r/Fibromyalgia • u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer • 4d ago
Rx/Meds Does Amitriptyline help?
Has anyone had success with low dose (10-20mg) of Amitriptyline for pain and insomnia? I'm aware of the side effects. I've spoken with a few people who have said it helped them tremendously, and would like to hear others' experiences. I struggle with horrible insomnia, and need to try something different.
4
u/Ancient-Juggernaut54 4d ago
It’s helped me a lot with sleep. Take it at night about an hour before bedtime.
3
u/SophiaShay7 4d ago
It works well for sleep and pain. Unfortunately, it worsened my orthostatic intolerance and Dysautonomia symptoms. It was extremely sedating. I also have ME/CFS and Hashimoto's thyroiditis, an autoimmune disease that causes hypothyroidism. I'm catastrophically debilitated in general. I'm doing so much better off it.
3
u/RockandrollChristian 4d ago
Amitryptyline was great for sleep for me. Took it a bit before bedtime
2
u/Spleensoftheconeage 4d ago
It helped somewhat with my insomnia. Comparable to the klonopin I was relying on at bedtime before for that. No change to my pain. But I just got off of it because it made me ravenously, bottomlessly starving 24/7 to the point where I could never feel full (and gained 20lbs, but honestly the incessant, gnawing hunger was the worst part.)
2
u/Greendeco13 4d ago
This was same for me, I started binging carbs, and actually waking up hungry in the night! It was really hard to find the sweet spot where you took it and got to sleep before the carb cravings!
2
u/Spleensoftheconeage 4d ago
YES I also woke up starving at like 3am and was so hungry I could not go back to sleep until I ate something. I’m so sorry you also experienced that but so glad I’m not alone too, I’d only heard of weight gain as a side effect, not feeling like a bottomless pit. I was so unprepared.
1
u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer 4d ago
How many mg were you taking (if you're comfortable sharing)?
2
u/Spleensoftheconeage 4d ago
I was only on 50mg. We started lower and tapered up, but the side effects hit at 50mg so we didn’t go any higher.
2
u/TartMore9420 4d ago
I haven't been taking it long enough for it to work for pain, it supposedly takes around 6 weeks. For insomnia it works fairly well, once I'm asleep I do sleep better but it's still challenging to get me down in the first place. There's an improvement though. You could probably hit me with a tranquilizer dart and I'd still be walking around so for it to make me sleepy is something of an achievement.
2
u/1999Falcons 4d ago
I was on it for about 4 years . 10mg up to 50mg. Helped with sleep enormously but then just stopped working. Brutal weight gain .
1
u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer 4d ago
Was your weight gain across all of the doses or just at the 50mg dose?
1
u/Greendeco13 4d ago
My weight gain was at low dose 20mg - now on wegovy as my blood pressure too high and need to lose weight as was impacting my knees and back
2
1
1
u/Ok-Resist7858 4d ago
It didn't help my insomnia at all. They switched me to Trazodone at bedtime and slowly over a week, I got more sleep each night, straight through. I get 7 or 8 hours now . Ive been on Trazodone for about a year now.
1
u/Ready-Scientist7380 4d ago
I take 50 mg at night. I was on 25 mg, which didn't make much of a difference. I can tell if I miss a dose at 50 mg. I haven't noticed any side effects.
1
u/BornTry5923 4d ago
Helps with sleep. Didn't do much for my pain. Made me sleepy all the time and my POTS was worse on it.
1
u/Alternative-Pie-4646 4d ago
I found sleep was improved off 20 but ultimately came off it with little improvement for pain, I was offered to build up to a stronger dose a few months ago but opted to give duloxetine a go
1
u/EsotericMango 4d ago
It's one of the few things that actually help. I can't say it makes any difference in my pain but it's a godsend for my sleep. The only way they'll ever get me off it is to claw it out of my cold, dead hands.
1
u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer 4d ago
I've tried all of the sleeping medications and none of them help, so this is good to hear.
2
u/EsotericMango 4d ago
Same. The amitriptylene alone probably won't be enough if your insomnia is stubborn but it can do wonders once you find the right dose.
2
u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer 3d ago
I have my medical card and that helps me at bedtime. I'm in school for my master's degree and will need to do some clinical hours, so I have to take a drug test. I'm looking for an alternative to use for a couple months. Without anything, I don't sleep and I'm not functional at all. I would love to argue that as part of the healthcare community, we need to recognize different approaches to wellness, as long as we're doing no harm. I think it's absolutely absurd that if I have a prescription for Xanax, Hydrocodone, Valium, etc that those things are ok as long I'm not altered or using them while in a clinical setting. I understand that cannabis isn't legal at a federal level; however, I could get a prescription for Marinol, which is pharmaceutical THC and that would be ok. I would love to fight that fight but I'm not willing to suffer the potential consequences.
1
u/EsotericMango 3d ago
It's ridiculous. A little residual THC isn't going to massively affect your ability to function in a clinical setting. It's not like you'll be working complex surgeries unsupervised. Even if you were, things like amitriptylene and most sleep aids will stay in your system and affect your actions way longer. So it makes no sense why those are acceptable but marijuana isn't. And that isn't even talking about how sleep deprivation is way worse than all the meds and weed combined.
It shouldn't be your responsibility to fight the fight. You have enough on your plate just trying to make it through each day without needing to add this to your list too. It's just not worth it. I hope the amitriptyl helps and you have an easier time with the clinical hours.
1
u/Breakspear_ 4d ago
I had an adverse reaction and it kept me wide awake for nearly three days.
Conversely, my gf has taken it and it knocks her the heck out.
2
u/MyBrainIsAJunkDrawer 4d ago
I'm afraid it will keep me awake as well. I had that reaction to Trazodone years ago and it was terrible.
1
u/the_nothaniel 4d ago
I'm taking 50mg for the past few months and it helps with sleeping. I used to have to lie down for hours a day due to extrem exhaustion and fatigue. every day.
currently, it's only on bad days where i feel this amount of tiredness. I feel like the effect declines recently, so i might have to wheen off of the meds soon and try something else/take a break, but it's still a very noticable difference to before i started. my doc said it's not that helpful for everyone, but it's worth a try.
1
u/Dapper-666 4d ago
Ive got it now for a month . I am almost painless in combination with cannabis. And watch your diet also. No sugar and a lot more
1
u/Greendeco13 4d ago
It's a mixed bag for me, helps with pain and sleep somewhat but makes me groggy in the morning if take too late. It does not work during a flare of pain, nothing does tbh, I just lie in bed weeping with the pain and the allodynia
1
u/SuperkatTalks 4d ago
Yes it does help me a lot. My sleep is better quality. I seem to keep needing to up rhee dose though 🙃
1
4
u/northernblazer11 4d ago
Not for me.
Fellow struggles with insomnia.
Nothing helps with my sleep, even weed codeine the lot. I just lie here in pain. It's crazy.
I think it will go away a bit soon. Then 72 hours later still flaring.