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  1. Hey everyone, I'll try to keep this concise. Background: Currently early twenties student in university. In 2017, I was diagnosed with post-concussion syndrome (PCS). 40mg of Amitriptyline was prescribed by my neurologist to treat tension headaches. My first experience with rapid tapering of amitriptyline was in August 2018, when my neurologist asked me to switch from amitriptyline to valproic acid for PCS, at a rate of 10mg Amitriptyline tapered each week until I was fully cold turkey. Unfortunately, I found out around the 10/20mg range I wasn't handling withdrawal too well and was forced to stop and reinstate. In February 2019, I read about the link between dementia and cholinergic medications and went cold turkey by my own choice. This lasted for two months of difficulty where I struggled through my hardest semester of college. I ended up reinstating in April after a discussion with my therapist. Its important to note that at this point, for both aforementioned times I had attempted fast tapers I was not aware that withdrawal symptoms were a significant issue for antidepressants. Instead, I believed that once amitriptyline fully left my system I would be fine, and that all my symptoms were caused by PCS. In July 2019, I was able to recover from PCS after two years. A month later in August, I spoke to my physician about getting off amitriptyline. He prescribed me a somewhat slower taper at 10mg a month and 7 weeks for the final 10 mg. Thus, I began my taper from 40mg to 30mg. You can probably guess what happened next. This taper put me through hell and lasted a total of a little over four months before I stabilized. In December 2019, I discovered this forum and decided to give slow tapering a shot using liquid titration (water, not ethanol). In January 2020, I tapered from 30mg to 27 mg. It took me about two months start to finish to stabilize. I was mildly symptomatic, but my symptoms were manageable. In March, I tapered from 27 mg to 25 mg. This time, it took me nearly three months to stabilize. Even stranger, my I found that my symptoms were seemingly worse, even though the percentage tapered was still about 10%. In June, I tapered from 25mg to 24mg, hoping that a tiny dose reduction would alleviate most of my issues with tapering. Flash forward to today. Nearly three months after I had began that taper I find that my symptoms, while very mild at first seemed to have gotten worse over time. Furthermore, a three month long time span for a 4% reduction seems very unusual. Now I that school is starting and I am actively interviewing for internships, I am considering reinstating back to 24.5 or 25 mg. I'm unsure about why my withdrawals seem to get worse even though I try to reduce my taper amount each time. I can think of a couple theories, those being: Dissolving with water instead of ethanol causing issues somehow. I think this is unlikely because when I first was testing out a solution in water at my full dosage, I did not experience any withdrawal symptoms. Furthermore, when I switched to 1:10 ethanol:water solution for a couple nights while tapering, I did not experience any improvement in symptoms. Withdrawals from previous tapers coming back to bite me in my ass. I'm aware of the whole waxing and waning thing and I'm wondering if it's possible that when I began my last taper, I hadn't actually completely stabilized and am now dealing with prolonged symptoms from previous tapers. Not sure how likely this is. Kindling. This would make sense considering I have had three tried and failed fast tapers that each did a number on me. However, I'm struggling to find any sources regarding kindling in antidepressants to the point where I'm unsure if it's even possible. My symptoms are mainly just hypersensitivity, disheveled sleep/insomnia, and exhaustion. Thanks for reading this far.
  2. Please help me , I have been taking 3 meds ( Olanzapine 5mg , Quetiapine 400mg and Amitrptyline 150mg ) for over 2 years , The last 2 months were very Hard , suddenly I start having Panic attacks , depression , fatigue , 0 appetite , Insomnia ; I've read that it can be from reaching the tolerance , tolerance is when the drugs don't work as they use it because the body get adapted to them , I am pretty sure that I am having tolerance because I start getting my old feelings for the first time . I didn't find anyone that had a similar experience ; Please help , Should I stop the medications ? or i have to just wait ? I don't want to increase my dose or to swicth to other drugs .
  3. I was prescribed Amitriptyline after overuse of hands due to hard work. sept 2021 The medicine helped with pain at nights but I felt dizzy when the dose was increased from 10 to 30Mg. Allso got dry mouth and got constipated. I have got 2Mg capsules from Dr and I have been tapering from 10 MG in May this year to 6Mg today. Feeling weak in legs and arms and have some joint pain. I have been on 6Mg for a month I am a bit afraid to taper further for the moment. Cant get 1Mg capsules so I might try to cut a capsule in half to get down to 5Mg i.e. 2+2+1 Mg
  4. Hello. In February 2020 I was a new mom and was prescribed domperidone for lactation: 50mg/day. Which affects dopamine. I took this until April 2020 and then tapered by 10mg/week until off. During my taper I became extremely anxious and was started on sertraline 25mg increased to 100mg in June 2020. In July I fell and hit my head and sustained a concussion. Sertraline made me feel weird so I tapered off over 4 weeks. then the headaches started. I blamed my concussion but in hindsight I think it was the sertraline withdrawal took nortriptyline 10mg and sertraline 25mg for 6 weeks (nov-dec 2020) . Headaches resolved and I weaned off because of dizzy spells and I didn’t want to hit my head again. Headaches back by December . in January 2021 I had had daily headaches for 6 weeks so dr recommended nortriptyline 10mg alone daily. I did and felt great no headaches. Then by March 2021 I got tachycardia and the doc suggested I wean off. I opened capsules and did a wean over 4 weeks. A week after stopping I got leg cramps so bad I couldn’t stand it. Restarted nortriptyline at about 4mg and weaned it over 2 months. Stopped it may 12. may 18-25 extreme anxiety out of no where. Doc started me on escitalopram 5mg which I took for 6 days and stopped. It made my anxiety horrible! Maybe caused kindling? Then 4 days later I felt like myself for about a week. After being off escitalopram for 10 days the anxiety and headaches creeped back in. is this all still nortriptyline withdrawal? Do I reinstate ? Will this get better ? My dose of nortriptyline was so small. Down to 2mg at the end.
