# Elavil



## Guest (Feb 25, 2000)

Moldie or anyone else, if I wanted to get off my 10mg elavil, would I have any problems? I want to try the benedryl again. Just thinking of your success and then reading about another girl on another board that had success makes me want to try again. This other girl tried 50 mg, too much excite, 25 mg, no excite but way too groggy the next morning, 12 mg, still groggy and she ended up taking 1/4 of a pill and it works great for her. I only tried one night of 50 mg and I woke up all night. Devin's book says you can actually move up to 300 mg if that is what it takes. I just want to experiment again. But would I have any withdrawal type symptoms going off such a low dosage of elavil? Thanks in advance! Lynne


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

What side effects do you get from your "Elavil" ?My dumb doctor wrote me an Rx. for 50 Mg elavil and he wants me to take it for My supposid depression.Even though I am not depressed .


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## Guest (Feb 26, 2000)

Glenda, when i asked the doctor for the elavil, i already knew there was a chance that I would start craving carbos. But, there are pros and cons about gaining weight on such a low dosage. It took a couple of months but, yes, I crave candy and the likes all the time. I like to eat so I don't know if I can blame it on the elavil. I had lost 18 pounds before I started the elavil. Well, it is all back now and I am just a big disgusted. That is why I want to get off of it. It has helped a bit with my sleep but not totally. There have been several several nights that it has not helped in the slightest. Soooooo, I would rather get off of it now and see if I can quit craving fattening things!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! HELP!!!!!!!!


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Due to the fact I am in so much Pain , my doctor feels I am depressed , and that is why he wants me to take the 50 mg. Elavil.I flat out REFUSE to take that stuff, as I Don't feel I am depressed. I need something for pain controll , not Mind controll.That Elavil is Bad stuff.I hear it makes you so you don't even know where you are or what your doing.Kinda like putting you into La-La Land.I am seeing too many doctor's pushing this stuff on their patients and it really makes me angry.In my case , due to serious health issues , I am in constant pain. All I want is to be pain free. But I don't want to take anti-depressants for a non-existant conditionof depression.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2000)

I'd like to get off nortriptyline also. (It is a tricylic just like elavil.) I take 30 mg. and have tried to go to 25mg, but then I feel like I'm not sleeping at all. I tried this for 5 days and then went back to the 30mg because I was a mess from lack of sleep. I don't know if I'm not sleeping because I'm dependent on the nortriptyline or if it's because I need the 30mg in order for it to work. I wish I could get by on 10mg. That's hardly anything. I've never tried benedryl(sp?)like Moldie swears by. I have noticed when I take other antihistamines for allergies that they no longer make me sleepy so I don't think the benedryl would work for me. I think this must be a side effect of the nortriptyline.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Eskie , What would happen if you stopped yourNortriptylene cold turkey ?If you are in Pain , why aren't you getting a pain medication ?Are you diagnosed as being > Depressed ?How do you feel about being on an anti-depressant med ?Benadryl is good to take at bedtime , as it does make you sleepy.I take 2 Benadryl at night sometimes.(100 mg's) But naturally is does Not kill pain.Again i'll re-state > I see too many doctor's pushing these anti-depressant med's and it angers me.I personally feel those med's only make the situation worse. ( Addiction )But for those folk's that it actually does Help , that's good new's.They are just not the drug of choice for me.I hope you can wean yourself off of them.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2000)

Glenda, I'm afraid if I stopped taking my nortriptyline "cold turkey" I wouldn't be able to fall asleep and once I did I would feel like I wasn't really asleep. This is what happened when I tried to cut back to 25mg.It's hard to describe; it's like being on the edge of sleep but not feeling like I am asleep. My MD originally put me on nortriptyline because I wasn't sleeping very well...(I hadn't slept for more then 2-4 hours at a time for 8 years); and I complained of pain in my hands and feet. I questioned her about the safety of taking this long term and she told me if was safe at the dosage I was taking it at. She said I would have to take alot more for it to work as an antidepressant. I don't know how people can take these antidepressants at such high dosages. As it is I gained lots of weight, crave sweets terribly and am constipated most of the time. After I was on it for 3-4 weeks most of the pain went away.I've been on this drug of about 5 years.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Eskie , I sure hope you can wean your self off that medication.Surely there has to be something else they could try on you That's NOT an anti-depressant.Those medication's are so addicting and No one really know's what kind of Drastic effects they can have on the patient after Long term usage.I wish some of these doctor's would try this Medication themselves And then they'd see howBad they are to take. These medications are so mind controlling.I personally am So against taking these drugs. But this is Just me and my opinion.I am sure they are very helpfull to some folk's that use them. And I am happy that some people do get relief by using this medication.I myself just don't like a Mind controlling drug. I guess I'd rather suffer in pain and agony then take that stuff.I get so tired of being sick , and in sheer pain all the time.I just wish there was something available to us medication wise that wasn't in that class of drugs.


