ELAVIL Reviews (AMITRIPTYLINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.1 (585 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ELAVIL with similar:
Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic
|
Results are sorted by Date added. Key to Ratings: 1=LOW (I would not recommend taking this medicine.) Page: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30 |
More on ELAVIL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ELAVIL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 1 | Suppossed IBS | Grogginess, dizziness, very vivid dreams/nightmares that seem so real, I "wake up" from each dream several times before I actually "wake up". (I wake from a dream to another dream to another dream, etc.) After I wake up, I feel strangely disassociated from my body for the rest of the day, and my head feels heavy. Need to drink about 80-120 oz of water each day just to feel I am not dehydrated. DRASTIC WEIGHT GAIN - in 45 days, I have gained 11 lbs even though I eat a very balanced diet of whole grains, veggies, and fruit and work out 5 days a week. Side effects not improving over the 45 days. | I WOULD NOT RECOMMEND THIS DRUG! The side effects, even at a low dose, are just not worth it. I sleep for 14-15 hours each day, and the rest of the time I am unmotivated and disconnected from the world around me. My doctor "diagnosed" me with IBS, though all I have is pain (no constipation, bloating, diarrhea, etc.) and this medication has done NOTHING for the pain - but it does cause some constipation. I absolutely do not want to go to a higher dose, as he recommended, because even if it starts to dull the pain, I cannot deal with these side effects. | F | 30 | 45 days 10 mg 1X day | 6/24/2010 | 1 | Migraines | Dizziness, dry mouth, high blood pressure, increased heart rate, no energy, I get irritated very easily. A feeling like my whole bodies moving and tingling. Kinda like when your on a boat or in a car. I can feel my heart beating and my chest gets really tight. I later found out it also dehydrates me. | I was put on it for migraines that were everyday all day. I was put on 25mg and it stopped my migraines. My only symptom were a dry mouth. After a couple weeks it didn't work as well so I upped the dose to 50mg and it started wearing off again. Eventually I got to 150mg in about a 2 month period and that's when I started to associate some of my symptoms with Elavil. I would get tired out really easily but not drowsy, I'd just feel like utter crap. About a week later with the 150mg dose I had to go to the er because my resting pulse was 148 bmp... My bp was 142/93 and I was also dehydrated. After that I decreased my dose to 75mg and I've been taking it for about 2 weeks trying to tapper it off. All my symptom are coming back again and I've lowered the dose to 50mg last night. If I had the time I would stop cold turkey and would gladly deal with the withdrawl. | F | 19 | 3 months 75 1X day | 6/21/2010 | 1 | migraines | Gained over 16 lbs without eating extra and now having a hard time breathing. Still having some "confusion" of migraines that makes me feel like I am having a stroke. Was hospitalized here in Oklahoma City in March and thats when the neurologist put me on Elavil 25 mg. I also have Factor Five Leiden and almost died twice with blood clots so gaining this excessive weight is definitely a big NO! Got to get off of it! Would advise anyone getting on this to be aware of the side effects. I would NOT recommend anyone to take this unless they truly are given all of the side effects. | F | 55 | 3 months 25 1X day | 6/11/2010 | 5 | fibromyelgia | Practically none. Some weight gain initially (2 kgs) | After being on it for only 3 days I felt so much better. It has no side effects for me now (even if I take it at 10pm I feel no different in the morning) so I think it's a wonder drug. I notice people with CFS/Fibro. rate this drug much higher than those with other conditions so maybe that's what it is best for. | F | 46 | 5 years 15 1X day | 6/5/2010 | 1 | Interstitial Cystitis (IC) | strobe-like, 3D hallucinations; heat waves; became highly irritable, irrational and unreasonable, as well as dangerously impulsive; nausea and vomiting after 2nd day; | Would not recommend...ever. | F | 16 | 5 days 10 mg 1X day | 5/25/2010 | 5 | insomnia, CRPS/neuropathic pain | Best sleep of my life. I wake up with the pain, & insomnia gone. I feel so refreshed. It's like Im a new person | Problem is when Im on Elavil I am a new person. If Im 1/2 asleep "sleep waking", the difference is night and day, my mom says. But other than that, everythings fine. | F | 27 | 2 years 150mg 1X day | 5/19/2010 | 1 | anxiety | Nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, loss of appetite, tingling in fingers, pulsating in right foot (neuropathy), dizziness, lightheadedness. | Drugs work differently for everyone. Some people have minimal to no side effects. Obviously, this med was not for me. | F | 32 | 7 days 50mg 1X day | 5/18/2010 | 1 | insomnia | Horrible dry mouth(I was guzzling