging post.

You are very brave!  I am scared to do a 2.5mg cut all at one whack.  I do like 1mg less at a time and stay there at least 3 or 4 weeks.  Good Luck!  

Hi Dee

l'm hoping to join you on 12.5mg tonight. Also sick of cutting pills so getting down to 10 will be nice ☺