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## Guest (Feb 28, 2000)

Glenda, some of the anti-depressants, such as elavil or noritritilne(sp), help you sleep better so you hopefully won't be in pain as much. When you sleep better and deeper, your body rejuvinates, etc. and your body is ready for a brand new day! People with fibromyalgia do not sleep well and do not reach stage 4 of sleep. As a result, we feel like an 18 wheeler has hit us and we feel pain in the morning and on during the day. As we have all said, some take benedryl, some take anti-depressants, some take flexeril (muscle relaxer), some take melatonin, etc. We do whatever it takes to sleep better so as not to feel as much pain. I wish we could all sleep 8 hours straight and not wake up so we wouldn't have pain! Does the benedryl help for you? I'm still considering trying it again. Remember, we have our chat this evening. My time is 8:00 p.m.central. [This message has been edited by LSynatschk (edited 02-28-2000).]


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Hi eskie , I am glad some people are helped by the anti-depressants.Where as others are helped by benadryl.Muscle relaxers or what ever else.So far I haven't been helped by any medications.Many Many years ago (around 1981) I went to a doctor due to the severe pain I am in , and he wrote me a prescription for "Elavil".I took one 25 Mg. tablet and within 30 minutes I was vomiting and screaming in an uncontrollable rage , it took 10 days for the effects of that one 25 mg. tablet to ware off. For those 10 day's I was in a deep fog. I did not know where I was , Or Who I was. My husband would talk to me and I'd look at him as if I was In a deep comatose state.I couldn't hear a word he said.This is WHY I refuse to take a 50 mg. tablet of the Elavil. If a 25 mg. tablet gave me the above reaction , good lord think of what a 50 mg. tablet would do.Years ago the old prescription was just called the "Amitript" , the new Rx. I got for it was now referred to as "Elavil".I checked on the internet and to My horror , Found out they are one and the same Med.My doctor feels I need to be on this "For my Depression of being in Pain".He did NOT mention this was to help me sleep , and he did NOT mention that it was any type of a pain med.I do have Fibromyalgia , and I also haveNeurofibromatosis.I have Hundreds of tumors all over my entire body.So far Nothing has been helpfull for pain controll.As for reaching a "Deep sleep stage 4" , that'll sadly never happen for my case.I either sleep or I don't.Again I'll restate > for those that get relief from anti-depressants > that is wonderfull.In my case > They are of No benifit to me.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

> quote:Originally posted by Glenda:*Hi , I am glad some people are helped by the anti-depressants.Where as others are helped by benadryl.Muscle relaxers or what ever else.So far I haven't been helped by any medications.Many Many years ago (around 1981) I went to a doctor due to the severe pain I am in , and he wrote me a prescription for "Elavil".I took one 25 Mg. tablet and within 30 minutes I was vomiting and screaming in an uncontrollable rage , it took 10 days for the effects of that one 25 mg. tablet to ware off. For those 10 day's I was in a deep fog. I did not know where I was , Or Who I was. My husband would talk to me and I'd look at him as if I was In a deep comatose state.I couldn't hear a word he said.This is WHY I refuse to take a 50 mg. tablet of the Elavil. If a 25 mg. tablet gave me the above reaction , good lord think of what a 50 mg. tablet would do.Years ago the old prescription was just called the "Amitript" , the new Rx. I got for it was now referred to as "Elavil".I checked on the internet and to My horror , Found out they are one and the same Med.My doctor feels I need to be on this "For my Depression of being in Pain".He did NOT mention this was to help me sleep , and he did NOT mention that it was any type of a pain med.I do have Fibromyalgia , and I also haveNeurofibromatosis.I have Hundreds of tumors all over my entire body.So far Nothing has been helpfull for pain controll.As for reaching a "Deep sleep stage 4" , that'll sadly never happen for my case.I either sleep or I don't.Again I'll restate > for those that get relief from anti-depressants > that is wonderfull.In my case > They are of No benifit to me.*