  5. Thanks for admitting me to this group. I have benefitted immensely during last month by going through other fellow travelers' experience of withdrawing from Amitriptyline. I am on the same journey, after being on Ami from last October at 25 mg per day for my joint pains and fibromyalgia. Present dose is 3 mg per day. Started tapering from May 2023. Initial reduction from 25 to 22.5 mg for 2 weeks. Next 20mg, 17.5mg and all the way upto 10 mg. By August 15 I was at 10 mg. There was minor withdrawl symptoms like cold, hyperthermia (without fever) upto 100.5 deg F, increased flatulence, non specific pain at different places etc on and off during this period. It was getting resolved over 1 week to 10 days. I further tapered down to 7.5 mg and 5 mg by September 20. I am able to manage so far without major withdrawl symptoms. Major factor I feel is that I am at peace with my symptoms where as earlier I used to resist them mentally. Sleep is not so good like it was earlier with higher dose of Ami. But I don't lose sleep over the same🙂. Body always catches up with sleep when mind is not disturbed. To give a background, I was health anxious always and last year after I developed muscle and joint pains I was worried and started losing sleep. After blood checks, diagnosis was Vit D and B12 deficiency. Supplements and B12 injection were started then along with multi vitamin tablets. By September last year I developed fibromyalgia, most likely due to sleep deprivation and anxiety. That is when my neurologist prescribed Amitriptyline, 10 mg titrated upto 25mg over 2 weeks. The sleep was immediately better and with that the anxiety also was resolved. Normal side effects were there like weight gain, increased heart rate, urine retention etc. Dry mouth and constipation resolved over first 2 weeks. The pain meanwhile was coming down, even though I suspect it was because of the effect of Vitamin D and B12 supplementation. I was taking magnesium and iron supplements also during this period (and upto now) along with healthy food choices. Magnesium and potassium are important (as also iron) when we talk about neurological health. Found lot of benefits in the meanwhile in my BP (got normalised from earlier 145/100 levels to 115/80 levels) and cholestrol (from 230 levels to 180 for total cholestrol). HBA1C also came down to 6.5 from 8.0. I feel that the nutritional aspects in maintaining health are not very much in focus in modern medical practice. After my experience, I can vouch for the importance of the same. Presently I am reducing slowly as per the advise in this forum and reached 3 mg, will go real slow and plan to come off by some time next year. Intention of this post is to give hope as well as some help to other fellow sufferers about taking important steps to take control of our own health. Sorry for this long post.
  6. Hello there, My name is Phil and I’m 31 years old. My pharmaceutical journey began in October 2020. I began to experience random waves of nausea, indigestion, dizziness and anxiety out of no where. So, I figured I’d seek help. I went to a clinic, and they ran a bunch of tests. They decided that my anxiety is the culprit, so they gave me a script for Celexa. I took the 10mg and later that night I went to the ER from sheer fear that I was about to die. Safe to say, I gave up Celexa and moved on to “the next best thing” which in their mind was Mirtazapine. I will admit, Mirt gave me the most sound sleep I’ve ever experienced in my life. But that’s about as far as Mirt did for me. It gave me brutal anxiety and panic attacks during the day, and beautiful sleep during the night. Kinda ironic. Eventually the clinic gave me a referral to see a gastroenterologist. From there, I had a series of tests done that left the GI with no answers. He decided to diagnose me with the umbrella term of “functional Dyspepsia”. Basically they give you this diagnosis when they can’t find anything wrong with you. Shortly after my “diagnosis”, he chose to put me on Amitriptyline for my “nerve pain” So I transitioned from Mirtazapine to Amitriptyline very quickly. It was a bumpy few weeks, but I eventually stabilized on 10mg amitriptyline. They told me it would take up to 6-8 months to see any benefits from Amitriptyline; so I gave them the benefit of the doubt. I waited. I suffered and told myself that it’ll eventually get better. Fast forward to today and I feel like I’m going to war with myself everyday. I am now a slave to Amitriptyline. I have attempted to self-ween myself from this poison and I have been humbled by the drug multiple times. I don’t remember my experience coming from 10mg to 5mg, but this time around trying to get to 2.5mg has been the most brutal thing I’ve ever encountered. I’m currently in the throes of my most recent attempt to ween to 2.5mg. Im currently experiencing grotesque GI symptoms that include violent waves of nausea, cramping, diarrhea, constipation, 0% appetite, etc. As far as the mental aspect goes, I don’t think I can even put into words what the last few weeks have been like. I’m in constant loops of what feels like psychotic episodes. Ranging from severe panic attacks, paranoia, derealization, depersonalization, suicidal ideation, insomnia, night terrors and self isolation. I am truly at a loss, and I know that this is Amitriptyline’s doing. I have felt these things in the past from attempting a ween, but this time around has been very violent. I’ve had to take a leave of absence at work, and I’ve been bed ridden for about two weeks now attempting to stabilize on 2.5mg. Every night when it’s time to take the pill, I battle with myself. It’s either I continue down the path of the 2.5mg or attempt to re-stabilize myself on 5mg. Im feeling very lost at the moment and was hoping for some type of guidance here. If you chose to read my story, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.
  7. Hello everybody, I am new on this forum. Hopefully I filled all pieces of information into my signature so you can read it. I would like to ask you for help, what to do in my situation. I had to reinstate 50mg Amitriptyline (I tapered too fast to 19mg within 3 months - February - May2018). I had to be hospitalized (June 2018) because I lost a lot of weight and was really weak. They added another medication, so I have been using today: - 50mg of Amitriptyline - 50mg of Valdoxan for 8weeks - 10mg Olanzapine since 21st June, lowered to 7,5mg since July14th My question is, what would you do next with Olanzapine? I feel - a lot of inner vibrations - restlessness - fatique during first part of the day, till 2-3pm - constipation (and gut pains) Olanzapine helped with my anxiety, but unfortunatelly only during first 3 weeks, today I have anxiety back, every morning a lot of cortisol and adrenaline So I would like to quit Olanzapine, as I read horrible storries about withdrawing this drug after months or years of use. But I don´t know what to do? Quit it as soon as possible? Or do a slow taper within next weeks eventhough I was on it only for couple of weeks (in total 5weeks today)? What would be your recommendation? I apologize for my English, I am not a native speaker. Thank you
  8. Greetings all, being a guy and biologically averse to reading instruction manuals and following directions I began a taper last fall and it has been five months of misery. I was taking Ami 10mg for nerve pain for 14 years and my plan was to drop 25% every 30 days or sooner depending on how the reduction was tolerated.. November 1st I dropped to 7.5 mg, November 25th 5.0 mg, January 2.5mg and discontinued completely on March 1st. The drop to zero on March 1st was delayed because I was feeling lousy and my wife had knee replacement surgery and I didn't want to add to the difficulties. As each reduction became more difficult it finally dawned on me that my math was deeply flawed. While the first 2.5mg reduction was from 10mg to 7.5 and was in fact 25% I believe the subsequent reductions were actually 33%, 50% and 100%. ( In addition to not reading directions well mathematics was never a strong suit). Quite likely the original drop from 10 to 7.5 was too aggressive and each subsequent drop compounded the problem. The first drop was fairly well tolerated but from the second reduction forward things have gotten progressively worse but I stupidly thought that this was expected and continued. It became more and more obvious that things weren't improving so in desperation I began reading tapering info on this site and the light bulb over my head flickered dimly. My "plan" was too aggressive in the beginning and compounded by bad math became increasingly difficult. On March 28th I reinstated from 0mg to 2.5 and finally had a decent nights sleep and on the 29th woke pretty much pain and anxiety free. I woke this morning with some return of pain and mild anxiety and that's where we stand now. From the information I'm still reading on the site I believe I should try to stabilize the symptoms and possibly adjust the dosage to allow things to settle down before making another attempt at tapering. Any thoughts, advice, comments etc would be greatly appreciated.
  9. Hi All, On aug 16 2022 I have started using amitriptyline 10mg prescribed by neurologist where I was having one sided headaches. After starting the medication I felt really sleepy through out the day I can't focus on work and dry mouth, however I read that for the medication to function we have to take for a longer period of time, i continued regardless of how I felt. But on sep 2nd week when I tried to sleep I would sleep for 5 mins and wake up with body jerks again and shock like sensation and not able to fall asleep. I felt really really bad that day.but i really exactly don't remember if I did take medication or not on that day but to my memory I think i also took it that day.next day I went to the same doc he said it's nothing just hypnic jerks but they were very bad I know how hypnic jerks feel they would clear in 5 mins not whole night, then he prescribed other medication etilaam.pro 0.5 , i understood I was already making my self a mess wite medication and decided not to experiment any further . Then I stopped, next day i wasn't able to fall sleep I would sleep for 1hr and wake up with Nightmares, I would be half asleep , it was so horrible so i came back home . I genuinely thought it was happening because of medication(amitriptyline )side effects that I took I should never go on them, and next few weeks I would try to sleep but wake up in 2-3 hrs with Nightmares and couldn't fall asleep,also I would be half asleep , not fully awake or fully slept. But i didn't understand why all this was happening, i was always analytical in my life , during this period I was asking myself why I am feeling so bad every day and insomnia. Maybe one day i thought due to caeffine, may be x may be y .. but now i understand none of it is a logical explanation. On Oct 22 still having sleep issues at night i just asked myself why iwas feeling so bad and i felt a shock , next min I couldn't recognise myself and all depersonalisation symptoms from them.. after few days i visited a psych he prescribed paxil and clonezapam, i thought they would take dp away, they didn't, i would feel more numb, after completing one month course having no medication for a day while sleeping I felt the exact same way unable to fall asleep jerking night mares that day, then i understood whenever I missed a dose all this jerks are happening and realised that these medications shouldnt be quit abruptly so late , I had bad withdrawal symptoms from amitriptyline. Now I can't get out of this dp every day feels like hell, the paxil 12.5 and clonezapam makes me sleepy and numb no excitement.im having suicide thoughts from couple of months I can't take this dp and numbness, i tried doing sports, working for long hours, cold showers, but the feelings of dp haven't reduced a bit
  10. I also went CT but only after taking amitriptolyne for 14 days. I had 3 months of horrible withdrawl and have been now left (7 months later) with the worst anxiety. I never had anxiety before this. I think the anxiety actually is causing most of my symptoms now. I'm sorry you are going through this, it's so hard but I have had to learn that the only thing that is going to make my anxiety better is to do a LOT of self help exercises. I have been listening to The Anxiety Guy on you tube and I find him really good. he does some great daily affirmations for health anxiety that really help. I also throught I had fibro, i convinced myself I had MS and even brain tumours. Had MRI's, CT scans, bloods 3 times. It is all withdrawl. I am still really anxious all the time but I really find listening to some afirmations and being kind to myself is starting to help. I have managed to still work through it all (although i have an azaming boss who completly understands and gives me time when i need it). Unfortuantely I am one of those people that has had a massive reaction to this sort of medication and all doctors want to do is put me on some sort of blocker to fix my issues. Not going there anymore! I hope your anxiety calms down soon, maybe try some daily mindfullness techneques.
  11. Hello everyone, This is my first post, and I wanted to express my sincere appreciation for the supportive environment this forum provides to individuals grappling with antidepressant withdrawal symptoms. The particulars of my journey can be found in my signature block, but in short, I've been navigating a three-month withdrawal process following an abrupt cessation of over three years of antidepressant use [cycling through the TCA class of drugs with Amitryptoline, Trazadone (Trittico), and Mirtazapine (Remeron)]. The withdrawal symptoms were triggered by the decision of my psychiatrist to abruptly switch me to Pristiq (Desvenlafaxine, an SNRI). After complaints of fatigue and depression, his expectation was that the SNRI would give me an energy boost. This switch was aggravated by the decision to not cross taper. Instead, within 24 hours stopping Remeron and starting Pristiq triggered nearly manic side effects. I was in a hyper-agitated state, dizzy and unable to sleep. He suggested I continue with Pristiq for a week to see if symptoms improved, after they did not, he cold turkey transitioned me to an SSRI (Lexapro) to test its efficacy. Unfortunately, this change didn't bring any improvement. Ultimately, we attempted to reinstate Trittico at a very low dosage. By that point, however, my body had become hypersensitive and reacted adversely to any changes. About 100 days later, my withdrawal symptoms are still significant, with only sporadic periods of reprieve. My most debilitating symptoms include severe dizziness and disassociation (which can last for days), brain fog and forgetfulness, hypersensitivity to certain foods and stimulants like sugar and caffeine, intense anxiety and insomnia, and a persistent, severe ache in my neck muscles that make it feel as though my entire head is trapped in a vise. I also suffer from a constant, low-grade stomachache. These symptoms are negatively impacting my work and personal relationships, which leaves me questioning whether I should consider reinstating a low dosage of one of the original successful drugs (Amatryptoline, Trazadone or Mirtazapine) in an attempt to alleviate these issues. Alternatively, I'm wondering if it would be better to continue without introducing drugs, out of fear of potentially exacerbating the situation. I've also explored virtually every dietary supplement available, but I'm unsure whether any have a real impact. Despite maintaining a healthy diet and exercising lightly each day, I'm not witnessing any significant improvements. Does anyone know of any reliable methods to lessen these symptoms? Since Pristiq seemed to have caused this effect on my body, are there any other people who have transitioned from TCAs to an SNRI and experienced the same negative symptoms? What does the recovery timeline look like? At 90+ days, I am severely demoralized and considering restarting anti-depressants. Having read through numerous posts on this forum, I am well aware there's no simple solution. However, my confidence in my psychiatrist has been completely undermined due to his choices to rapidly switch me through medications and his subsequent trial-and-error approach in trying to correct that initial error. Currently, I take 25mg of Xanax at night to aid sleep, but this doesn't guarantee a restful sleep, and I often wake up in a state of panic. I'd be grateful for any advice or guidance on what steps I might take next, as it feels as though I've exhausted all my options. I'm currently undergoing therapy to tackle my baseline anxiety, which has been beneficial, but it doesn't tackle the fundamental issue - the alterations in my neurochemistry and the impact that years of antidepressant use has had on my brain. I am hopeful that there are strategies or tips out there that might alleviate these symptoms and assist me on my journey towards a drug-free life. With sincere thanks.
