Beary: Amitriptyline x 3

[Beary]

I took 10 mg of amitriptiline three times.aftet experienxing side effects I stopped the drug. After a month I am still experiencing muscle twitches and tingling. The doctors think I am crazy and the drug is not the cause. They have proscribed steroids but I am scared to take them thinking these effects might worsen. Help!

Edited November 12, 2016 by Shep
added tags

[Shep]

Hi, Beary.

 

It sounds like you may have experienced an adverse reaction to amitriptyline. We do have a few members who have taken just a few doses and experienced symptoms for a few weeks or even months.

 

Here are some links to get you started:

 

What is withdrawal syndrome? 

 
The Windows and Waves Pattern of Stabilization

 

Are you currently taking any other drugs? Also, is this your first antidepressants or do you have a history of other psychiatric drugs?

 

Please put your withdrawal history in your signature

 

This is your thread to list your symptoms and ask plenty of questions. Please let us know how you're doing. 

 

 

[Beary]

This is the first psychiatric drug I have taken. I am taking no drugs now but my doctor wants me to take a short course of steroids and I'm not sure if this can make this tingling eorde. I very afraid! Do you have any advice for me?

 

On my smart phone I can't seem to edit my signature.

[Beary]

What kind of doctor can advise me on this? My current doctors seem to think this is psychosomatic. I have had a concussion and my neroligist has now diagnosed me with a whiplash injury and wants me to take this course of steroids, but how can I trust his decisions for me if he thinks these symptoms are all in my head?

[Shep]

There's no evidence that steroids or any other drug can fix withdrawal from an antidepressant. 

 

I cannot advise you on your other medical concerns, but I agree with you - I don't understand why a doctor would prescribe steroids if he thinks it's psychosomatic, either. 

 

Can you give a timeline for these three events - when you took the antidepressant, when you had the concussion, and when the symptoms of muscle twitches and tingling started? 

 

The timeline may help you figure out if your symptoms are from the antidepressant or from the concussion. 

[Beary]

I experienced my concussion in early June and got better, but symptoms kept recurring with any little impact or shoot.

 

My concussion doc gave me the prescription and said that it would help me sleep, nothing about it being a long term drug or risks. Then she told me to have brain rest and not to read, so I did not have any idea that this could be dangerous to me.

 

I took the amiltriptyline on oct 7,8 and 9. I felt first tingling then severe muscle contractions and heart racing on Oct 10. Tingling occurred first in the afternoon when my stepmom hit the brakes hard on her car. Muscle twitches have gone away except at night. Tingling is still there day and night, but increases with activity such as walking or reading along with the other symptoms that I had prior to taking the drug. Anixiety is high and the uncertainty of whether to trust a doctor about medications going forward.

 

I have the recurring "concussion" symptoms which again worsened after sitting up in bed fast recently. My new neurologist and specialist in brain and spine trauma says the "could ncussiin symptoms that have been reoccurring since July are actually symptoms of an inflamed cercical nerve and I should to steroids and then anti inflammatory medications to reduce the inflation in the nerve. This makes sense but he did not take my concerns about amitriptiline withdrawal and side effects seriously and said that this would address my other symptoms previously thought to be a concussion and this other tingling was most likely caused by anxiety.

[Beary]

That is not "shoot". I meant to type jolt

[Beary]

How would I find out if anyone has gone on steroids for another condition while experiencing withdrawal symptoms? I want to know how this effected people or if it is dangerous. Do I need to start another topic and how would I do this?

[MNgal1960]

Beary, I had an adverse drug reaction when I took Prozac. It was the first psych med I ever took. I took it for 4 days. My first muscle jerk in my life was the morning after I took my first dose. And they got worse and worse very rapidly. The psychiatrist told me to discontinue the Prozac, which I did. The muscle jerks continued like crazy. Psychiatrist then said, "See it wasn't the Prozac."

 

Of course it was. Years later I asked a neurologist who told me he thought it was so the Prozac.

 

I had 2 young children at that time. I couldn't sleep. It was hell. The muscles jerked the most when I was at rest. I found a yahoo group and learned about adverse drug reactions. The leader told me to rest and take good care of myself and wait because I would heal. 

 

I did heal.  After a couple of months I started to think that perhaps the jerks were a little less frequent. Each week I would say: I think I'm a little better than last week. And kept reminding myself of each improvement I noticed. The leader of the yahoo group kept reassuring me, too. After 6 months it had settled down to the point I could get enough sleep to function again. I continued to improve little by little until the jerks all but stopped. They would pop up now and then when I had a lot of stress, but that's all.

 

I'm sorry, I don't know how a concussion fits into this puzzle, because I've never had one. But I would say that your muscle jerks could certainly be caused by an adverse reaction to the psych med. Most doctors don't understand about these things, so don't worry if they think everything is psychosomatic. They think my current w/d is psychosomatic, too.

 

Perhaps one of the moderators will know more about the steroids.

 

Hang in there. You will heal.

 

MN

[Beary]

Bless you for responding. It is hard to take care of yourself when anxiety is super high and you can't sleep. Also I have this condition that drove me to take the mess on the first place which I have been told I should take steroids for. Do you know where I would find a doctor that would know about how steroids will effect the situation? Also did you consider reintroducing the Prozac at 10% pill strength? That is what some are suggesting. I was on the lowest dose so the pharmacist said I didn't need to when I came off of it

[Beary]

My doctor wants to treat an inflamed nerve in my neck with a six day course of steroids followed by a course of anti inflammatory. I am experiencing withdrawal from amitriptyline and am afraid of how the steroids might effect my withdrawal. Does anyone have experience with this?

