ELAVIL Reviews (AMITRIPTYLINE HYDROCHLORIDE)Average Rating: 3.1 (585 Ratings)Filter ResultsCompare ELAVIL with similar:
Type: Brand name discontinued; available as generic
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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 |
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ELAVIL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | Chronic Daily Migraines | Was on 30mg of Elavil for about 3 weeks and it had no effect on my daily migraines (chronic daily headaches). My doctor increased my dose to 50mg and I imediately saw relief. Havent had a migraine in over 2 months (small headache once or twice). Side Effects: I sweat a lot more when working out, dry mouth (was bad at first, but now I can hardly tell), sleepiness (was falling asleep at work the first week I took it, but now I take it at night and only makes me kind of drowsy), never had the sweet tooth until recently, but I am aware of it and don't overindulge (no weight gain yet), vivid dreams. | F | 30 | 2 months | 2/17/2009 | 4 | migraine and neck pain | dry mouth, excessive weight gain but that's because of my excessive sweet tooth craving, constipation, I was really groggy in the morning but good thru out the day at first. I want to know what to do about the cravings besides quiting the medication. I have blurred vision and I just wear my glasses when I read and it's okay. sex drive is low :( | I've been taking 10mg for my migraines and neck pain, it's been working good. I sleep real good at night, I have to take to medication about two hours before I go to bed and I get up on my own 8 hours later. I have no migraine or neck pain unless I forget to take then I have really bad pain in my neck and head.I like the fact that I'm not as stressed as I use to be. | F | 42 | 4 months | 2/16/2009 | 3 | Fibromyalgia | The most disturbing one to me is the anger. I noticed one other person mentioning it. I am also female and of similar age as them. The irritability would last until noon or soon and then I would be fine. It has been like this for several days and I may have to go off it, but it has helped with the pain and sleep!!! I have not found much at all as far as other people having anger problems with this drug, which makes me a little confused. Dry mouth, taste, and zombie-ism went away after first 1-2 weeks. | F | 22 | 4 weeks | 2/15/2009 | 1 | Unexplainable stomach cramps | This is a terrible, terrible drug......complete loss of energy on only 25 mg a day. It was suggested by my doctor to help with unexplainable daily stomach cramps.....all is did was to make me constantly hungry for sweets...I gained 16 pounds in one month. | M | 55 | 1 months | 2/13/2009 | 4 | chronic headaches | can't focus as well anymore, or could i ever? | I started taking elavil because i had headaches 25 days a month, it was crazy, and I tried several other medications (like strong ibuprofen) while also being addicted to Excedrin. Now, my headaches have stopped but i don't feel like i can concentrate anymore, which is why i'm writing this while at work. However, my main problem with my headaches was that i could not focus, so i dont know if anything has really changed, maybe im just not a very focused person?? | M | 27 | 6 weeks | 2/12/2009 | 5 | Chronic Abdominal Pain | Initially dry mouth, drowsyness, confusion - all of which subsided within 6 weeks; continuing difficulty urinating; recently (after 12 months or so) vivid disturbing dreams. | This was prescribed at 10mg / day to help with intractible right sided abdo pain presumed to be refered from my hiatus hernia & gastric reflux. Initially this stuff sent me into a zombie-like trance for several days, but has worked wonders with my pain levels, now that I have become acustomed to it. If I try a higher dose (following pain breakthrough) I get a return of the 'fog'. I have difficulty when I try to start to urinate, and I often feel like I need to go, when I don't! I would like to wean off of it, but am very concerned that the pains would again become very bad. I'm slowly losing weight on a sensible diet, and am excersizing well - this drug has changed my life! | M | 53 | 15 months | 2/9/2009 | 1 | Migraines | This medication causes extreme tiredness. To prevent my migraines (which are pretty frequent, and pretty severe, I had to take 100mg a day. The migraines went away, but in return I was constantly tired, and my metabolism slowed down so much that with diet and exercise I gained 25 pounds in four months. | F | 27 | 4 months | 2/9/2009 | 1 | migraines | weight gain, lethargy, depression | I took a low dose to prevent migraines. It didn't work. I gained weight like I was pregnant, primarily because I felt like eating an entire tray of cinnamon rolls and then taking a nap. Once I got off the drug (and started on Imitrex), I lost a considerable amount of weight and had more energy. | F | 49 | 2 years | 2/9/2009 | 3 | migranes | Dry Mouth, constpation and a lot of weight gain! | My migranes decreased from 2-3 a week to 2-3 a month. I sleep like a log. I take 25mg at 7pm to give my self ample time for the morning. | F | 28 | 3 months | 2/4/2009 | 5 | Migraine with Aura | None | I began taking Amitriptyline to prevent Migraine with Aura. My attacks had sometimes been as long as 9-18mths apart since they started properly aged 14. I put up with the odd attack over the years but after being on a low dose of Cipramil for a few years i withdrew and suddenly got increased attacks- some of them very severe. I think my nervous system had got used to the increased levels of certain chemicals and this caused my migraine to suddenly play up, where previously it had been ok. I wasn't prepared to put up with that situation so i took control and was prescribed amitriptyline, which has been proven to prevent migraine attacks in clinical trials. I was prescribed a very low dose