  12. Ruthie3

    Ruthie3: Intro

    Hi there, I have been through polydrug hell, suffered insomnia after medical shock then given host of sleep meds but believe they caused paradoxical breathing or possibly withdrawals maybe from mix, was given zolpiclone and Xanax and no in breath when going into deeper sleep and would wake constantly? Has anyone experienced this? Continued and given mirtrazapine at morning time! Then amitriptyline which caused urinary retention stopped both, no sleep still so kept on Xanax and zopiclone, then stopped and the same scenario no in breath? If anyone knows what this is? I was then given Xanax to keep me asleep, never more than 1mg ar night only, would you have withdrawals from that if just at night? Panic attacks as no sleep only an hour or so, myoclonus, can’t sleep during day time jerks hypnic. Then started sertraline and hyperacusis started and Xanax still. Then went to psych hospital as wasn’t sure what was happening? Was treated horrifically told agitated depression, never had depression in life, we thing misdiagnosed badly, by power tripping psych as I challenged that. Given Effexor, then clonazapam at night 1mg kept pushing Effexor up, no benefit. I was so worried as they were leaving me on clonazapam, I was only taking at night, day was cut cold Turkey as I was too sleepy. No weaning. Then told take more at night! But got trazadone added 100mg and cut clonazapam to .5 from 1mg, hyperacusis back as had gone but worse than when went in! Effexor pushed up more, phergen added night and clonazapam cut to .25mg from .5mg, Effexor up at 150mg, hyperacusis unbelievable now! Odd as if was depression should the Effexor now get rid of hyperacusis? No benefit. Then told take more, 187 and I couldn’t sleep at all. Myoclonus so bad. Was left even though had bruising everywhere ignored amongst so many other symptoms panic attacks so bad, let out as insurance up, left in lurch, cut to 150 Effexor then 112 and hyperacusis worsening. Got public psych but she said thinks misdiagnosed but no disgnosis and said cut Effexor to 75 and hyperacusis was too much to bear I had to go back to 112.5 mg. What is going on, I’ve never dealt with drugs like this before and don’t know what’s going on and very bad care here, told hyperacusis ENT thing but ruled out but ignored. Hypnic jerks, sleep not great at all, panic so bad in morning feel in total trauma ptsd all time freeze mode. Treated so badly. No info given on anything when in hospital just ignored and wouldn’t wean me off clonazapam yet told me Im on addictive meds now for life! Can anyone help me on hyperacusis and what’s going on breathing at night and hypnic jerks. Breathing is separate than jerks, no in breath in deeper sleep stage. I am at wits end and no life. Left without help. Clonazapam Now out of stock. I’m on it still what left .25mg trazadone and melatonin now might, wake up in horrors. Is it possibly to have withdrawals daily? If low dose? I’m so confused. Pharmacist said possible, my nervous system in total disarray. The 112 to 75 was too much. Too fast just cut fast. Any help on how to cut as tried opening beads out but even that hyperacusis was getting worse? Please help me make sense of this all? Thank you. Is it trauma PTSD, withdrawals, as I am worse now than ever, do get some sleep which is good thing. But wake in horrors. All day panic attacks constantly no let up unless lying down. BP all over place. Get so weak. Have thyroid condition and period issues, fibroid and lot of blood loss monthly. Skin is so dry. Diarrhea all time, gastro issues, reflux. In such panic I just need some advice what May be going on? Thanks so much
  13. Hey everyone, I've wrestled with two crippling bouts of insomnia in my life, both within a year a half of each other. Both bouts of insomnia weren't driven by anxiety or depression, but rather came through illness. So, I don't ordinarily have depression or anxiety. The first time I had insomnia it lasted around 3 months and I got through it with temazepam and remeron, which I tapered off of successfully. The second bout of insomnia started December 8th, 2022, again due to illness. I started temazepam again and later remeron. I had some med changes over the course of several days, which is reflected in my signature, but eventually got back on remeron. My sleep eventually stabilized, so I tapered off the temazepam successfully, with the added help of hydroxyzine. I then stopped the hydroxyzine cold turkey and didn't seem to have any issues. The last thing to go was the remeron, which I always took at 10pm and went to bed at 10:30pm. I was on remeron for about 2.5 months, most of that time being on 15mg, which I then reduced to 7.5mg for a week, then 3.75mg for another week. During the remeron taper I also used 5-10mg of THC and 30mg of CBD at night and I only had one night I didn't sleep well. The last day I took the 3.75mg dose of remeron was March 2nd, 2023. So, I hopped off at 3.75mg and it's been two days and I haven't slept at all either night. I'm guessing I should go back on the 3.75mg dose and do a microtaper with a compounding pharmacy?