Edited November 12, 2016 by scallywag
merged from a new Intro topic

[scallywag]

Beary: I can't answer your question about steroids.  I would suggest, however, doing all you can to avoid taking a drug to treat the adverse reaction to another drug.

 

To create a signature when using a mobile device, you need to switch from the mobile version to the full version of the site. These two posts have screen captures and instructions:

Post #8

Post #9

 

It's important to find ways to deal with anxiety. Doctors will go to their prescription pad for a "solution" to it. You can learn ways of getting through these waves. To start please read these topics:

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

The Dr. Claire Weekes Method of Recovering from a Sensitized Nervous System

[Beary]

They don't want to treat me to help the withdrawal. They want to treat a pinched/inflamed nerve that has been causing symptoms for months but gone undiagnosed. I am afraid of mess at this point and afraid of how steroids will effect my stressed out nervous system. But if I don't take them I'm not sure whether they cervical nerve will heal

[Beary]

I think I'm dying

[Beary]

I don't know what symptoms are my cervical nerve swelling and what is withdrawal. If I don't take the steroids I may never get better but if I do I don't know how it will effect this withdrawal

[Beary]

My doc says I need steroids for a pinched nerve. Can I take them while on Eval withdrawal or will they make me a lot worse? I don't know who to ask and it is panicing me!

[ChessieCat]

Hi Beary,

 

I've moved you new post and added it to your Intro/Update topic.  It is better to post here so that your history is all in one place.

 

What are you current symptoms?  Are you feeling sick in the stomach?  If so, this can be due to anxiety and stress and is related to the fight/flight response where adrenaline is released which can make you feel nauseous.  You might also be having issues breathing, maybe taking shallow breaths or breathing too quickly.

 

If this is what is happening at the moment you need to try to calm down.  This might help:

 

Audio:  First Aid for Panic (4 minutes)

 

The link to the Dr Claire Weekes topic has been given above.  She is a doctor who suffered anxiety and learned/taught ways to cope.

[Beary]

I have a pinched nerve in my neck and am afraid to get treated because I suspect I am also in withdrawal, I could be wrong though. Can you have a rough couple of days after stopping this drug and then be okay? I do have muscle twitches and tingling in my legs but a pinched nerve causes lots of symptoms too. I'm tempted to take the steroids and take my chances but I have two small children that need me and don't want to take chances

[Beary]

To make matters more confusing both my husband and my son are also experiencing twitching and tingling and they have had no medication

[ChessieCat]

I am not a medical professional and this is only my thoughts about what I would consider if I were in your situation - hot & cold compresses and I would investigate whether a neck brace might help.

 

As I said, just my personal thoughts.

[ChessieCat]

and further to my previous thoughts - a physiotherapist who would probably suggest appropriate stretching exercises.

[Beary]

The neurologist says not to stretch or move my neck but says I definitely need steroids and anti inflammatory at this time. He does not recommend a brace. So I'm back to will the mess hurt me at this point. I have had recurring injuries for six months and was prescribed the amiltriptyline to help me sleep and recover. He says movements and stretches at this point will cause further damage. He also says the amiltriptyline is out of my system and I should not worry

[Beary]

He says I took three Dorset at the lowest does and my anxiety is causing any symptoms that I have. That you can get physical symptoms from anxiety

[Beary]

Three doses that is

[Beary]

Have you taken any medications since you withdrawal began? Do I need to be so afraid of medications? My uncles says that steroids are regular type medications and should not have the effects that the antidepressant had

[Beary]

Trying the cold compress now. Thanks for the advice

[Beary]

and further to my previous thoughts - a physiotherapist who would probably suggest appropriate stretching exercises.

[Beary]

Are you still there?

[ChessieCat]

A quick google search (but not specific to neck) suggests no more than 20 minutes.  Some say 50 minutes off, others say 1 hour, before reapplying.

[Beary]

20 is what I've heard.

[Beary]

What do you think about the steroids? Is there a type of doctor that could help me with this decision?

[ChessieCat]

If it were me, I'd be trying the cold compresses over a few days first.  After what I have learned about drugs and the pharmaceutical industry since joining SA, I even started researching suggested drugs for my dog before deciding on whether to use them for her.  In my opinion and from what many on this site have experienced, a doctor's first response is to prescribe something.  Gwen Olsen's expose has made me very wary of all drugs:  Video:  Ex-Big Pharma Rep:  We’re Trained To Misinform -The Drugs ARE Dangerous (6 minute video)

 

I would try non-drug alternatives before resorting to drugs.

[Beary]

I tolerate steroids quite well, or at least I did before this. Does this wd change how your body tolerates drugs?

[ChessieCat]

That's good that you know you have tolerated steroids previously.  If you do decide to take the steroids you might want to consider starting with a low dose, maybe 1/4 of the prescribed amount and if that goes okay gradually build up from there.  Unfortunately when a person's CNS is sensitised there is no knowing (and nobody, including doctors, can predict) how we might react to anything, including things which previously caused no issues.

[ChessieCat]

The other thing I suggest is finding out exactly which steroid it is as well as if there are options, and then research them to try and find out how they work and what the possible side effects might be.

[Beary]

What would I be looking out for? The pinched nerve symptoms are making my life a living hell. I wouldn't want the wd symptoms to get worse either but it is possible some of the symptoms I think are wd are from the nerve. It has been debilitating over the past six months which is why I am so depressed at this point. It was misdiagnosed as a concussion and I was told to lie down and rest for weeks in a dark room,