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 |
More on ELAVIL: Reviews Summary | Drug Safety Information
| RATING | REASON | SIDE EFFECTS FOR ELAVIL | COMMENTS | SEX | AGE | DURATION/ DOSAGE | DATE ADDED |
| 5 | Bladder Spasms | Dry mouth, sore throat are the annoying side effects. | 10 mg per day before bed. Bladder spasms have completely subsided but so have my hot flashes and I have no appetite. I've lost 15 lbs since early January. | F | 52 | 2 months | 3/1/2008 | 3 | migraine headaches | weight gain, (not sure if this was the drug...but it seems to be similar to others taking this drug..heart palpitations, vivid scary dreams, hypoglycemic-like symptoms in the mornings) | I was on this drug for almost a year at 10mg a day. I gained probably 15 pounds. I remember having one awful dream of my getting into a car accident and waking up on the ground looking down and seein my leg was gone and i was laying in a pool of blood. It was so vivid and real, I swear i thought i was actually dying. I was super pissed about the weight gain, I had leukemia when I was on this drug because the chemo made my headaches worse, so i thought from sitting around sick all the time my metabolism slowed and thats why i gained weight. so i tried to lose it by cutting back about 700 calories a day, and going to the gym. i did not lose a fucking pound. when the more sever effects happened recently (palpitations, throwing up, etc) i was taken off the drug cold turkey with no withdrawal effects. i hope hope hope that the weight will start to come off easier now with my diet and excersize. this is a bad bad drug that made me very sick and fat and i hate it! if anyone has taken this dru | F | 17 | 10 months | 2/26/2008 | 1 | chronic pain, anxiety | At first Elavil made me sleepy which I liked because of the relaxation. Over time it began to make me feel awful. I was exhausted all the time and not thinking straight. I was gaining weight even though I was dieting, then my hair began falling out. I was so bloated my rings didn't fit and I went up a shoe size. When I stopped taking it I lost 5 pounds immediately. The withdrawal was very unpleasant. In the end, this medication made my anxiety and depression worse. It did not help with pain at all. | I wouldn't recommend it. | F | 53 | 1 years | 2/14/2008 | 5 | Sleep problems | The first two weeks I experienced about a two second delay in trying to urinate... nothing big, just weird feeling. I also was midly dizzy for the first two days. After that period, I've had no side effects. I take the smallest dose which is 10mg. | At 10mg Elavil was prescribed to help get me into deeper sleep cycles and to help reduce nagging "fibromyalgia" type pain. It's worked wonders for the way that I sleep and feel physically. | M | 29 | 3 years | 2/10/2008 | 4 | insomnia | Only been 5 days, but, sleep ok. Wake a few times but able to go back to sleep. I've had horrid insomnia for yrs and after withdrawal from benzo type sleep meds sleep got worse! Tried Remeron for 2 months and gained 14 lbs along with other side effects. Since ridding the remeron and taking elavil I've lost 3 olbs in a few days! the bloating is much better too. Low dose of 10mg on Elavil hoping this will do the trick? Also, just got diagnosed with thyroid disease and started medication. That should also help the weight gain issue and maybe even the insomnia? Anyone suffering fatigue and cold hands etc check out your thyroid levels! I've had this disease for yrs! and it went unchecked! | 10mg helps get to sleep after about 2hrs. Wakings during the night but able to return to sleep. Appetite still active but getting better since ridding Remeron. Some constipation but I take magnesium supp's which take care of that!! | F | 51 | 5 days | 2/9/2008 | 3 | For Muscle tension headaches | Extreme Drowsiness, Ears closing, ringing in ears, disturbed concentration and nervousness. It prevented headaches frequency and severity but felt uncomfortable during the whole time while on the medication. | M | 30 | 12 days | 2/4/2008 | 1 | Anxiety | Dizzy,confuzed,Very bad panic attacks,weakness | THis drug put me in the hospital.I hate this drug more than any other i ever taken and ive taken a lot | M | 29 | | 1/31/2008 | 2 | insomnia, muscle pain, depression | Difficulty waking, grogginess, feeling of malaise through much of next day if I took it after 9 pm or so. Jittery; shaky hands; dry mouth; coated tongue (yuck!) | My primary care physician recommended this related to insomnia, muscle pain and depression (which she felt was at the crux). I do not plan to refill this script nor take it any longer. As a mental health practitioner, I took it related to sleep issues which I have had all my life (the depression, I felt, was circumstantial as my father was dying and I was caring for him). She stated that she had been prescribing this "for years" and it worked very well. Perhaps for others but the trade off was not worth it for me. I did take this for two weeks to see if these were side effects that would wear off with time....they did not. I might add that it helped me sleep in the beginning (first couple of days) but after that it was not useful for insomnia. | F | 47 | 15 days | 1/28/2008 | 1 | Hand pain of unknown origin | Major drowsiness all day long, BAD taste in the back of my mouth (& accompanying bad breath), and random "edgyness" (mood swing from normal to annoyed/upset for dumb reasons or no reason). | I was only taking Elavil for a few weeks, and I hated the side effects. I liked how it helped me to sleep solidly and it did seem to help my hand pain, but it wasn't worth putting up with the side effects. I felt like a zombie at work everyday (I would take the Elavil before bed) and when I got home all I wanted to do was get in bed to take a nap. So I was wasting my life away taking naps. The drowsiness didn't go away even after my doctor suggested that I lower my dosage to 1/2 a tablet. Also, the gross chemical taste it would leave in the back of my mouth would stay there all day long and give me rancid breath that would make my husband wince when he'd kiss or get close to me. But by far my main reason for quitting Elavil totally was it would make me get angry, annoyed, or upset all the sudden for no reason. Being a woman who has to deal with the usual couple days of PMS every month, I didn't want added edgyness in my life. See-ya-later Elavil. I wouldn't recommend it. | F | 25 | 3 weeks | 1/25/2008 | 5 | neck tension,insomnia,headaches | AT FIRST, nightmatres, hard time waking up, groggy in the am BUT all these side effects went away after a few weeks, so at least try it for a few weeks before giving it up | I have been taking this for a couple of years & has worked wonderfully for my sleep and neck tension/headaches BUT all of a sudden it doesn't work for me, the pharmacy switched me from the generic green pill(which is the one I always took form the beginning) to the chalky white one, the white pill doesn't work for me, HAS ANYONE ELSE HAD THIS PROBLEM WITH THE GENERIC WHITE PILL? | F | 33 | 2 years | 1/22/2008 | 4 | couldn't sleep due to neck pain... | I have extremely vivid dreams. If I take my pain meds too close in time to my 1 and only evening dose of Elavil, I have hallucinations. On the rare occasion that I do not take it before bed, I have weirder vivid dreams and hallucinations than when I do take it. | After I got used to taking it (a week or so) I loved it. It totally relaxes me enough to sleep with pain....even after 10 years. It doesn't 'keep' me asleep anymore, but it still helps me to easily fall back to sleep. | F | 40 | 10 years | 1/21/2008 | 5 | vulva dynea and bladder cystitis | Dry mouth but not so bad since I also take respiratory allergy medicine. I can't totally blame elavil for conditions also associated with menopause such as weight gain and constipation. | I had suffered severe pain during urination for 9 years ( imagine having UTI-like pain all the time for 9 years and urgency followed by incotenince) which I didn't know what it was. I self medicated with aleve which worked good for a while, then my dosage need increased in order to control the burning and painful spasms. This made me worried about the cardiac side effects of aleve. My urogynecologist prescribed me Elavil. I started @ 5mgs. I'm now maxed @ 75 mgs. and I'm so happy, I don't have to worry about having an accident or if my adult diaper is obvious to others. I can now sleep up to 8 hours and dreams (supposed to be therapeutic for cardiac and mental health). Over