  14. About 5 years ago I took a lot of antibiotics for what turned out to be a jaw infection. This resulted in continuing gut problems, (gastritis, esophagitis) and also a condition called burning mouth syndrome. During this time repeated use of acid-reducing drugs (PPI's) started giving me side effects, particularly insomnia and anxiety, and I wound up being given psych drugs (all at low doses) as well. During 2017 I got better, with mixed results on weaning: - February 2017: My first attempt to go from .25 mg daily clonazepam to .125 mg clonazepam resulted in almost immediate withdrawal symptoms, such as insomnia, anxiety, extreme nausea. I went back up to the original dose and the symptoms quickly disappeared - September 2017: Stopped taking 10 mg. Celexa cold turkey, with no withdrawal issues. - October 2017 through December 2017; under the direction of a psychiatrist, reduced from .25 mg to .125 mg with minimal side effects, using alternating doses according to a schedule developed by Cara Tannenbaum. Very minimal nausea, worked quite well. December 2017: Happened to skip a dose of amitriptyline and realized how refreshed and energetic I felt the next day. Decided to take it every other day for two weeks, then stop. Felt great - my dry mouth (a side effect of the drug) disappeared, and so did my burning mouth! I was over the moon. Then at about week three I started having stomach pain, and was waking up with acid in my throat; I was even burping up acid. I had a vitreous detachment in my right eye. There were two solid days where my body shook and I had constant diarrhea. I felt manic. PPI's helped with the acid, but again I developed insomnia and anxiety, and more stomach pain. The psychiatrist suggested Benadryl, which did not help much. It seemed like everything I tried caused stomach distress. I had to resume taking 10 mg. of the amitriptyline , and also eventually went back up to .25 clonazepam to help with anxiety. These are the only drugs I currently take. Since then I have not regained my health. I lost 20 lbs. those first couple of months, and am considered anorexic. I eat six small meals a day, trying to gain weight but without success. During an endoscopy in May 2018 my GI doc at the time suspected gastroparesis, since he did not observe any stomach peristalsis during the procedure. Since I was already following eating guidelines for gastroparesis, I decided not to be tested since I would probably not want to take any drugs for it. With resumption of the amitriptyline, dry, burning mouth came back in a much more severe form - it flares all the time. Could I have become hypersensitive to this drug? I now routinely have swelling in my throat, mouth, and belly. I have also been recently diagnosed with SIBO - small intestine bacterial overgrowth, and IBS. A nutritionist I am now seeing suspects I may have histamine intolerance, which the amitriptyline probably makes worse. I have a very accurate (to 0.1 mg) analytical scale and can shave the amitriptyline pills down. In March 2019 I went down from 10 to 9 mg., and had manageable nausea. I held at 9 mg for six weeks. When I went down to 8 mg. the nausea and and mouth pain were intense - but this particular time I alternated between 9 and 8 for a week, which I didn't do with the first taper. Maybe that was a mistake. At this point, the doctors look at me like I am totally out of my mind - how can such small doses have such big effects? I feel the amitriptyline is hurting my body, and making my gut dysfunctional (it slows motility, for example, which is bad for both gastroparesis and SIBO). So I need to get off of it, but this last taper scared the heck out of me. Words of advice and/or encouragement are appreciated! Thanks in advance ...
  15. So here I am, I've gotten some good information from the site before but mostly remained a lurker, right now I think I need a little bit of support from people that truly understand what I've been through While this journey starts in 2007 I have to clarify that it wasn't my first time dealing with ADs. Much younger, in 2001 I was hooked up on Zyprexa for what I feel was an irresponsible reaction to something that required another set of actions (heavy bullying, and I'll leave it at that). That experience made me very weary of the effects of antidepressants and how fast medical personnel relies on them. Thankfully I got off them (mostly) fine So let's fast forward to 2007 I was getting very preoccupied by a girl thing during that period and had no one to talk to. I decided, sure, why not? and went to a psychologist. I got to say it was a very pleasant experience and overall it helped a lot But then this happened. I've always had trouble with insomnia since I was a kid. Out of nowhere I had a whole night episode of insomnia. It was like something popped in my head and the feeling of sleepiness was removed. I had never pulled an all-nighter before. It coincided with a trip to the psychologist He over-panicked and took me to the psychiatrist office, saying that wasn't normal and he prescribed me two meds: Amitriptyline, 25mg and Perphenazine 10mg. I really wish to know what would have happened if I had, you know, just tried to sleep normally that night again In short, those pills felt like magic, they were like sleep on a pill, for someone with sleep issues all his life it was very tempting to continue using them. Sure, they made me sleepy in the morning, but nothing a cup of coffee couldn't solve A couple of years later I had to change doctors again, the new doctor prescribed me with bipolar II and added 500mg of valproic acid, sometimes more. I have no idea how he reached that conclusion since valproic acid felt like a placebo to me Over the years the side effects started to get more noticeable, specially after my doctor made a mistake and gave me 4mg pills of perphenazie instead of 10mg. I pointed this out but he told me it was "impossible" to put me on 10mg again since I would get more sedated. To him, my insomnia was caused by bipolarity and everything working was the perphenazine and valproic acid. For some reason he claimed that amitriptyline was only making me drowzy in the morning. He tried to remove it completely and playing with varying degrees of the other drugs. But I was already working by that time, my job requires me to have a good mental performance. So I never tried any of his variations or new drugs for more than 2 days of zero sleep The last two years The side effects ended up being unbearable. Before that I had bad days sprinkled here and there, from now one I graded the days by how bad they were. I had depersonalization, lost the train of thought, got extremely dizzy, physically and mentally tired all the time, this made my job unbearable. On top of that I started to develop serious bladder and gastrointestinal problems, both urologists and gastros I visited not only agreed that the drugs were the culprit, they pushed me to start questioning what was going on. My doctors (and really all doctors after that) are very prone to minimize side effects or downright deny them and give the most useless advice (change your coffees for something stronger like a redbull) With this doctor I tried to quit the meds completely with what was a fairly "normal" taper of a quarter of a pill every two weeks. Side effects continued and insomnia got worst until I lost the ability to sleep when I went off them completely. Lasted 4 days until I got back to them (job responsibilities couldn't wait). He told me to not take the valproic acid becausee "maybe it's not bipolarity". His las try was using midazolam but it didn't work November last year Reached a breaking point and quit my job, there was no way I was going to be able to fix this and work at the same time. My plan was to do a slow taper and see how it went. Sadly, I ended up listening to some family members that took me to "two of the best doctors in the region". From november to february I took, in really short periods of time: quetiapine, mirtazapine, pregabaline, estazolam, agomelatine, levomepromazine, trazodone, sulpiride. They either didn't work at all or gave me way worst side effects The last doctor was particularly bad, not only did he denied I had insomnia and returned to "everything is just bipolarity" but he also gave me diazepam, it didn't made me sleep and he only gave me amitriptyline again until I begged him I need to start sleeping again. I told him I didn't want diazepam, I knew the risks, I had reacted terribly to benzos before, but he insisted in exchange of the amitriptyline, and told me it was "a soft med, I give it to old people". Anyway, after a month he took me cold turkey off the diazepam and for 2 months I had the worst withdrawal symptoms I felt in my life. He insisted it was all in my head. I had to convince my family to take me to another shrink I personally researched who obviously said I was suffering from benzo withdrawal and in his opinion "nothing in my medical history sounds like bipolarity" He gave me the same meds (amitriptyline and perphenazine) and have been "stable" the last two months. "Stable" means feeling exactly how I was feeling in November with the exception that the gastro issued haven't returned at full intensity again So, next week, I restart work again, maybe it was a bad decision, but I haven't worked in 9 months, bills don't pay themselves and don't see an end in sight. I see my doctor in August, I want him to agree to a 10% a month taper. He laughed about it saying it is "too conservative" and was petrified when I told him about dissolving the pills on liquid. I read about the scale method and plan to order one and hope he will agree to it On top of that, I'm going to a CBT-i doctor. I have tried it before and can say it helps greatly with sleep, sadly, it does nothing for the side effects. I can say without a doubt my only problem is insomnia. The last few months, the short periods I've been off zero meds I have felt great, I can think again, my body feels right. Sadly, I can't sleep and it starts to take a toll around the 4th day. My record in January was a 9 day period of zero or close to zero sleep time, I expected that the brain would just shut down if I force it, but it didn't So, any help would be appreciated, specially in the side effect department. I need to function normally in my job again. I've read about taking modafinil, huperzine or other cholinergic agonist to see if they might counteract the amitriptyline symptoms
