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 |
| 3 | vaginal pain | weight gain, about 10 pounds in 6 mos. Constantly tired | I was on elavil for 6 mos...I did feel some relief, although the weight gain was enough to make me stop it. My doctor says there is no other drug I can take that would help the itching and burning. I have an appointment at the University of Michigan end of July. Hopefully they can make other suggestions and help me figure out what is wrong with me. | M | 32 | 6 months | 7/7/2008 | 5 | Depression/Anxiety/Insomnia | Slight weight gain, taste/smell distortion at beginning of treatment | I love this medication! I started on it to help me come off of some other medications I had been on for several years (Ambien, Restoril, Klonopin). It helps greatly with overall mood. I have a get-up-and-go attitude that I'm not used to having. It balances me out very well. It has helped with endogenous depression, anxiety, and insomnia. I sleep like a baby and have not had a panic attack in months, even though I am no longer on sleep/anxiety meds. The only thing that I am not too thrilled about is the slight weight gain...but it is worth it. | F | 29 | 2 months | 6/24/2008 | 5 | Chronic migraines | Initial symptoms included severe somnolence, heart palpitations, difficulty in waking up, vivid dreams. Did help significantly with insomnia, however, this effect wore off. With tolerance over time, the medication helped tremendously in reducing both the frequency and severity of migraines. At 75mg, the only major side effect is dizziness and lightheadness when standing up. | F | 24 | 2 years | 6/14/2008 | 2 | Anxity Depression | severe weight gain. | I would not recommend this to anyone who is weight gain sensitive.I gained 18 pounds in 2 months. It took the anxitey and depression away I actually felt good but now Im fatter than I already was and I have got to figure out a way to loose this extra weight. | F | 43 | 2 months | 6/12/2008 | 5 | depression, fibromyalgia | dry mouth and drowsiness is all I can remember, if I had others they are long gone | I like this med because it helps with my fibro, which is a bonus, not what it was originally rx'd for. SSRIs make me manic and tricyclics like amitriptyline do not. It has not cured the depression, but seroquel with it helps. I take 150mg at bed time. | F | 27 | 3 years | 6/1/2008 | 3 | depression neuropathy insomnia | weight gain, sleeping 12-15 hrs per day | Definitely helped with the neuropathy; I went from walking with a cane with an escort to being able to go about my life normally. Also helped with my anxiety. Medication was being used in conjunction with robaxin and ibuprofen and alleve. However, I've been almost unable to do anything other than the very basics of life-go to work, come home, let the dog out, eat maybe, and then back into bed. I was told by the doctor that this was simply a function of depression. Upon reading other people's review of this medication I find myself astonished to discover that this is not necessarily true, and am very angry with my doctor. My sleeping has caused arguments with my husband, who is military and on a very early morning routine. I will be switching if it's possible. | F | 20 | 1 years | 5/28/2008 | 3 | anxiety and depression | To me, this kind of worked like Paxil, but a bit mellower. I got off of this because I couldn't stand the excessive sweating! And all over! My feet were a bit swollen also, yep, just like good ole' Paxil! It did work a bit better than Paxil, though. Not bad for an oldie but goodie! | F | 34 | 3 months | 4/30/2008 | 4 | neuropathic nerve pain | dry mouth, excessive perspiration around neck and upper chest area, particularly in morning. Generally wake up wet. Also, dry mouth, constipation and decrease in libido. | I have taken elavil on two different occasions, both for neuropathic pain (once in arm, again in abdomen). Started at 10 mg. each nite and worked up to 50. Am now weaning myself off it all together. In both instances it worked quite well, side effects notwithstanding. I slept quite soundly and could easily sleep till late morning. Upon waking, however, I felt quite rested, moreso than ususal. I had tried neurontin first in both instances with no effect. Much preferred the results with elavil. | M | 56 | 3 months | 4/21/2008 | 5 | fibromyalgia | Dry mouth (sometimes), irregular heart rate (when drinking caffeine), and inability to lose weight(it took me 6 months to loose 12 pounds