# Would like to discuss Nortriptolyne for those using it



## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

I'd just like to go over the pro's and con's of the use of Nortriptolyne with those using it. I take a very small dose [10 mg per night] and wonder if the body becomes accustomed to it and it loses it effectiveness.Thank you


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## susaloh (Dec 28, 2002)

Hi!I don't know a lot about Nortriptolyne, only that it may be used to treat IBS. I'm on Elavil (Amitryptiline) right now and it helps with the IBS and there are no negative side effects but I do put on weight at an amazing speed which I find a bit worrying. Do you know whether weight gain is a side effect of Nortriptolyne, too?Susanne


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## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

Susanne,Unfortunately it is! I've put on a quick 5 pounds and it seems it is harder to lose. My regular slim belly is no longer slim...I have a pouch! My problem right now is that the Nortriptolyne doesn't seem to be helping anymore. I do not want to up the dosage, it does cause liver damage in those suseptible...from what I have read. I am seriously thinking of weening myself off of it.


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## susaloh (Dec 28, 2002)

Hi,lkeemmerson,I shouldn't worry too much about the liver damage as the dosage for IBS treatment is so relatively small compared to a 'proper' treatment of depression. Regular checkups are probably a good idea, though. I'm on 25 mg Amitrypteline now and it makes a HUGE difference. 10 mgs were just not enough to last 24 hours. Now I take this 25 mg retard capsule and it's absoultely brilliant, no more dizziness in the morning, I feel fine all day long. THe weight issue is a bit worrying but I realise now that I can adapt my food intake so that I don't put on more weight though it means eating about half as much as before starting this medication. This week I had a stomach flu and the four pounds dropped off me within two days. But now I'm so terribly hungry!! How long have you been taking the 10 mg? What did it do for you? If I were you I would definitely up the dosis, but I don't know enough about how things were with you. Susanne


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## lkemerson (Feb 7, 2002)

Susanne, I have been taking the 10 mg for about 6-7 months now. Recently it has not been working as it should, and I am just thinking of coming off of it. In fact, I am just testing taking one 10mg tablet every other night. I just stay so blasted tired with it. *What it has done for me in the positive:* given me a more formed stool...I think it could almost be called 'regular' but it's been so long since I knew what regular was...well, I can't say.Made it where I didn't have to stop in the ditches and woods because I couldn't make it home [we live rurally and everything seems a forever away when you are about to mess your pants].A heck of a good nights sleep!!!! I sleep like the dead. Less pain when I am having a major flair up.Made it where I can go to dinner, and THEN go to the movies, or shopping. I used to have to do everything I was going to do BEFORE I ate, then eat and drive fast and hard to get home, before the big blow out. *What it does that I do not like* I am fatigued. I [and others that know me] notice a definate change in my hyperactivity. Some may find that a plus, I find it a minus. I like my hyperactivity.WEIGHT GAIN Some night headaches. They actually wake me up sometimes.Dry mouthSun sensitivity, but I don't know much about that. I'll find out if I stay on it, as we head to Grand Cayman in 3 months, and I am a fair skinned, red head.I am going to go ahead and call my gut doctor on Monday morning to talk this over with him. I am wondering about taking the Questran route. I have been encouraged by a good friend to give it a try.Lately I have been suffering very acidic, green, water stools. The green water stool may be unprocessed bile salts. I understand Questran helps with that. I am being again tested for c. diff, which I have had in the past. I may have my ulcers back too, and they are checking that out. My last colonoscopy showed an inflammation site in the lower part of my bowel that may be Crohns so they are watching that too. I go for a sigmoid to check that out in February. Since it is so low, they don't want to do another colonoscopy. I had an anal fistulectomy last January, which is another indicator of Crohn's as I understand it.My great grandfather, two of his brothes, my grandfather and my father all died of liver disease. My 25 year old son was just diagnosed with the same liver disease...so when I read of liver damage from it, that was why I was so concerned. We have liver panels done [everyone in my family] regularly because of this issue.The doctor started me out on 50 mg, when I first started taking this drug, and I was a zombie. I do not want to do the 25 mg, I fear I would be half a zombie on it. If I am wiped out with 10 mg...what in the world would I be with 25? I'll ask him about the slow release version of the drug when I call too.Please let me know what you feel the pro and cons are of this drug. I'd love to know, and how long you have been taking it.Happy Sunday to you!