  16. Hi all, I’m so glad I’ve come across this forum, it’s taught me more about antidepressants and withdrawal in a few weeks of reading than I ever knew the four years I was on them. My story is that I have always had bad anxiety but as a teenager I experimented with psychedelics and weed which made my symptoms a lot worse. When I was 18 I went through something quite traumatic and went into a few month long drug and ptsd induced psychosis. I was treated by some awful psychiatrists who misdiagnosed my bad ptsd and psychosis symptoms as bipolar disorder (through two 30 minute evaluations). I was young and because of the symptoms I was experiencing, I was not in the right mindset to question what was going on and my mother was just trying to do what was best for me so followed the doctors advice. I was then put on seroquel, Valium and olanzapine I think there was a few other medications but I don’t remember. I was on all of this for a maybe 4 months but all it did was cause a lot of awful side effects and made me gain a lot of weight. My mum decided that I should get off of them as she could see the damage they were doing so we slowly weaned off of them. I now know that the taper was still too short although at the time we thought we were doing what was best. The psychosis symptoms did stay away although I was very anxious and depressed. After a lot of therapy I was doing okay although still quite depressed, the depression lasted till I was about 2017 when I was 20 and although it went away I then developed anorexia quite badly. I was able to recover by 23 but I feel like prior trauma combined with the stress of being malnourished triggered bad OCD symptoms that I had never had before (repetitive awful thoughts and fixations). I was taken aback as it seemed like this came out of nowhere and it was quite scary. Because of this I was desperate to get rid of the symptoms so asked my doctor to go on Zoloft 50mg in 2019. I was already taking 10mg of Amitriptyline for sleep so we started the Zoloft. It did get rid of the OCD symptoms as my symptoms although distressing were only moderate. I was on this for a year and a half although I had terrible brain fog, could not think clearly or focus so I wanted to switch to something else. The pandemic had also made me very anxious, I cold turkey switched to Lexapro at the end of 2020 and was on 15mg until October 2022. Honestly my experience with Lexapro was good I felt calm and happy and my OCD symptoms were much better, although it did make me a bit too carefree and I gained a lot of weight again. I didn’t care as much about my university grades or other little issues, I think my anxiety pushed me to be a bit of a perfectionist. I started to read a lot of articles about the long term effects of antidepressants in 2022 and I got scared. I had noticed I had a hard time remembering things since being on the medication and I was concerned that the medication wasn’t actually treating the root issue. I also read a lot about how some mental health issues are being linked to the metabolic system and as someone who has had terrible stomach issues I wanted to try different natural ways (diet and exercise) of treating what was going on. So I decided to go off the Lexapro cold turkey (I didn’t know the effects of this, it was dumb but it was 6 months ago now I feel too far along to reinstate). Initially my withdrawal were not too bad I had brain zaps and felt fluish but this passed within three weeks. I had a bit of sensitivity towards the end of 2022 but was pretty okay although some OCD symptoms and anxiety were worse but I thought they were just coming back as a result of stopping the medication. But I think I must have had a protracted withdrawal as in January I started to have terrible mood swings, hormonal issues, awful pain around my period and extreme mood swings leading up to my period. I started crying all the time and feeling very sensitive. The only supplement I was taking at this time was milk thistle as I had read it helps with OCD and although I did notice that it slightly helped the symptoms, I feel like it didn’t do that much. I read more and more about metabolic health and I decided to try a paleo diet to see if it would help my symptoms, it has reduced my OCD symptoms a lot, although up until a month ago I was still feeling quite anxious, emotional and sensitive and these symptoms follow a windows and waves type pattern as described here. At the moment I have been taking a small dose of milk thistle daily for the past three weeks which I have found helpful for anxiety although seeing some info about it on here I’m thinking I should not take this as it alters brain chemicals. The other symptoms I’ve been dealing with since January are nausea, dizziness, fatigue, trouble thinking clearly, trouble putting sentences together and remembering words as well as feeling depressed, irritable and having mood swings. I am also still struggling to lose the weight I gained on lexapro but have joined up for more exercise classes and I’m hoping overtime my metabolism will improve. I just had a two week window of feeling a bit better emotionally but still dealing with physical symptoms but now I’ve started to feel down again. I am going to try the vitamins listed on here, the magnesium and omega 3s. I have also been thinking to try Ashwaganda or some hormonal balancing herbs as I think I have a bit of an imbalance going on but I’m not sure if I should add more things in right now. I’ve joined here because it feels so comforting to know that what I’m going through is a result of withdrawal and to know that other people are also experiencing similar things and have gotten through it. I hope that I start to see some improvements soon but I will keep people updated on my symptoms and progress. Nice to meet you all!
  17. Hi all. Going to make it short as I can. in 2020 summer I got my first panic attack due to lots of stress in life. in 2020 fall I spiralled into panic disorder. 2021 February started taking Seroxat - made me super anxious, gave up in 3 weeks. 2021 April doc put me on Lexapro. In few months felt myself again, enjoyed 2021 summer. 2021 fall - symptoms started to come back, but they were not too bad. 2022 January - got new job, anxiety skyrocketed and doc upped my Lexapro dose to 20mg. At the same time started to develop some strange socio fobia - in social gatherings my anxiety started to become really high. Dunno why - it just happened. 2022 spring. **** started to hit fan after russia invaded Ukraine. I’m from Eastern Europe, so this contributed to my anxiety even more. 2022 May - doc was throwing at me random drugs and all in all - I was taking 5 antidepressants at the same time. Was super furious about this and he removed some, but… put me on Klonopin. 2022 May lost my job, I stayed 10 years… 2022 june - anxiety was still high no matter what. I lost hope in drugs and started to wd Klonopin first. Was hospitalised, since could not handle the wd. 2022 August after the hospital I was put on Tranxene 10mg, Citalopram 20mg and Flupentixol. 2022 September started my new job and started to wd Tranxene. To my anxiety, sociofobia I started to become agoraphobic due to Tranxene wd. 2022 December could hardly go to work, was super low with all my symptoms. Lost my job. 2023 January was put on Amitryptiline 100mg. Was still agoraphobic. Got new job. 2023 March. Amitryptiline did nothing, I talked to my doc and we decided to just wd this for now. 2023 April - one month drug free. Living on emotional and symptom rollercoster. One day is possible, another - can hardly keep rowing. Do my agoraphobic exposures. Do my sociofobic exposures. Doing my best to live up daily symptoms. I guess I kicked my nervous system hard in 2022 and now a reset is needed. Would be awesome to live in a forest for a year, but… I have family, 3 kids, 4th is on the way, wife is unemployed, I must do job - I like it or not. Living in a flat is no fun at this stage. wish me good luck.