of 10mg (normally 50-150mg is used for depression)and it has been brilliant. I feel much better knowing i am on something that helps as it means i can live my life with confidence and less worry. Even 5mg prevented attacks. A positive side-effect is that a low dose of this drug may help you feel a l | M | 34 | 18 months | 1/30/2009 | 4 | headaches, insomnia | Extremely dry mouth, which is affecting my teeth, and huge weight gain | Elavil gives me a full night's sleep without feeling groggy all day but the weight gain was almost immediate and I am growing everyday. I would stop taking the medication if I could find something comparable that did not cause weight gain. | F | 61 | 60 days | 1/23/2009 | 5 | Fibromyalgia | Elavil works like lidocaine. Numbs all pain and stops muscle cramping associated with fibromyalgia. Other than slight constipation, no side effects at all!!!! | Wonder drug for fibromyalgia!!!! | F | 62 | 12 years | 1/20/2009 | 2 | IBS after gallbladder removal | None, except it didn't work. | Didn't help diarrhea-predominant irritable bowel syndrome after gallbladder removed. | F | 43 | 2 weeks | 1/17/2009 | 3 | Fibromyagia | A little groggy and foggy. | I haven't been on this med for long, so I am not sure yet. If it eases this extreme head to toe pain, it will be worth it. At this point I still need Vicodin to survive the nights. | F | 40 | 5 days | 1/16/2009 | 3 | Migraine Headaches | Cravings, always being hungry, sleeping alot, being very groggy and not being able to stay awake. | I was taking Elavil (amitriptyline) for horrible migraine headaches that I would wake up with. I thought it would help me out some...I've only taken it 4 times and I am very sensitive to medicines obviously.. It knocked me out for 12 hrs each time I took it. I stay hungry and I crave sweets more than normal. I dont really have a headache which is good but at the same time this medicine isnt doing me any good. I stopped taking it today because of the horrible side effects. My neuro wants to put me on Topamax and I refused to take it. It made my mother really sick and I would rather have a migraine than be sick all the time! | F | 17 | 4 days | 1/15/2009 | 1 | IBS abdominal pain | Sleepiness and HAIR LOSS although cannot be proven.I an now depressed because I am losing my hair! | I took elavil at the same time as grapefruit seed extract which I have since discovered can boost elavils levels in the bloodstream.No one will confirm this,but I have enough scientific knowledge to read a few papers which make me believe this is the case. | F | 24 | 3 months | 1/10/2009 | 4 | Migrain Headaches | Great sleep at night-a little more tired than usual during the day. constipated-and I am normally very regular. No weight gain so far-I don't crave sweets any more than normal and I have been very careful with my diet so as to not gain weight like everyone else on here. No horrible dreams as others have stated. | I am taking 10mg a day at 7pm. I have been taking it for about 4 weeks. I normally have two migrains a week-now I am only getting one migrain about every two weeks. I tried Topamax several years ago and the side effects were so horrible that I was afraid to try any other preventative meds. My neurologist convinced me to try Elavil-and so far it seems to be working and the side effects are not too bad. I am not on any other medications except for taking Imitrex when I start getting a migrain. Reading the side effects on this sight almost made me decide to not try it-I am glad I tried it. I will write more in a few months if anything changes! | F | 43 | 4 weeks | 12/29/2008 | 4 | Severe Rheumatoid Arthritis | Extreme dry mouth, dental corrosion because of dry mouth, lack of concentration, lethargic, short term memory loss, weight gain, depressive and now starting to become chesty. | I was started on this by my Rheumatologist 14 years ago as I was unable to sleep because of being in chronic pain 24/7. I'm one of about 10% in my country that get no remission from RA and I was started on 100mg at night but that was increased to 150mg at night but I couldn't cope with the extreme dry mouth so it went back down to 100mg at night. It was explained to me that through relaxing my muscles to enable sleep my brain would release endorphins the natural pain killer to boost the rest of the large number of medications I'm on, and I must admit I do get between 5 and 6 hours sleep a night but I'm so groggy on a morning, and I still find the dry mouth hard to cope with which makes me drink lots through the day. If you can manage without this medication do so because I'm now getting dental problems which is also because of the dry mouth and after 14 years on such a high dosage I can't foresee me being able to come off this medication unless they come up with an amazing cure for s | F | 58 | 14 years | 12/11/2008 | 3 | Fibromyalgia | WEIGHT GAIN (26 lb in about 4 months), decreased fibro pain, increased sweating, decreased sex drive, great sleep however problems with energy the next day - My dosage is 20 mg at night per day | I love this for the sleep aspect and pain. But it's not worth the huge weight gain. I've wanted to be pain free but not at the expense of gaining so much weight. Going to try something else | F | 30 | 4 months | 12/7/2008 | 3 | Night sweats and insomnia | Dry mouth, weight gain, vivid dreams and constipation | I have been on Elavil for menopausal night sweats and insomnia from the night sweats. This has helped me to sleep better at night but realized that I have gained 6 lbs. in 6 weeks. I have also had the vivid dreams and some nightmares. I am also experiencing constipation when I previously had IBS symptoms occasionally. I am not sure if I will continue to take this medication because I don't want to gain anymore weight. This is a good medication if you can stand the weight gain. | F | 53 | 45 days | 11/20/2008 |