water & constantly chewing gum), increased appetite & intense cravings for sweets, and total loss of sex drive | I didn't like anything about this drug. It did make me a little tired, but not enough to sleep; maybe a higher dose would have helped, but I couldn't tolerate the side effects. | F | 26 | 3 weeks 50 mg 1X day | 5/16/2010 | 1 | chronic pain, insomnia | Intense anger, craving cigarettes, alcohol, and other drugs, blurred vision, dry eyes, dry mouth, metallic taste, changes in hearing, trouble urinating, nausea, headache, considering suicide, increase in appetite, difficulty concentrating, general malaise, apathy, dizziness. | Absolutely the most awful thing I have ever encountered. My doctor tried to tell me that Amitriptyline had far less side effects than my pain medication. I started taking this medication a week ago. After every dose I become very angry, I cannot recall a time I was angry as I have been while taking this medication, This medication makes it almost impossible for me sleep. I feel like a zombie. | M | 20 | 7 days 50 1X day | 5/3/2010 | 5 | Interstitial Cystitis | Slight sleepiness | The sleepiness can be taken care of simply by taking it before bed. When 25mg left me still waking up at night I moved to 50mg and pow! I slept through the night. I use this as one of three medications to control the pain/urgency of Interstitial Cystitis (Amitriptyline, Pentosan Polysulfate and Hydroxizine). The Hydroxizine knocks me out more than the Amitriptyline. | M | 39 | 4 years 50 1X day | 5/1/2010 | 3 | Migraines | Weight gain, 30+ lbs, very 'foggy' in the morning, no matter how long I sleep it will take me an hour to fully wake up, I get up at 5am to be ready to finally get up and in the shower at 6:30am, it did help my migraines, took me from month long low level headaches and up to 8 sever migraines a month to only 2 migraines and these are manageable headaches (also taking 50mg of Atenolol and Ultram/Maxalt for the migraines) | I have stopped taking the Elavil 3 days ago, doc said he didn't think it was the cause of my weight gain but if I felt it was I could go off of the meds, he told me I wasn't taking enough to effect me so I could quit cold turkey but three days into this I am dreading my choice, I wish I would have go down in the dosage gradually but I am in this now I am not turning back, I really hope the weigh comes off, because now no matter how little I eat (logged my food intake at an average of 1400 calories a day) and no matter how much I can get myself to exercise the scale #'s kept going up and up (even though the longer I took this medication and the more weight I gained the harder it was to exercise) | F | 33 | 3 years 50 mg 1X day | 4/30/2010 | 4 | fibroyalgia and myofacila pain and | constipation, dry mouthand dry eyes | iits a good me | F | 67 | 20 years 45 mg 1X day | 4/29/2010 | 4 | anxiety | at first caused a knock out effect - but i liked this as it helped me to sleep long term has caused some weight gain | probably slightly addictive | F | 44 | 6 months 25 - 50 1X day | 4/27/2010 | 1 | Interstitial cystitis | Sedation to the point of incapacitation from even a low dose, to the point that I couldn't work. Took myself down to 5mg once per day (tapering) and experienced worst migraine of my life with severe vomiting. Still have daily headaches, and hot flashes/ sweating that started after taking the drug. Coming off it entirely. It did help the IC pain at 10Mg but not at the cost of being unable to work. | Clearly this drug is metabolized in very different ways by different people. It has not worked for me and the side effects for me were very scary. | F | 44 | 40 days 10 1X day | 4/21/2010 | 1 | Migranes & Tenision Headaches | DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDIATION! /Side effets include: excessive sweating and cold sweats at night, night terrors/screaming/shaking in sleep, increased appetite and want for sweets, weight gain (ive been trying to put on weight for yers- 4 days on this drugs = +8 pounds), loss of interest in anything, trouble making sense of what you hear and what you say, seeing things, hearing things, will cause a positive person to become serverly depressed and have suicidal thoughts, confusion, disoreiented, dizzyness, fainty (seeing all white or black flashes, anxiety, fever, lowers blood pressu (already have low blood pressure) | This drug will prevent migranes--- DONT NOT TAKE IT! Side effects are dangerous and doctors dont know enough about this drug--its effects people differently but effected me the worse. Almost killed myself on this drug. IF YOU NEED ADVICE!: PLEASE EMAIL ME! I felt so alone, so dont feel that way- im here. email Alex at [email protected] *I just weened down from 50 to 25 mg, i took 25 mgs for 3 nights. Then i was out of medication so stopped taking it. Its been 6 days, things are not better, highfever more often | F | 18 | 75 mg 1X day | 4/13/2010 Patient History | 2 | Migraines with aura | Tiredness about 1 hr after taking amitriptyline. While my body adjusted to