  18. Hi drug time line is below. In hindsight this was a disaster from the get go! My nervous system was already a little out of whack thanks to a head injury (hence the drugs!). looking for advice, really don't want to go back on the meds due to the physical side effects but not sure what to do. From reading this post I know I tapered to quick, probably should of got off amitriptyline day 1 when I had severe drowsiness and then jumping to effexor as prescribed just added huge fuel to that fire. Not sure where I go from here? I'm guessing just wait it out an hope it gets better? Amitriptyline Nov 24th 10mg Dec 4th 20mg severe reaction told to go back to ten and then 15mg Dec 10th to Jan 1 15mg Wanted to get off and having bad cardiac issues so quick taper. (I didn't know this was quick at the time) Was switched to effexor 37.5mg for 2 days, amitriptyline 10mg a few days, 5mg then 2.5mg Effexor for a week. (No taper, was told there was no issue) Now that I see this group, I see the errors so many errors. I've been off this for near a month, extreme fatigue (since I started amitriptyline) heads since the head injury amitriptyline made them 100* worse. Since coming off effexor ALOT of random crying fits. Shortness of breath, chest pain, heart palpitations, dizziness, lightheadness, no ability to exercise (ran a marathon a week before amitriptyline!) Where do I go from here?
  19. Hello. I started using sleeping pills many years ago because of a sudden severe insomnia. Over the years, My insomnia has gotten worse, and I had to add several different sedative medications in order to get any sleep. Currently I must take a very high dosaged cocktail, otherwise I can't sleep at all. I want to start tappering off the drugs, starting from the antideppresents. My nightly cocktail: 75 mg Amitriptyline (3 pills) 60 mg Mirtazapine (2 pills) 0.5 mg Bortizolam (2 pills) Sometimes I add 0.25-0.5 mg Clonazapem (Last nights, regularly) I also take high dosages of melatonin. Can someone offer me a specified withdrawal plan from all of these, starting from the Amitriptyline and Mirtazpine? Thank you
  20. Hello! I took Amitriptyline for about 8 months and went off of it because it caused me to gain 15lbs and made me severely constipated. I taped off and took my last dose back in June and I still can’t lose weight and still dealing with horrible constipation. I never had this problem before that drug. I’ve a very healthy person. I exercise daily and eat healthy. This is beyond frustrating!! I’ve been to the doctor who told me to just take laxatives. I’ve spent hundreds of dollars at a naturopath who had me take tons of supplements. Those things will work for a little while then they stop. Has anyone experienced this with a medication and did the constipation get better?
  21. I discovered about Cardiac Coherence one week ago and I thought it could be helpful. I started to reinstate Amitriptyline 25mg (30yrs use) 3 weeks ago after stopping cold turkey last October. My protocole now is 10mg am and 15mg night with some progress: 1st week-no sleep, 2nd week-slept 5 nights, 3rd week-slept 5 nights,4th week-slept Jan 11 only. No sleep since. So it could be Cardiac Coherence breathing which has excited my nervous system, yes? I’m 72 yrs old. Since last August, I lost all my bad eating habits, and lost weight, no more high blood pressure. So I thought I could stop Amitriptyline 25mg prescribed to me for insomnia in early 90’s. Few years ago, I took only 2/3 to sleep. I thought I could stop. I failed. Very bad side effects. Finally, I saw the light, and Amitriptyline reinstatement. And tonight, I stopped cardiac coherence breathing 3xday. I’ll update my progress. I've read some topics and will read more. I discover very needed new info every day. Thank you to all for contributing to this peer support forum.
  22. Hi there, I'm a new one here. Luckily, I've found this website because we don't have any single website which helps people who want to stop taking antidepressants in my country. My name is Anastasia, I'm 32. I work as a teacher at school. I'm married and have a lovely cat. I take antidepressants for 11 years. I've always been a shy person with lack of confidence. Since my childhood I've suffered from intrusive thoughts just about any imaginable staff. The first time I went to the psychiatrist was because of intrusive thoughts about my relationship. And my horror story began. I had various reasons for my constant painful thoughts. I had permament nausea, irritable bowel, which didn't let me leave my house, a sense of guilt, depressive thoughts, anxiety. constant tears and just liying at home and staring at one point - not all at once, of course. These were the reasons for many many visits to the doctor. Each time antidepressants helped a lot and I was back to life again. Can't say I was always in a good mood, but, nevertheless, I could live. I really don't remember the years and dosage of medicines, but in different periods I took amitriptilin, venlafaxine, zoloft, duloxetine, fluoxetine, phenazipame, atarax. One day pills stopped helping me. I changed three doctors hoping someone'll help me. The first one finally said that my brain had become tolerant to drugs and I had to quit. I tried so many times and always my thoughts came back and tortured me. The second doc said I had endogenous depression and it's ok to take antidepresants just for the whole life. She also said that if one medicine didn't help, so let's try another. And we tried and changed. My thoughts and depression didn't go away, but I felt not well, not bad. The third doc finally said that my diagnose was anxiery disorder and eating disorder. Insisted on treating my depression to the end and then quit. My latest medicine was venlafaxine 75 mg. But I decided to come to my first doctor and tried to withdraw like 37, 5 - one week, 18,75 - two weeks. Now it's three weeks I'm off. And it's just a hell. My thoughts (now about my weight and shape) have become more painful than they were on medicines. I find it hard to go outside because I feel really uncomfortable in all my clothes. It seems they are too tight. I'm depressed, angry and nervous. I can't do anything and distract myself. Even in my pyjamas I feel fat and uncomfortable. The story of my eating disorder: when I got married, my husband and I gained some weight. Then we started keeping to a diet. We lost weight and I felt just great for some time. Then it wasn't enough and I started to eat 1000 calories a day. But still I had a fat belly and wasn't satisfied with my weight and the way I looked. I gave up dieting and gained half the weight I had lost previously. Now I'm obsessed with my weight and it's just a nightmare. I think about it 24/7 but can't stop eating. Food is the only thing that gives me pleasure. I tried Gestalt therapy and CBT a bit, but I'm convinced that these sessions just do nothing. I understand everything, nod to the psychologist but don't believe it can help. I'm really confused now if I have to be on medicines or not and don't know what to do... Living like this is not a real life. The only wish I have now is to stop this suffering, by means of drugs or not, I don't know. I 'm studying this website and try to understand all the mechanisms. I'm not sure I'll manage to tolerate this for many years, it's been only three weeks but I'm completely exhausted. The reason why I wanted to quit was to have a baby, but it's practically impossible to think about pregnancy and birth now because of my condition. Seeking for help and support. Thank you in advance. PS: I was really frightened to start my topic here because of the country where I live, because of my nationality. But I want you to know that I just can't stand all the hell that is going on right now in the world. Of course, it adds a lot to my anxiety and depression.
