Getting off amitriptyline and what's next?

luv2ride, I'm sorry you are having a hard time getting off the amitriptyline. I can't believe your doctor says it's not withdrawal. What dose of trazodone did you get switched to? It seems very likely that you are having your symptoms from getting off the amitriptyline, and that you should probably taper off it instead of switching to trazodone.

Trazodone has not been well tested in fibromyalgia, although there is one study showing a modest improvement in symptoms, especially sleep quality. But I really don't think it should be a first or second choice for fibromyalgia. The treatments with the best evidence are amitriptyline, Lyrica, Cymbalta, gabapentin (Neurontin), and cyclobenzaprine (Flexeril). These drugs have different side effects and different symptoms they are most effective for.

If you switch to Cymbalta, it should stop the amitriptyline withdrawal, since it works in a similar way in the brain. But if you are concerned about side effects and withdrawal, you might be better off with one of the other fibromyalgia medications. I would find a doctor who listens to your concerns and is willing to make a plan with you. You shouldn't have to feel awful!

I use to be on trazadone. Trazadone use to be used as an old antidepressants, until the new ones came around. DR's like to use it for sleep now. It's less addictive sleeping pill. Most sleeping pills are bens. that are so addictive. It really help me sleep, but I had to stop it because it started to interact with another med. of mine. I dont use anything now. I don't work, so if I don't sleep it's not so bad. I just catch up in the morning. Lol.

It's hard to say which meds will work best for which person. I went to a fibro education workshop, and the doctor there said that all of the meds studied work about the same, which means they reduce pain by at least 30% in about half of people who take them. The other half do not respond or have less than a 30% reduction in pain. The only way to figure it out is to try them and see which one works for you.

All the meds also have side effects, but many of them go away in the first few weeks. Most are considered "well tolerated", which means they have few side effects or the side effects are tolerable.

Hi Annielisa,

Wow. So I'm not alone. I swear, I was starting to think I was going crazy. My dr said yesterday that the side effects/withdrawal should be DONE by now. I think she's wrong. I too feel so much more awake off it, dry mouth improved too. But the pain at night is so bad. And I wake with pain too. I noticed too the peeing difference, but it seems I'm going all the time. I guess it helped the interstiial cystitis I forgot I had.

I hate the drugged feeling though. I wake still with nausea and vertigo. I have to change something so am going to start Cymbalta today. I was only on 50mg for just over a year. I forgot how active my gut was too.

Hang in there too. I was really hoping it wouldn't last 2 months or more.. this sucks. What I don't get is that drs are so uniformed about it. They say sure, you might feel weird for a COUPLE OF DAYS! One suggested taking the 50mg every other day for a few days before stopping. I actually went back to it twice just to try to sleep. Only helped the first time.

Hell. Now here I go with another drug.

Did being on ami change your vision too? I swear, mine is so much less focused and just doesn't work as well anymore. Arrgh.

I'm on Amitriptyline at the moment (25 Mg Redomex) but i'm still very new to it (i'm in my 2nd week of taking them)
I have no experience yet in beeing wheend off, but my rheumatologist did warn me to NEVER just stop taking them because they are known for giving people severe withdrawal symptoms. As far as side effects go i experienced a dry mouth & eyes, difficulty getting up (zombie-like feeling), and dizzines and also what i call "sweaty episodes". I do notice that my body is starting to get used to them bcause the side effects are slowly going away. Sad enough thats all its doing at the moment....
So far i am NOT sleeping any better (the opposite actually i'm back to waking up 5 times a night), and i do NOT feel any improveùment what so ever in the pain department. However i haven't been raking them long enough i think to feel the difference.

How long did they take to kick in when you started taking them?

I hope u get rid of all the withdrawal symptoms soon, on top of the Fibro, we don't need any other trouble....

Fiona

Hi luv2ride....I'm taking cymbalta 60mg. in the morning. After going through so many different anti-depressents my insurance finally gave in. I'm thinking of asking for 30mgs. more to take at night like I took the amitriptylene. Here is a run down:

Lyrica - gained 30 lbs, stopped working after 6 months

Wellbutrin - had a seizure after 6 weeks

Neurontin - no noticable difference except that every once in a while I would just topple over for no reason. Boom.

Celexa - took for a few years, didn't realize that it was what was making me sweaty and clammy 24/7 until I was off of it. Tho' all of them make you sweat to some extent.

Deseryl (trazadone) - could not remember thoughts long enough to finish sentences.

Now Cymbalta works for me. I'm sure it lessens my pain as much as any of them do, but the biggest bonus is that it has made me a lot less angry about the whole fibro situation. I've become interested in finding answers for myself again instead of just being pissed at the docs because they won't give me enough pain meds and can't fix it.

Last week I was positively diagnosed with psoriatic arthritis so right now I am having trouble deciding where the pain of that and the pain of the fibro begin and end. Which is which and what is which, if you know what I mean. My doc asks me if I have pain here or there and I can't tell which illness it might be from.

This is going to sound kind of callous but it seems like everything either causes liver damage or cancer these days. Ibuprofen has been proven to cause liver damage and it is sold otc. Your liver is your body's filter. Drink lots of water to keep it flushed clean. I hate water so I have to put a pitcher of it on the counter and make myself finish it off that amount during the day every day.

I'm not trying to make you try Cymbalta but keep an open mind. It is also one of the reasons I am trying to eliminate other drugs from my not-so-long-anymore list of what I take every day.

Annaliesa

I forgot to say that off the Ami.. I don't snore like a chainsaw any more according to my husband. And my head isn't stuffed up every morning when I wake up.

And rememeber this stuff is altering your body chemistries...it takes time!!

Post Edited (Annaliesa) : 8/25/2011 1:06:57 PM (GMT-6)

My doc was willing to give me samples forever if needed. She is a pain doc, tough cookie but I love her. I believe that there is a program from the company that makes it that helps people with the cost, try looking it up. Also call every pharmacy in town. When I thought I was going to have to buy it out of pocket I found out there could be up to a $75.00 difference b/twn stores. Make sure you tell them it is out of pocket, they have a different prices for insurance companies.

I am big and very tall so I started at 30mg for the first week and then went to 60mg. and am thinking of upping again for that extra 30mg. at night. My doc did ask me if I wanted to go to 90mg. right away but I hung at 60 since it was working.

I have been on it for 2 years w/ less side effects than ami.

I truly think that stage 4 sleep is the answer to less pain.

That is the healing stage of sleep. I forget how long you need to sleep to get there, but I think at least 6 hours.

Last week I was dying of pain because I wasn't sleeping more then two hours at a time, my G.P gave me a strong medicine and I slept like a log for 12 hours. The difference was black and white. I am not going to give out the name of the med. it's a serious drug. 7 of them cost me $40.00 and that was with insurance. So beg your doc to give you some thing that will put you down at least a 2 or 3 days a week. If he'll only dole them out 2 at a time take the offer. In fact suggest that they control your intake if it makes him more likely to give you something that will do the job.
ta-ta, Annaliesa

I also take cymbalta but I take that in the morning and take the amy and sleeping med to sleep. From what I have read about cymbalta is take it in the morning or you will have problems sleeping.

I have talked to my Dr and he feels I should be fine as the amy is such a low dosage.

It took me a week and I started feeling some small benefits of the cymbalta and after a month my family noticed a big difference. I smiled again and enjoyed playing and cooking with my grandchildren again.

I hope you have good results with the cymbalta.

Thanks, will keep you posted. Crossing fingers. So far hot flashes and a bit sweaty... a bit of dizziness too but feel more calm...