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 | Depression and insomnia | difficulty urinating (even after nearly a year on the drug), felt high/drowsy all the time for the first week | The first 2 months or so on this drug took some getting used to. My doctor and I had to adjust the dosage a bit until I found a dosage that worked for me (currently 100 mg/night). I initially didn't know that difficulty urinating was a side effect so that caught me off guard. Overall, though, this drug has made a huge difference in my life for the BETTER. It's great to not have trouble sleeping anymore. I take the pill about 3 hours before I want to go to sleep and I can usually fall right asleep. | F | 27 | 10 months | 8/9/2007 | 3 | Fibromyalgia | Weight gain - despite lots of exercise and low fat diet | 20mg at night helped remarkably with my sleep problems, but no real impact on pain from FMS. I'm stopping it as problems from weight gain outweigh benefits | F | 44 | 1 years | 8/7/2007 | 3 | nerve pain | not sure really, but it made me sleepy in the beguining. | I like to stop but worry about not sleepig. i have done it in the past and i only go back to it so i can have a better night sleep | F | 48 | 1 years | 8/2/2007 | 3 | Nerve damage/constant nerve pain | Depression, weight gain, elevated heart rate, extreme dizziness. | This medication has worked best on actually reducing (and nearly, for much of the day, eliminating) the constant pain that I have had for almost two years now. It works, but I cannot cope with the side effects. I have been taking 10 mgs a night for one week, but I have just stopped taking this pill and resumed taking Lyrica. I want to take the Elavil, as it gives me relief. The side effects, however, take too much away. On Elavil, I don't want to do anything. I feel unbelievably sad. Near despair, at times. I can't stop snacking on candy, sugary cereal, ice cream, chips, popcorn, and so forth. In fact, "regular" food appeals to me not at all. The dizziness is embarrassing. My heart rate has been shooting up to 107, even when I am just sitting in a chair trying to deep breathe. I really have mixed feelins about this 'broad spectrum" medicine. It has worked on me better than Morontin-Neurontin. But in the end, I will risk the emotional rollercoaster of not wel | F | 39 | | 7/31/2007 | 2 | Interstitial Cystitis and IBS | Weight Gain | I began taking Amitriptyline (Elavil) about 3 or 4 months ago, and my Dr. increased my dose up to 50 mg. per day. It was supposed to help with both my interstitial cystitis and possibly my irritable Bowel syndrome. The first thing is that it didn't help with either one of these, and secondly it has caused me to put on close to 20 pounds in such a short period of time. I'm a short person with curves so i always weigh in at the upper limits of what's healthy for my size, but to add on as much weight as i've added, has made me feel uncomfortable in my own body and unhealthy. My doctor has had me gradually decreasing my dosage over the past 3 weeks and as of tomorrow i will be off it completely. I would seriously recommend looking into this medication as much as possible before taking it as a lot of people have experienced this same weight gain problem and there are other medications to try. I wish everyone the best! | F | 27 | 4 months | 7/31/2007 | 2 | insomnis, nerve pain in leg | EXTREME fatigue!! Dry eye's, brain fog on 25 mg. | This took a couple hours to kick in (took at 8pm), but then knocked me out pretty hard. I slept pretty good---was very groggy, but still tossed a little. Next day I had a very hard time getting out of bed at 8:30 am. I was extremely tired, groggy and v weak all day long. I couldnt do anything. A worthless day. I took 25 mg. whcih my dr. said was a low dose. Reading other posts, it doesnt seem that low of a dose. It did help with my pain, though. But not worth the other side effects. I dont think I will continue. Plus, I was told it doesn't make you gain weight...I see that is not true, either. