# Amitriptyline



## 21787 (Mar 26, 2006)

Hey!I was wondering if anyone has been prescribed the anti-depressant Amitriptyline for IBS and what success you have had with it? I have just been prescribed 10mg per day before bed time. I would love to hear anyones experiences with this medication and any side effects you had. And also, what dosage are you taking?Thanks in advanceRachL x


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## 23188 (May 3, 2006)

Hi thereI took Amitripylene for a few months. Initially I was on 10mg at night, same as you, but it didn't really do anything for me. By the end I was on 40mg - which slightly calmed my stomach down (I'm severe IBS-D, + pain), but made me feel like I was living my life under lots of mud! Basically it limited my emotions - say on a scale of 1 - 10 I could only hit 3 - 7. Pretty great when things go wrong, but kind of disapppointing when good things happen! Changed a few weeks ago to Nortriptylene on advice of Peter Whorwell (probably UK's leading GI on IBS, specialised for 20 years). Now taking 50mg a night, and much better than on Amitrip', and it doesn't do the same things to my emotions either. Also Amitrip' completely wiped out my sex drive, which is now slowly coming back - no idea how relevant that is! Oh, and Peter's other advice is to couple the Nortriptylene with 1.5mg Fluphanazine - said Nortrip' on it's own has a "very good success rate", but when coupled with Fluphenazine it's "very, very successful, and best for patients with severe symptoms" - I'll be starting on that in a couple of weeks, once we're sure I have no reaction to the Nortrip'. (You start on 0.5mg a day for 2 weeks, then 1mg for another 2 weeks, then finally up to the reccommended 1.5mg)Hope that helps! Any question drop me an email


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## 21787 (Mar 26, 2006)

Hey!







Thanks for the kind reply!I'm gonna stick to my 10mg a day for now and see if anything happens.Did you get tired when you took it?RachL x


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## 23188 (May 3, 2006)

No prob!







Yeah, think the 10mg did make me a little sleepy, but not really so much til I got up to 40mg. Hope it works for you at just 10mg - I'd love to get on less meds at the moment!


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## 14416 (Jun 21, 2005)

10mg worked "okay" for me; I didn't see the full benefit of the medicine until I titrated up to 50mg.


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## 21787 (Mar 26, 2006)

Thanks for your replies everyone I've been taking the 10mg for about a week now, not sure if there's any improvement yet as I've been going through a bit of a flare up since last Saturday. But I'll keep you updated. The doctor told me if I felt 10mg wasn't working then I should up it to 20mg per night....Does anyone else have any views on this treatment? Also, I was wondering, does this medication have any effect on the contraceptive pill?


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## 23188 (May 3, 2006)

Nope, it doesn't affect the contraceptive pill at all, I took the two together the whole time. If your doc ever gives you anything that might affect your pill they'll always tell you to take extra precautions. One point however, on a different note, don't forget that diarrhoea can affect it , just like how being sick can, so if you have it bad be careful and take extra precautions for a couple of days after.


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## Mary2001 (Aug 25, 2006)

> quote:Originally posted by RachL:Thanks for your replies everyone I've been taking the 10mg for about a week now, not sure if there's any improvement yet as I've been going through a bit of a flare up since last Saturday. But I'll keep you updated. The doctor told me if I felt 10mg wasn't working then I should up it to 20mg per night....Does anyone else have any views on this treatment? Also, I was wondering, does this medication have any effect on the contraceptive pill?


Hello I live in Glasgow and interested how you got on with the nortripytline tabs. I tried them for 1 month, but did not stick with them, so would be grateful to know if they helped you. Thanks. Mary


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## 21787 (Mar 26, 2006)

Hey Mary,Wow it's so cool to see someone who lives close on the forum! I only took the amitriptyline for a month too, i didn't notice any difference - infact, I think they were making me feel worse. Tired, sluggish and just irritated! And what's more, I was missing my little glass of wine every now and again! If you wanna e-mail me my address is rachael3000###hotmail.com What kind of IBS do you have? Rachl x


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## 21021 (Aug 23, 2006)

> Originally posted by Lilly Rose:Hey RachlI tried this medication some time ago now but I'm sorry to say that I had a bad reaction to it. I came out in a severe rash. But everyone is different so I really hope that this one works for you. I now take Klonopin and as of today Effexor XR. Good luck


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## 21787 (Mar 26, 2006)

I also came out in a rash, but I'm not sure whether it was to do with the amitriptyline or the fact that I had a cold virus at the time!


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