when working out). | I was diagnosed when I was ~20 years old. My doctor put me on elavil, 5 mg at bedtime. I am now at 30 mg at bedtime (and have been for the past 7 years). I tried to wean myself off of it twice before (I don't like taking pharmacuticals), but almost died from the pain. I think this is a great medication for me. I could not live my active life without it. I also take many supplements/herbs to help with my pain. | F | 32 | 12 years | 4/20/2008 | 1 | Depression | Started out at a low dose for three days (can't remember the mg). Dose doubled after those days. Immediately after the dose went up I started having some kind of nerve problem. Namely, the whole left side of my body ,from heel to tongue went completely numb. I was afraid I was having a stroke. Didn't take anymore after three days of this, and the problem went away the day after I stopped taking. Strange!! | It is worth mentioning that I can't tolerate most antidepressent drugs. They have no effect on the depression but plenty of the unwanted side effects. | F | 38 | 6 days | 4/16/2008 | 1 | TMJ pain | Dr suggested I take 10mg Elavil at night, building up by the 2nd week to 20mg's. It did help to alleviate the TMJ pain but I became incredibly, deeply, darkly depressed, lost all motivation, felt foggy headed all day and my craving for eating sweets was totally out of control. I could see myself getting fatter by the day. I tapered back down to 10mg's - stayed there for one week, then tapered down to 5 mg's and then stopped but it took me close on three months before I felt 'mentally stable' again. This medication seemed to totally crush the life out of me. I was like the walking dead while on it. | F | 51 | 6 months | 4/14/2008 | 5 | interstitial cystitis | dry mouth, sleepiness, increased appetite in the beginning | This medication almost completely relieves my pain. Additionally, since the pain was keeping me awake at night, I sleep much better. If I do wake up, the medication helps me go back to sleep quickly. I sometimes have a hard time waking up in the morning. But the elavil has make it possible for me to go through the day painfree. | F | 50 | 3 months | 4/13/2008 | 2 | Constant nausea/vomiting for 9yrs | Feel like a zombie, out of my head, in a fog, irritation and a lot of trouble urinating. Extreme dry mouth, major vivid nightmares, hard to wake up. Shaky/jittery, seem forgetful and just not myself. Also getting irritated easily. though NO weight gain, bad taste in mouth, constipation...all this and more after only about 5-6 days of taking it. | I have been sick with vomiting/nausea/diarrhea for over 9yrs. I have thrown up at least 3-7 days out of the week since getting sick. Been to numerous doctors with no diagnosis. Dr. suggested Remeron but made me depressed and have weight gain so I switched to Elavil and didn't even realize that what I've been going through were side effects until I started reading here and noticed I had almost every side effect listed. This did not work for my illness either so I see no point of taking it any longer. I would not suggest this to anyone but I'm sure it could react different with each person... I'm hoping that I wont have bad side effects when I stop taking it. | F | 19 | 6 days | 4/13/2008 | 2 | Fibromyalgia, sleep aid | I have only taken 2 10 mg doses so far. Basically I felt drugged the whole next day even though I took my dose between 7-8pm the night before.....I also had weird dreams. I am supposed to give this a 2 week trial before deciding it doesn't work for me, but I would basically have to take Dexedrine or something the day after to wake up! Not even sure I can take those two together! | As with most meds, I always like it if it comes in very small doses. Also, for me samples are probably the way to go since I am so sensitive to everything...samples at doctors offices seem to be a thing of the past (at least where I live). | F | 41 | 2 days | 4/9/2008 | 2 | Anxiety | Groggy in the morning, severe weight gain in short amount of time, increased appetite | I was on a low dosage of just 10mg for several months, but recently my doctor increased the dosage to 100mg because I was still suffering from anxiety. After just two weeks on the 100mg, I gained nearly 10 pounds. When I wake up in the morning I feel completely exhausted; as if I had not slept all night. The anxiety has improved, but now I feel depressed over the weight I've gained and how tired I always feel. So basically, I traded