PatientsLikeMe : Amitriptyline Treatment Report

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Patients

Taking Amitriptyline
671 Patients currently take Amitriptyline
209 Patients stopped taking Amitriptyline
RedRudy Sex: M Pain: Most Fatigue: Most Sleep: Most Stiffness: All function: Some external_stress: Most Stickman: most Description:M58y FM:6y Dx See profile RedRudy 50 mcg daily since Feb 28, 2003
Abel Nightroad Sex: F Depression: 1 Emotional: 2 Compulsion: 1 Anxiety: 2 Mania: 1 Physical: 2 External Stress: Moderate 50 F Function: Moderate Distress: Low See profile Abel Nightroad 30 mg daily since Mar 20, 2005
icehogsfan Sex: M Sensation: Moderate Overall: Moderate Cognition: moderate Vision: moderate Speech: moderate Swallowing: moderate Upper limb: moderate Walking: moderate See profile icehogsfan 20 mg daily since Apr 08, 2008

Amitriptyline Treatment Report

Brand Names: Elavil, Saroten, Apo-amitriptyline, Endep, Laroxyl, Tryptizol, Sarotex, Elatrol, Trepiline, Amineurin

What is Amitriptyline? Amitriptyline is a tricyclic antidepressant approved for the treatment of depression. Off label amitripyline is used for certain chronic and neuropathic (nerve) pain and for prevention of migraine headaches.

See more information, including instructions, precautions, side effects, and interactions.

Jump to:: Reasons taken; Dosages; Duration; Patient Evaluations

Reasons taken

880 patients in the community are taking or have taken Amitriptyline.

Top 10 (Show all)

Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Pain	120	13%
Insomnia	110	12%
Other	99	11%
Excess saliva	68	7%
Depression	45	5%
Fibromyalgia	36	4%
Emotional lability	33	3%
Nerve pain (neuropathic pain)	26	2%
Anxiety	21	2%
Treat my mood condition(s)	13	1%
Headaches	13	1%
Migraine Headaches	12	1%
Fatigue	10	1%
disease-related symptoms	9	1%
Sleep problems	9	1%
General health	9	1%
Support another treatment	8	<1%
Muscle Pain	8	<1%
Stiffness/Spasticity	7	<1%
Pain, chronic	6	<1%
difficulty getting to sleep at night	5	<1%
Don't know	5	<1%
Sensation	4	<1%
Difficulty sleeping through night	4	<1%
Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS)	3	<1%
Slow my ALS progress	2	<1%
Bladder problems	2	<1%
Irritable Bowel Syndrome (IBS)	2	<1%
Slow my MS progress	2	<1%
Treat Parkinson's	2	<1%
insomnia if taken after 5 pm	2	<1%
Vulvodynia	2	<1%
Migraine	2	<1%
Bipolar Disorder	1	<1%
pain and depression	1	<1%
GP had some wacky idea it would help. I had torsades de pointes which nearly killed me.	1	<1%
Depression with anxiety	1	<1%
Muscle twitching (fasciculations)	1	<1%
Obstructive Sleep Apnea	1	<1%
frequent bathroom use	1	<1%
chronic daily headache	1	<1%
Burning sensation, legs	1	<1%
may cause fluid retention	1	<1%
now sleep & fibro	1	<1%
Burning sensation, skin	1	<1%
Restless sleep	1	<1%
saliva control	1	<1%
Sleep deprivation	1	<1%
reduce anxiety, sleep	1	<1%
Sleep	1	<1%
depression and Insomnia	1	<1%
TMJ (Temporomandibular Joint)	1	<1%
saliva	1	<1%
Brain fog	1	<1%
numbness left leg	1	<1%
Bruxism/teeth grinding	1	<1%
neuropathy,both arms,both legs/feet/face	1	<1%
psychotic symptoms mostly, anxiety depression a whole tons of fear	1	<1%
Irritability	1	<1%
sleep problems and Pain	1	<1%
shooting pains in legs	1	<1%
depression & FMS pain	1	<1%
Memory problems	1	<1%
Phantom pain	1	<1%
Mood swings	1	<1%
Several issues, Nerve and muscle pain, getting to & getting back to sleep, anxiety and depression	1	<1%
Lower back pain	1	<1%
Headaches-Right eye/neck/head	1	<1%
burning pain	1	<1%
Tension Headaches	1	<1%
Sleeplessness	1	<1%
nerve itching	1	<1%
Sleep Apnea & Restless Leg	1	<1%
sleep	1	<1%

Dosages

Based on the patients currently taking Amitriptyline.