it (2 weeks) I was confused in the mornings, disoriented, and had a clouded head. As I am going off it I am noticing the same side effects, and now I am having trouble sleeping. | When I began taking amitriptyline I felt very confused in the mornings, I had trouble adjusting at first. It made me extrememly tired at night, so I started taking it at 8:00pm in order for the side effects (tiredness) to wear off by the time I left for work (7am). It took about 2 weeks to adjust completely. Those first two weeks I felt groggy, disoriented, and had trouble focusing. I was taking it to prevent migraines (with visual disturbances) and it was working until I began to work out extensively. I was migraine free for 5 months, but recently had a migraine with aura. I figure if I still have migraines on amitriptyline, why take the drug? I have stopped taking it for about 3 days and feel a little disoriented, but not as bad as when I went on it. I had trouble sleeping last night, but I am hoping it was just because I am back to work after having spring break. I noticed a slight weight gain (5-7 lbs) and that I have to work out daily in order to fight weight gain. I have had a serious sugar craving that I am able to ignore only if I am preoccupied. I plan to stay off this dug seeing as I still had migraines while on it. I figure if I am going to have them there's no use being on it. I am looking for something new to try, possibly Imitrex, depending on what the side effects are. | F | 24 | 6 months 10 mg 1X day | 4/12/2010 | 2 | depression | Weight gain, vivid nightmares, very drowsy and felt drunk/high all the time, moody, paranoid! | Bad, BAD drug. Didn't help me at all. | F | 18 | 2 weeks 25mg 1X day | 4/3/2010 | 5 | fibromyalgia | Weight gain (15 pounds). Thirsty. Dry mouth. Hunger at night. Some anger. | This medication saved my life. I had turned into a zombie from lack of sleep, and was having extreme suicidal ideation from the uncontrollable pain. But with Elavil, I sleep soundly every night. It turns the pain 'down'. I take my meds around 6pm, with supper. Yes, the weight gain bothers me, as does the increased hunger and craving for sweets. I exercise every single day of my life (doctors' orders) so I have been able to keep the weight gain to a minimum. But even if I turned into a blimp, I would STILL take this medication as it REALLY helps me sleep. And this in turn makes the pain so much more manageable. I also take Celexa (small dosage). The two combined are like miracle drugs for me. | F | 61 | 3 years 10-20mg 1X day | 3/13/2010 | 1 | IC | confusion, disorientation, grogginess, constipation, difficulty breathing, metallic taste | The first day I felt great. The second day cured me from taking another pill. It has been 5 days and I still feel like I am on the medication. It helped the IC pain the first day. It has not helped since. I feel like I am on planet X. I am hoping that it will be out of my system soon. I don't think I've ever experienced anything this awful in a medication. It's bad enough to have IC, but to have this disorientation, confusion, and this numbness in my legs and arms is awful. I'm glad I looked on this website the second day when I felt so weird. I stopped taking it immediately, but have felt awful since. | F | 37 | 2 days 10 mg 1X day | 3/8/2010 | 5 | Anxiety/Depression/Insomnia | About 50 lb weight gain, within 1st year. Constant craving for food, especially sweets; even when not hungry. Seem to always be uncontrollable literally shoving something (usually sweet and/or high calorie)into my mouth - like I can't get it in fast enough(especially in the evenings while watching TV). Increased blood pressure. Occassional suddenly wake-up choking and/or gasping for air. Have not experienced withdrawal symptoms, probably due to inconsistent low doseage. Have taken 10mg 1-2 times daily as needed for past 5 years. | Relieves my insomia immediately (Usually take 10mg Elavil plus 50 mg of Benadryl). Use Benadyl alone when not experiencing anxiety/depressive symptoms. Obtain relief of moderate anxiety/depression after taking twice a day (within 1st or 2nd day). Usually take 1-2 hrs before bedtime(or earlier,to allow 10 hours to clear my system)if I have to get up early the next day. Only take a dose in the morning if needed for anxiety/depression. Once fully awake and functioning, morning dose does not make me sleepy. However, may fall asleep if not mentally and/or physically active. Was already on hypertensive meds, but had to double dosage a few months ago and still BP remained higher than expected. Noted that BP within normal range on days Elavil not taken. Wish I'd been aware that extreme weight gain was a side affect. However, was so glad to be able to sleep thoughout the night and for relief of the anxiety/depressive symptoms that weight gain would've only been a secondary concern. However, now that I can't shake the weight and I know Elavil is contributing to it, I'll try to stay off of it and seek other alternatives. | F | 63 | 5 years 10 mg 2X day | 2/25/2010 |