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## susaloh (Dec 28, 2002)

Ikemerson,I've been on this drug only for a month and a bit. My situation is quite different from yours, as I'm no longer the D-type. Over the past year I managed to get digestion as such quite under control with antispasmodics, fiber (Psyllium) and a very restricted diet. As digestion got normal I turned more and more into the 'pain and discomfort' type. Since my whole life had changed for the better and things calmed down I strongly hoped that the self-healing powers of my body would make things turn normal again. I was quite well during the summer (as long as I kept strictly to my frugal diet) But with the darkness and cold of winter I got just as bad as the year before with cramps and bloating and also I really started revolting against the restrictions of my diet. I couldn't tolerate any dairy, wheat, fat, vegetables or fruit but for one stewed apple per day. I ate rice three times per day with apple in the morning, with turkey or chicken breast or fish at lunchtime, some gluten free bread (in good times)was okay and, basically, to keep my weight from going down I had to eat constantly: rice cakes and quite a bit of sweets made with dark chocolate... and NOTHING else, which means I had to have my food with me wherever I went, I could never eat anything out at any occasion. Well, and when the cramps hit me, I had to go back to eating just rice for days and weeks. Well, in that sense, the amitryptilin is a wonder drug for me because I seem to be able to tolerate many more foods now. So far I've tried out potatoes and Zucchini. I can't change my eating routines too abruptly after such a long time. In any case I'm much more free to choose how much I eat (I used to get cramps right away so I never ate my fill) and when I eat. I seem to be fine with larger amounts of fat, too. Unfortunately, one side effect is a craving for sweets so I have tried about every sweet around which is probably not healthy at all but it's such a strong urge. I need all my will power to avoid the sweets and try out new foods instead. I never expected that eating would become a problem in a different way once I felt better because during the year and a half on this very restricted diet I HAD to eat as often and as much as I could and I was never too full and never very hungry, and I knew no cravings even though I envied other people for being able to eat normally. In those days I often felt almost sorry for other people who indulged in their food and overate and then repented because they couldn't move and put on weight etcetera. It's weird but I was incredibly fit on this restricted diet of mine (thanks to multivitamins, too). I guess my body needs to find a new balance now. I can see that you have other health problems, too and so the nortrypteline was only treating some of your symptoms. If you've got gall bladder problems or even Crohns these need treatment, of course. But you seem to be well looked after in terms of doctors, which is something! My main problem seems to be a type of hyperactivity, too, of the nervous system, a remainder of more stressful times, I guess, which has become chronic. I can see now that I was eating an unnaturally large amount of food just to keep my weight, I was burning too much fuel! How do you say that in English, when a motor needs tuning because it's running too fast? So the amitryptilene is somehow tuning me down which is probably what I needed. I seem to be just slightly less hectic, slightly less alert or wound up, slightly less bothered by things which I think is also more 'normal' (my family seems to very happy about that), though in practical terms I seem to be about as active as before (less often feeling sick, so I have more time to get things done, too). I don't thing my personality has changed I'm just a bit more like I am the first week after a vacatiion if you know what I mean. I sleep like a log, too, if nobody wakes me up I sleep 10,5 hours. But I'm not more tired when I sleep less. I find that a bit weird, I must admit. Strangely, with the 25 mg retard capsule I'm much less tired and have less dry mouth than when I was on 10 mg of the regular tablets. There's another positive side effect. This strange hypersensitivity which had made me feel every twitch in my guts unfortunately also extended to the female organs like ovaries and uterus and I used to get quite a bit of pains and soreness at different stages of my cycle there. Now the medication seems to numb these too, which is very nice. (I get a glimpse of how I would really feel in the last half hour before I take the next capsule.) Also, far less headaches during my period. So, for me, so far only advantages, apart from the weight issue...It's nice to exchange these details which normally nobody wants to know... Thanks for reading!Susanne


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## susaloh (Dec 28, 2002)

P.SAbout sun sensivity - no idea whether I've got that, haven't seen any sun for weeks, it hardly gets light at all here in the north... we'll have to wait for spring time...


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## Rowe2 (Sep 26, 2002)

I used Pamelor (Nortriptolyne)when I had major depression from a life situation that occured. It made me fat because I craved sweets, and I had an irregular heartbeat. I stayed on it for over a year! I thought the heartbeat problem was menopause. Wrong! Also, I stayed so constipated I was miserable. I'm on Effexor xR now with no weight gain, and feel much better.


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## hiimsuzzie (Jul 3, 2003)

I've been on Nortriptyline for 6 months now. It worked wonders! Before, I couldn't leave the house because I was having D several times a day and I was often too bloated to fit into my clothes. I was rapidly losing weight because every time I ate one bite of oatmeal or bread (the foods that caused the least amount of painful cramping) I would run to the bathroom and be miserable for a half hour.







Since starting, I sometimes alternate D and C, and I'm sometimes bloated, but I'm usually not miserable for more than an hour or so a week. I have not had any weight gain problems, but it stopped my weight loss (thank goodness). I'm on a pretty restricted low-fat high-soluble-fiber diet, so I haven't been able to gain weight (which I would like to do).I had the weird irregular fast heart beat thing. I discovered through trial and error that staying extremely well hydrated prevents it. I sometimes get headaches, but I used to get them before I started Nortriptyline so who knows.I don't know if I'm more fatigued than "normal". When I was sick all the time, I was really fatigued from dealing with all the pain, so I'm definitely less fatigued now. I get a lot more done too because I'm not spending my life in the bathroom.







Good luck!Suzie


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