  23. Hello, Im a 38 years old Woman, im registrated new to this board. Im a quiet reader since 2 Years. I thought its time to share my story and finding some new answers. I took Amitriptyline 20 mg fo 2 Years because of my Vulvodynia, but it didn't help. In this 2 Years i never had any side effects. In December 2019 i suffered from a bad sinus Infection and forgot to take my AMI. I remember waking up 2 nights later with a bone dry mouth followed by bone dry eyes a week ago. Then i started to wean off in a really unsteady way because my state of mind was so confused. About a month i tortured my body with diffrent dosages from really high to zero. I had the most horrible time in my life with suicidal ideations depression, heartracing, nausea, loss of appetite and brain zaps. In January a Psychiatist told me to wean off slowly, what i did. I took me 2 Years come off and quit in January this Year. My Dryness never improved. I had windows and Waves through the whole weaning Process but not as bad as now. After 2 Weeks when i hit Zero, i started to have the worst reflux and stomach pains ever, was suicidal again and felt like that 3 Months, until it faded away. From May to July i felt pretty good besides the Dryness in my Eyes and Mouth. In August i started to have new Symptoms: Extreme Fatigue, Muscle Weakness, Depression, Anxiety, Heartracing in the mornings,OCD. Its so worse that i cant work. Im really concerned if this all is still withdrawal and my Dry Mouth and Eyes never improved. Im starting to believe i have Sjogrens Syndrome. Does Anybody had similar Symptoms. Im really desperate. Doctors in Germany are really no help, cause they dont believe in a long lasting withdrawal. Thanks for everyone who is reading this.
  24. Hi, I've joined this group because I'm seeking support for withdrawal from low dose amitriptyline for pain. Since my final drop from 2 mg to 0 mg on June 21, I am experiencing air hunger (shortness of breath or dyspnea), even after 5 weeks. To make a long story short, I've been dealing with gastritis (stomach pain/inflammation) since 2017, but had a very unexpected flare-up with no (at the time) identifiable trigger starting in December 2021, and was subsequently diagnosed with "functional dyspepsia" and put on amitriptyline 10mg (in the form of 2mg drops) for nerve pain. I felt like a zombie on 10mg, so after only 4 nights dropped to 6mg, which was more tolerable. After about 2 weeks, I was finally able to identify the hormonal contraception pill as the cause of my stomach pain, so I stopped taking it, which made the amitriptyline redundant. After my stomach was feeling a bit better, I dropped to amitriptyline 4 mg in March, and then to 2mg in early May. My final 2 mg dose was on June 20, and on June 22 I started experiencing shortness of breath which neither improves nor worsens with exercise, and is somewhat alleviated by yawning. With every 2mg drop I experienced several days to 1 week of headaches, insomnia, agitation, anxiety and digestive issues (ongoing struggles with gastritis as well as weaning off the stomach acid reducing drug, omeprazole, make it impossible to say if any of my current digestive issues are connected to amitriptyline withdrawal). It is only since I went to 0 mg that I am experiencing this shortness of breath, and it doesn't seem to be going away even after 5 weeks. I also had my 2nd Pfizer covid vaccination on June 13th, but I have none of the other symptoms such as elevated heart rate, etc, that are connected to the possible vaccine side effects of peri- or myocarditis. I often have summer allergic asthma, but my inhalers don't seem to resolve this, and it is not accompanied by the usual wheezing. I have seen my GP, and she says my lung and heart sounds are good, and the EKG and lung function test were normal. My GP didn't really think that it's withdrawal. Neither did my therapist/psychiatrist, but I am also no stranger to unhelpful doctors who don't listen to their patients. When I originally started my gastritis journey in 2017, a mean doctor bullied me into taking sertraline (which I was then on for 2+ years) because he refused to believe that my lack of appetite was physiological, not depression. I was desperate after being unable to eat for 3 weeks, so I did what he said, but it never sat right with me, and then I was afraid to stop taking sertraline for a very long time. I have done quite a bit of searching and reading about air hunger and how it connects to amitriptyline withdrawal. I have found a few others on Facebook who have experienced this, but I've not been able to find any real information about it, and it isn't listed as a possible withdrawal symptom in the literature I've read. I also am unable to discern if this is hyperventilation or not, as I don't feel like I am breathing more than I should, but yawning does seem to relieve it somewhat. I would really like to hear from others who have experienced this, and understand if there is a timeline that can give me hope. Does anyone understand the physiological mechanisms of why this might be happening? I feel that the better I can scientifically understand what is going on in my body, the better I'm able to cope. Some days are indeed slightly better than others, but it isn't linear, and I am extremely discouraged and feeling hopeless.
  25. What to taper first, but complicated... Hello. I was on lorazepam for 23 years, starting at 2mg a day ending years later at 4 mg a day. Unwisely went to a detox where they crossed me directly over to diazepam for just 5 days. Also on amitriptyline 75mg and 25mg of Trazadone for sleep. This near-cold turkey detox lasted 7 days of hell until reinstated on 20mg of valium. This represents a 50% cut. Stayed at this dose for a couple of months and now tapering the diazepam using the Ashton protocol. I am at 13 mg down from 20mg. Severe insomnia is what started me on this path and is my achilles heel to this day. What is going on now is that as diazepam was added and lorazepam taken away, the diazepam seems to be potentiating the side effects of the amitriptyline. My before bed cocktail is currently 10mg diazepam, 50mg amitriptyline and 25m trazadone. This usually gives me 5 or so hours of sedation, I would not consider it sleep. Constantly exhausted all day, tremors, agitation, fatigue and weakness, urinary retention, cognitive issues. I understand the accelerator and brake model but what do you do when your AD, in this case amitriptyline, is a brake and your are also on a benzo, another brake? I was assuming the benzo should go first but the way my body feels in the day I am convinced that the worst of the side effects are coming from the amitriptyline. They have been there from the time I started taking it so I am pretty sure it is the greater problem. But of course I have already started the benzo tapering. The way I am thinking right now I would like to pause the diazepam taper and start reducing the amitriptyline instead. Need advice if this makes any sense or if I should keep on with the benzo taper instead. I assume tapering both would be a terrible idea. TIA for any information.
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