Back problems

[kittykat]

Hi everyone,

I've not had to post for ages as i've been doing quite well, just plodding along and working.
The thing is i'm still having back problems (the physio thinking it's caused through a slipped disc), myself ,in the depths of my mind, a tumour causing pressure on my sciatic nerve as i've not had an x-ray or anything to confirm .........anyway the doctor prescribed me amitriptyline which is actually an anti depressant , I already take tramadol and diclofenac but it's an even stonger pain killer i need at the moment.....can anyone tell me why she's done this. Also ive been off my fluoxetine for a good 12 mths ,I think now ,and am scared about taking this anti depressant.
Any advice would be great.

shirley x

[miss diagnosis]

hi

I suffer from back problems an mine is bad at the moment too.

do u have a lot of pain in your leg? i had two slipped discs and this is where i felt all the pain. An xray wont show up anything.I had to get an MRI

I dont know why ur doc perscribe what she did. im on tylex which makes me vomit but helps with the pain. are u on pain medication?

[kittykat]

Hi there,

I have a lot of leg pain, it goes right into my calf, and my back pain is mainly at the base on one side, the left.
It's really painful at the moment and im on tramadol/zydol and also an anti inflammatory diclofenac.

[Alabasterlyn]

Hi everyone,

.........anyway the doctor prescribed me amitriptyline which is actually an anti depressant , I already take tramadol and diclofenac but it's an even stonger pain killer i need at the moment.....can anyone tell me why she's done this. Also ive been off my fluoxetine for a good 12 mths ,I think now ,and am scared about taking this anti depressant.
Any advice would be great.

shirley x

I have a friend who takes Amitriptyline for IBS and it really helps her. They also prescribe it for chronic tension headaches, but usually at about a tenth of the therapeutic dose for depression.

[countrygirl]

Amyltriptyline is very good for nerve pain at low doses - so its commonly prescribed for back pain or any nerve pain but much lower dose than for treatment of depression.

I tried it for my damaged spine but it made me so brain dead only wearing off about 2hrs before the next dose and that was on a low dose and it didn't help the pain so I gave up but lots of people take it for many years as it gives them a good nights sleep.

[kittykat]

Thanks for all your replies,

I'll give it a go as she's only prescribed me 10mg at the moment. Hopefully I'll get a good nights' sleep for once, and hopefully it will help with the pain, fingers crossed, thanks again guys.

shirley xx

[libbie]

hiya,

i take it for back and leg pain, i started on 10mg, it made me sleep, but as pain got worse, i woke up earlier, doctor increased to to 20mg, and sleep straight through now. my neuorolgist says it can be increased to 100mg, but it would make u very drowsy. when doctor first gave it me i said i wasnt depressed, so wasnt taking it, but he explained that if treating depression it would start at a 75mg dose, but if treating nerve pain it would start at a 10mg dose. ive been taking for about a month now, and have had no side effects.

hope this helps
libbie

[polly123]

Hiya
Ive had back problems for the last 5 years, last year i was really ill with it as i had a trapped sciatic nerve due to a slipped disc, i was in agony for 16 weeks, i tried all sorts of pain killers and ended up having to have a skin patch called bupronorphine which is a morphine based pain killer, i even went into hospital for a cordal epidural but that didnt work. In the ens i saw a chiropractor and she was brill, told me to apply cold packs to the areas every few hours for 20mins at a time, that together with her treatment really helped me, oh and i forgot to mention get your parner or close friend to give you a good massage every day it did wonders for me, Hpoe you feel better soon, it will go away eventually, now i just have to take precautions so that i dont get another flare up
Take Care POLLY