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2000)

Glenda, When my md. put me on nortriptyline she told me to start out on 10mg and build up to 30mg, which I did. My mom was put on elavil but at a much lower dosage because of her age. I think he gave her 10mg. I don't know your age (I'm 48), but I know her md said older people react more to these medicines and must use less. Still she couldn't handle the side effects and went off it. 25mg was probably to much for you to start out on.


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## Guest (Feb 29, 2000)

Glenda,it sounds as though you originally had a reaction to the drug and obviously any time a person has a negative reaction should not take that medication again. I would not rule out all medication that will put you into a deeper relaxed state when you are sleeping and keep elivil/amitriptyline on your alergic reaction medication list! Any physician that is treating you should ask for this information from the get go and not prescribe it to you. Good luck!


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

Many years ago , when that old doctor I had wrote me an rx. for the Amitript. He wrote it for me because He felt I was depressed.At that time I was in my mid 20's.At the time that Rx. was written for me I was still having the problems with chronic pain like I am to this date.Now , my present doctor also feels I need to be on an anti-depressant to help me cope with the severe pain I have , but he did not tell me it was Amitript. , he referred to it as Elavil.Well I got home and checked that name out via the internet and to my horror found out they were the same drug , only called by a different name.I guess I just can't understand why If a person is in sheer Pain , why aren't they given a Pain med ? Why does it have to be an Anti-depressant ?Specially if they aren't depressed !I realize what everyone is saying about It helping you to get into a stage 4 sleep at night.But is this the correct medication that we are being given ?That's when I thought to myself , wow if 25 mg's of that stuff did what it did to me , just Imagin what 50 mg's would do to me.I got a reaction to that med so severe that you could have beat me to death with a base ball bat and I'd of stood there in a comatose state and never seen a thing or even cared what was being done to me.In My case > that is to hard of a mind alterating drug.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

I am in my middle 40's now , when I tried the one 25 mg tablet I was in my mid 20's.I bet it would have one heck of an adverse reaction to me since I am another 20 years older now.I did get some Samples of > celebrex from my doctor when I went back in on 2/28 and it does help to cut the edge of the hard pain.


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2000)

Well, we had alot of good comments on Elavil but I'm afraid my question never got answered. Does anyone know if I will have a problem getting of 10 mg of elavil? I want to give benedryl a really good try this time. Should I wait a few days before I try the benedryl? Does the elavil take a few days to get out of my system? Thanks if anyone knows!!! Lynne


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## Guest (Mar 1, 2000)

Everything I've read says it takes 3-4 weeks for an antidepressant to kick in and the same when you go off. That's why people on prozac think their depression is gone because they go off it and feel great. Then a few weeks it hits them. Like I said before 10mg is not very much. It's the lowest amount available. Why don't you just wait a few days before trying the benadryl if you're concerned. I also mentioned earlier that I can take other antihistamines and they don't make me drowsy anymore because of the nortriptyline...so maybe the benadryl won't work for you until you get all the elavil out of your system.


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## weener (Aug 15, 2000)

Hi Lynne:I don't know much about the withdrawal of elavil, but what if you weened yourself off it slowly instead of going cold turkey. Maybe you would have less side effects.Let's say, you start taking l/2 tab each night for a week or so and then 1/4 tab then nothing. From what I remember (i know that it's a pretty small pill to cut up.)I remember talking to the pharmacist about going off a particular type of medication and that is what she told me to do. As for how long the medication will stay in your system, before you start the benadryl, maybe the pharmacist can tell you that info.Good Luck.


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## Glenda (Aug 15, 2000)

My Pharmacist told me that it takes 10 days for just one tablet to get out of your system. Another words the medicine would still be found within your blood stream for up to 10 days after stopping a drug.Sometimes longer depending on the length of the drug used.


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