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Need Help Honing in on the Right Tricyclic Antidepressant (pain, fatigue, depression, insomnia)

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Fibromyalgia
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Posted 1/7/2013 2:39 AM (GMT 0)
Hi Folks,

Well this is my first post. I have depression, anxiety, chronic pain and chronic fatigue as a result of Chronic Myofascial Pain, Chronic Fatigue, and Fybromyalgia. My Doc thinks I may also have chrons(sp?), we are testing for this now.

So I'm looking for a drug that will manage neuropathic and other pain and fatigue (primary concern). Also would love relief from on and off worstening depression and anxiety / panic attacks as well as a 2 year insomnia. I've been told the TCA's are going to be the best class in order to accomplish relief for all three.

I tried (Trazadone) at bedtime and it just made me like a zonmbie the next day along with GI symptoms/nausia and general intolerable bad sick like feelings. Also low energy / motivation

I Tried (doxepin) with the same results only worse

Currently on day 3 of (desipramine) and I am sleeping fine and no heart problems but during the day I am having crazy racy speed like feelings, anxiety. I feel like my head is going to explode and its gotten progressively worse since I started the drug 3 days ago.

I tried (Nortriptyline)(Pamelor) with awesome results for two weeks. My pain was managed within 3 days. After 1 week my depression was totally gone, My Anxiety was gone, I had more energy, I was motivated, no sexual side effects and I was sleeping all the way through the night. I thought I had found my perfect wonder drug. Problem was after two weeks I started having a pounding heartbeat. I could feel it in my chest, my ears, my neck, it kept me awake all night and I was really concerned for my heart, I actually started getting chest pain. My Heart Beats per minute were higher than normal but within the acceptable range barely(80 to 100). I had to come off the drug

I was wondering if anyone can recommend a drug that has a similar wider spread but energizing profile like Nortriptyline but minus the cardiac side effects (tachycardia/arrhythmia etc)? I don't do well on the more sedating / serotonistic profile drugs and Desiprimine, a narrow focus exclusively neuradrenaline drug, was way too speedy. Oh I should add I am very sensitive to drugs so usually 10MG or less is enough for my desired results

I would love to hear from others who may have had similar circumstances or experiences? Any advice would be oh soo appreciated, especially a recomendation to a more targeted TCA...
Posted 1/7/2013 4:54 AM (GMT 0)
I take paxil and it seems okay for me.
Posted 1/8/2013 1:57 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Deepwell,

Thanks for the introduction. we have a lot to talk about. Pretty exhausted/fatigued right now but wanted to let you know, I'll respond 1st in the am :) hope you have a good night brother
Posted 1/10/2013 2:00 AM (GMT 0)
Hey Deepwell,

Just now getting around to getting back to you. So I am stopped the desipramine 2 nights ago after 6 nights on it. It was putting me to sleep but not keeping me asleep and I was having a lot of really bad side effects from it. I will be restarting the Nortirptyline tonight at the 10 MG dose and if the palpitations come back at some point I plan to increase the dose until they go away. I recieved advice from several folks explaining that palpitations can show up even after establishing a stable dose of Nortriptyline simply because the dose that was stable is now not enough. Go figure! I'm going to use xanax to counter any palpatations I get and if they stick around for more than a couple days I will ask my doc for a beta blocker. So I already had an EKG while on the Nortriptyline and it came back fine. Did you know most palpitations aren't even heart related? If you research them there is a lot of documentation out there about this.

I definately have some sort of HPA axis issues. I have a hunch I've had adrenal fatigue for going on 4 years now. My thyroid was tested 2 years ago but not since. I'm going to look further into that one. thanks for the info.

I've taken Gaba and 5 htp for sleep before and I took 5 HTP for 5 years straight before I got sick. It is a great leveler for depression and anxiety. There is no danger in a sudden stop of either. You wont have any withdrawal symptoms. There was a scare at one time linking chronic 5htp use to muscle problems. I still use it when I need it because it is an amazing supplement for me, works wonders. Costco has one that is 12-hour release. You may want to take it with L-Theanine. The combo hits the seratonin receptors as well as dopamine and I think a little nurepinephrine. The two together are awesome for either as needed or maintenance. They are a home run for anxiety as needed. If you haven't tried it already I recommend trying Sam-E for your depression. That stuff is awesome for depression and it has no side-effects. If your sensitive I would say start at 200MG for 2 weeks and go up from there if you need to. For a long time I only needed the 200 MG eventually I increased to 400 after a couple years it now has only subtle effects on me. Not sure why that is but it was a lifesaver for me for a while. You will want it during the day only. If you take it at night it will keep you up.

Lastly if you are getting sick I swear by a product by DragonHerbs.com called protector 2000. It is a medicinal mushroom complex where the primary ingredient is Reishi Spore Oil. I used to get colds, flu's etc litterally 10 times per year. Since I started this supplement 3 years ago I have not had a cold or flu. The product has a nice side effect of calming anxiety, easing stress, and leaving you with a general sense of well being too. I've tried similar complex's even with the same ingredients from whole foods and other natural stores and none of them come close to the power in this product.

Well thanks again for the info and for welcoming me to the board. I hope you're feeling better soon.
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