Amitriptyline/Triptafen

[Wenjoy]

Hi - my dr has put me on amitryptiline - l0mg a night to help me with my panic and anxiety - increasing to 20mg after first week then 30mg for the third week - anyone been on this (also called Triptafen)
Any reports from anyoneon this???? Thanks love Wenjoy x

[darkangel]

hi

i take 2 x 10mg amitriptyline at night and it does help relax the muscles to sleep. if i need to get up during night i can get a bit disorientated but nothing too bad.

they are an older type anti dep - but i prefer them to the newer types

........life is for living not just for surviving

[lass]

Hi Wenjoy. I have just got back from holiday but before I went my doctor started me on amitryptiline. I took 10mg a night for the first 4 nights (which didn't seem to make me feel any different really), then I started taking 2 x 10mg after that. I found I was sleeping for 11-12 hours each night, and my anxiety was worse than ever. I think maybe I should have stuck with it as a lot of people say they feel worse before they feel better on their medication, but I gave it 10 days then stopped taking it - I was on holiday, feeling miserable, tired, drugged up and irritable, and I just didn't want to continue it. So I've come off of it and gone back onto my St Johns Wort and other herbal stuff.

I need to pluck up the courage to go back to my GP now, as it is twice I've started on medication and dismissed it as "not for me" after a short time. But I really think now that medication ISN'T for me and I need to find another way of dealing with it.

Sorry, don't want to be negative and I hope you find it better than I did. However I would say that I had no horrible side effects, I just slept a lot and was grumpy! And as I say, I think my GP will say I didn't give it long enough, which I probably didn't to be fair!

It's just difficult when you are in a foreign country and don't know what to do, so in hindsight it probably wasn't the best time to start taking it!

Caroline
xx

[nomorepanic]

I had a search for you and found all these. Hope they help. Loads of advice on them.

Amitriptyline/Triptafen
Amitriptyline (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=11677)
amitriptyline hydrochloride (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6352)
Amitriptyline ? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=10457)
amitriptyline withdrawal (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=1596)
Amitriptyline (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=7345)
anti depressants (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=6919)
Amitriptyline (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4766)
Does Amotriptoline make your mouth dry? (http://www.nomorepanic.co.uk/showthread.php?t=4460)



Nicola

[Wenjoy]

Thankyou for all yor replies and Nicola thanks for the list of form pages to view which I have done this morning. I am fine - fourth day on this - feel floaty and dry mouth and only on l0mg so dont know if I want to go up to 2Omg next week as Im scared of getting dependent or having weird feelins!
Thankyou again.lovewenjoy x

[reddevil]

Hi,

I have been on amitriptyline for 12 months and I could not cope without it.

I can raise and lower it myself as it's an easy drug to use between 10mg - 50mg.

My doctor said it's not addictive and can not cause long term problems as it's such a low dose and safe drug.

Red

[Wenjoy]

Thankyou Red devil - feel a bit anxious but not as bad - been on l0mg for 5 days now and will supposedly up it to 2Omg next week - dry mouth I can cope with and slightly spaced out feeling ok - I do feel a bit of a failure being on antidep/anxiety meds as everyone I know is so "normal" and it makes me feel inadequate if I need meds.

Love wenjoy x

[lass]

Don't feel inadequate for taking drugs - if you had any other kind of health problem (diabetes, thyroid, whatever) you'd be on drugs for life and not think anything of it!

If it helps, then it's worth taking. And who's to say what's "normal". Seems from this forum that anxiety is quite a common thing!

I admire you for sticking with the medication - so far, I haven't done anything for more than 10 days, then have given up because I am feeling worse. I know that antidepressents should be persevered with, and that they often make you worse before better, but I just can't get myself beyond this point!

I'd love to know how you are getting on with it next week, as it was on the 20mg that I gave up, due to feeling more anxious and also so sleepy. But I think it scared me more than normal as I was on holiday in Lanzarote and I just felt that I didn't feel myself and I was wrecking the holiday for everyone. I might be persuaded to try again if you are feeling positive about it next week.

Hope it works well for you,
Caroline
xx

[Breatheon]

Hi Wenjoy

I have been on this for just over a month now and I would recommend it.

Before Amitriptyline I had tried Propanolol (no good because I get asthma) and Atarax (worked well for a short time but only an antihistamine).

Like yourself I was started off on 10mg at night, increasing to 20mg if required. I must admit that for the first couple of weeks I didn't notice a great deal of difference and in some ways the symptoms got worse, particularly heartbeat awareness.

However this is very common for Amitriptyline and many of these kinds of medication and many people stop taking them too soon. It can take between 2 and 4 weeks for the benefits to begin especially on a low doseage.

Since starting them the heart palpitations have been a lot better and my sleep has improved almost 100% Before taking them I would have 3 or 4 nights a week when I would get 2 at the most hours sleep, now it is almost always 6 to 7 hours.

I can feel a bit dizzy during the daytime if I have woken up early and alcohol is a definite NO in the early stages of taking Amitryptyline, take my word for it. I had drunk a couple of pints in week 1 and the next morning had the worst palpitations in ages, none so bad since!

Don't be too alarmed at the alarming lack of side effects listed in the leaflet with the pills - including the rather disturbing prospect of a black tongue! I did have a racing heartbeat and dilated pupils during week 1 of taking them which was scary but nothing like that since.

These pills do not have an addictive nature and my doctor told me that to overdose on them would need to take in the region of 250mg, so they are quite safe.

In fact I am my guinea pig for my doctor - I asked her if this meant I would have to run around in a wheel but she said no stupid that's a hamster - and will be reporting back on my findings on taking Amitriptyline, it can only be a thumbs up from me.

Hope this helps. I cannot say they cure anxiety, I still suffer from a breathing awareness / shallow breathing at times and have also started CBT, but for help with the palpitations and definitely with sleeping, they do seem to work.

Take care

[Wenjoy]

Hi
thanks for your replies - I will persevere and go up to the recmommended 20mg next week - he also wants me to go to counselling to learn to breathe properly as coz im asthmatic I hyperventilate a lot and have never really learnt how to breathe right - sounds weird but its true!!!
Take care. love to all.Wenjoy xx

[BlueStar]

Hi,

I did post a long message but ive just lost it for some reason! I am a newbie! OOps!

anyway just to let you know, i was on amitriptyline for 3 years and it worked for me whilst i was on it for anxiety. I did get some side effects, but nothing bad enough for me to stop it. Ive tried a few SSRI's before and they made my anxiety worse, this helped me get back to about 70% normality, but if you get the chance try and get some therapy too this will help in the long term.

I hope your starting to feel the benefits of it, let us know how its going.

Good luck xx

[Wenjoy]

Thanks all of you. Im supposed to go up to 30mg in the next few days which I will do and am seeing the dr on monday so will letyou all know. Feel ok but still a bit anxious and hyperventilating a bit. Take care. love wenjoy x

[reddevil]

Hi,

How are you getting on with 30mg, thats what I'm on at the mo!

Red

[Breatheon]

I'd be interested to hear how the 30mg per week is helping too!

Am on 10mg at night, occasionally 20mg at night, and the difference it has made in helping me sleep has been fantastic! Still get some of the symptoms during the day and wondered if the larger doseage might help.

I think with Amitriptyline it takes several weeks to build up the effect especially at low doseages.

Thanks, Chris

[Wenjoy]

HI there Red and Chris

I took 30mg for a week and just felt ok but nothing major so saw my dr and had a slight panic in the closed room but was ok as calmed my breathing down. Me and my dr decided to take me off the Triptafen as it didnt really do alot and he has referred me through our primary care trust to a group that help panic sufferers - I am going to see a cbt therapist in a couple of weeks to try and learn techniques for calming down my anxiety - will keep you all posted on how it goes.
Triptafen works for some people but for me it just didnt make a huge amount of difference plus the weather not being so humid and hot meant my asthma calmed down a bit anyhow!
Love wenjoy xx

[smithjam1]

I am currently on 100mg and to be honest I don't have any side effects apart from a dry mouth and slightly shakey. I have been on them for about 5 weeks, I have been on them before and have always found that I start to have panic attacks and more anxiety, whilst they are getting into my system. It may take a little while, but they do work, please don't stop your medication, you need to give it at least 2 months before you really notice any difference.

[HubberF42]

Hi Wenjoy,

New to this site and first posting! Hello to you and all :D

I originally went to my Doctor as I couldn't sleep (no other symptoms) and he prescribed Amitriptyline, which I have been taking and yes indeed, it knocks you out completely for about 9-10 hours.

I stopped taking them as didn't want to become reliant and hoped that other natural techniques would allow me to drop off naturally.

Since stopping the Amitriptyline, I have had several problems, hence my visit to this wonderfully informative and friendly site. Before taking these tablets, I had no panic/anxiety symptoms that I knew of - no hyperventilating, no sudden, fast, missed, jumpy heartbeats, no hot flushes for no reason, dry tingly mouth, chest pain - etc. It's worse as I lay in bed at night or go to the supermarket.

Did the sudden stopping of Amitriptyline bring on these panic attack symptoms? Would I have had them before and not known - I doubt it, as they are the most terrifying feelings ever!! :ohmy: Apart from insomnia, I felt fine before taking these little blue tablets to help me sleep.

Anyway, I hope my story helps you to decide whether to take this medicine - my thoughts are - I wish I'd never set eyes on it!!

Take Care and thanks for reading my words.

Hubber

[pammy1944]

unfortunately amitrp didnt work for me ........i was on them 12 yrs intil the hozzy found that it was the amitrp that was causing my ectopic heartbeats (PVCs)