Top 10 (Show all)

All (Show top 10)

100 mg all the time (24/7)	100mg as needed	10mg as needed	10mg/mL as needed	25 mg as needed	25mg as needed	50mg as needed	5 mg as needed	daily	0.5 mg daily	1 tbs. daily	2 mg daily	3 mg daily	5 mg daily	8 mg daily	10 mg daily	10 other daily	15 mg daily	20 mg daily	24 mg daily	25 mg daily	30 mg daily	35 mg daily	37 mg daily	37.5 mg daily	40 mg daily	50 mcg daily	50 mg daily	70 mg daily	75 mg daily	75 mg one time	80 mg daily	100 mg daily	150 mg daily	200 mg daily	225 mg daily	300 mg daily	400 mg daily	500 mg daily	600 mg daily	750 mg daily
1	1	1	1	2	6	2	1	7	1	1	1	1	3	1	117	1	2	41	1	131	24	3	1	1	10	1	149	3	43	1	1	78	11	8	1	2	3	1	1	1

Duration

How long current patients have been taking Amitriptyline or how long patients were taking Amitriptyline before stopping.

Currently Taking Amitriptyline

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
12	25	53	85	68	152

Stopped Taking Amitriptyline

0-1 month	1-3 months	3-6 months	6 months-1year	1-2 years	2 years or more
35	39	35	32	22	47

Why Patients Stopped Taking Amitriptyline (multiple reasons could be selected)
Reason	# Patients	Percentage of patients
Side effects too severe	81	37%
Did not seem to work	79	36%
Doctor's advice	54	25%
Other	42	19%
Course of treatment ended	14	6%
Personal research	7	3%
Not indicated	5	2%
Expense	2	1%

Patient Reported Evaluations

Results from 161 patient evaluations. See the overall results and all individual evaluations.

Efficacy (Effect based on reason taken)

Major	37%	10
Moderate	44%	12
Slight	7%	2
None	4%	1
Can't tell	7%	2

Other

Side-effects (as an overall problem)

Severe	15%	24
Moderate	22%	35
Mild	30%	49
None	33%	53

Top reported side-effects include: dry mouth, Makes me groggy during the day, Weight gain

Summary results are based on 161 individual responses. For more information, see overall results for Adherence, Burden and Cost.

Individual Patient Reported Evaluations (2 of 161)

JesswithMS

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Moderate

Cognition: moderate

Vision: moderate

Speech: moderate

Swallowing: moderate

Upper limb: moderate

Walking: moderate

See profile
by JesswithMS
Aug 18, 2008

EfficacyNone
Side-effectsSevere

Nerve pain (neuropathic pain)

Advice/Tips: Be cautious in upping your dosage and if you feel it is not really working ask to be switched instead of increasing your dosage.

See full evaluation
0 helpful marks

lizupatree

Sex: F

Sensation: Moderate

Overall: Mild

Cognition: moderate

Vision: mild

Speech: mild

Swallowing: mild

Upper limb: none

Walking: mild

See profile
by lizupatree
Aug 19, 2008

EfficacyModerate
Side-effectsNone

Pain

Advice/Tips: When I first took this, it made me so fatigued I couldn't lift my head off the pillow until noon. I wanted to quit, but could not risk the burning pain returning. The fatigue from the meds disappeared completely by week #2.

See full evaluation
0 helpful marks

See all evaluation results for Amitriptyline

Report created on November 07, 2009.

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