all I'd say I'M HAPPY taking elavil. | F | 50 | 6 months | 1/20/2008 | 4 | Insomnia/Pain/RLS | Dry mouth | Has helped me relax and sleep through the night. I have not had any of the vivid dreams nor any other symptoms, yet anyway, and after reading all the comments, I am starting to worry. I will continute taking it, but will do more research on this medication. | F | 35 | 90 days | 1/15/2008 | 1 | Migraines | Extreme morning fatigue to the point where I could not drive, horrific nightmares, dry mouth. | I was prescribed this drug for its "vasodilating effects" to prevent migraines. Felt a little better for the first few weeks but then the drug stopped working (10 mg daily). Neurologist recommended me to bump up to 20 mg daily. It did not work any longer after that short period of time, and I could not bear the side effects. On CT scans and MRI, the blood vessels of my brain are naturally dilated, and I have a brainstem deformity. This may account for my headache issues in part. | F | 43 | 2 months | 1/15/2008 | 3 | Migraines | After years of trying every other drug, this has helped tremendously. No migraines in a month and no longer have the terrible pressure in the back of my head | While I am thrilled to be out of pain, I am very upset at being unable to get up in the morning. I am totally exhausted. I also feel a change in mood, dry mouth and some memory loss. I am on 50 mg. I am simply not myself on this medication.... | F | 57 | 1 months | 1/13/2008 | 3 | Sleep, neck pain | Weight gain in a short amount of time may be from sleeping ten hours a night. I'm on 25 mg. I fall asleep but have difficulty waking up. | F | 59 | 30 days | 1/4/2008 | 1 | for back pain and insomnia | Side effects were horrible. At any dosage I had very dry, swollen mouth, groggy, spaced out at work, shaking hands - these side effects never went away - even after 5 years of taking it. | I cannot seem to get off this medication after 6 attempts. The first time I had a bad relapse and ended up with severe depression. The last 5 times, I had extreme nausea, insomnia and headaches. I have weaned down to 5mg and have been off the medication for 6 days. I am suffering with insomnia and headaches. Will I ever be able to get off this medication??? My advice is to never take it in the first place - go see an alternative therapist instead. | F | 35 | 5 years | 12/28/2007 | 4 | Insomia and facial pain (jaw) | Very vivid dreams and inability to wake up in the morning. After 5 months of not sleeping for several nights in a row this has been a huge help. On 10mg but thinking of halving the pills | I've a badly damaged jaw and this has left me with a lot of facial pain. Insomnia got just too much this summer. Worried about the dreams though - if it can do that to your brain on a low dose what's it physical and mental changes are going on. Concerned I can't wake in the morning until the dream sequence has finished.sometimes can tell dream from reality causing confusion in a morning. Couldn't take this if had go out to work, but work from home. Great for insomnia, but still worried about side effects. | F | 47 | 40 days | 12/23/2007 | 3 | Insomnia & anxiety | Extremely vivid dreams, Dry mouth, groggy in the morning, lethargy, small amount of weight gain. | I take this 3 hours before bed & I usually drop off within 10 mins. However I stll wake after 4-5 hours. Sometimes I will drift back for an hour of so. Before this drug would be awake around the clock - literally! I have upped dose to 20 mg this week. If I drink alcohol with it I don't sleep at all! Hasn't helped with anxiety at all! Feel tired all the time - even tho I sleep I don't think I have a restfull sleep. | F | 27 | 3 months | 12/21/2007 | 3 | Vaginal Pain | Sleepiness, moodiness, low sex drive | I'm really not sure if Elavil has helped why I am taking it. I am experiencing pain during intercourse and Elavil is supposed to "deaden" the nerves in the vagina. But I'm so exhausted all the time (whether it be from the medicine or from my job) that I don't have a sex drive anymore to see if it's working! My fiance says I've become much moodier over the past few months. I don't know how much longer I will be on it. But one positive is that it helps me fall asleep. | F | 22 | 3 months | 12/7/2007 |