one symptom for two. | F | 36 | 1 days | 3/30/2008 | 1 | sever ibs | weight gain, migraine headaches lasting several days, high body temperature, sugar and carb cravings, night sweats, nightmares, dry mouth, dry eyes, depression, blacking out 2 hours after taking the drug, increase in breast size, elevated blood pressure and constant thirst (even though i drink 3 litres of water a day). | In Sept '07 my dr. prescribed Elavil telling me that it helped with ibs, and that it would not have any side effects other than some drowsiness. He also informed me that I would start at a low dose (10mg), and then every couple of weeks it would be increased until my pain began to go away, and my symptoms began to subside. So I did as the doctor instructed. But as time passed, I began to gain weight. When I brought the issue up with my GI dr. on several occasions, he said "you can stand to gain a few pounds". It took until February 2008 to get to 100mg which made me fractionally better than before, but I didn't feel great. I was also experiencing other side effects that I didn't think came from taking the drug until I found this website. In the 6 months that I have been taking elavil I have gained a total of 25 lbs. My entire experience with elavil has been horrendous, and the worst part is that the drug didn't even help me. I have wasted 6 months of my life counting on the | F | 28 | 7 months | 3/26/2008 | 4 | IBS ..and stress | DRY Mouth for sure,tired more often, difficulty concentrating at times.Little anger issues initially but have subsided substantially.I get annoyed easier. | It had really helped my ibs. Inadvertently my sleep is improved as well.Used to wake up real early and not able to get back to sleep. stunk!...but now better than before... Dreams seem to occur less frequently. started at 10 mg and gradually upped it to 30mg...30 seems to be most efficacious at this point in time.I initially got IBS from a windsurfing incident in upstate NY..polluted lake, accidental ingestion of some of the bad H20..got giardia..gave me flagle(anti parasitic)?? Ever since my gut has been screwed up..especially when i took 5HTP..that really took it over the top. So far the Elavil and i take LEVBID..Hyoscamine...to help slow peristolysis. This is all a crazy experiment...going for a ride so to speak.Anyone in Cyber land that can relate to my experience..please email! | M | 46 | 3 months | 3/21/2008 | 1 | fibromyagia/anxiety/depression | weight gain! fast heart rate! confusion, vivid dreams,hallucinations, angry, agitated,nervous,very sensitive to light. out of control appetite! over emotional. | have been taking it for going on two months, had taken it years ago gained 50 pounds so fast, i want to stop it now because of this but missing it a few days makes me sick. ihave alreadygined at least 10 pounds. | F | 42 | 2.5 months | 3/13/2008 | 2 | pain, and sleep aid | Very dry mouth | Got no sedation, no pain relief, nothing. All this med did for me was give me such a dry mouth I couldn't keep taking it. Got so dry it was hard to talk! | M | 52 | 2 months | 3/3/2008 | 5 | Insomnia, neuralgia | The only side-effects I've experienced were after taking Elavil for a year & quitting cold-turkey - I had a strong paranoid delusion that lasted about 1 week & a gradual return of nerve pain in my teeth, shoulders, knees & back. I had no immediate interruption in sleep, but the insomnia also gradually returned after about 6 months off Elavil. If I only have time for about 6 hrs of sleep, I wake up slowwwwly & am quite groggy & dizzy for about a half hour to an hour. It does absolutely nothing for me on the nights when I am just not sleepy. | This is the second time I've taken Elavil on a long-term basis. I've always had lifelong insomnia - both wakeful insomnia where I am physically exhausted but just not sleepy (sometimes for days), and early-waking insomnia where I wake up after 3 or 4 hrs & then cannot go back to sleep. I went through sleep clinics & found I was waking up when REM sleep would begin (it explained why I could never remember dreaming - I actually wasn't dreaming at all). Elavil doesn't make me drowsy, but it helps me stay asleep past 4 hours, I have & remember dreams and if I am awakened (the doorbell, the phone, the bladder) I can go right back to bed & fall back asleep. I've also always been depressed, but I have no noticeable mood-lightening or lessening of anxiety, but it also doesn't get any worse. | F | 34 | 2 years | 3/1/2008 |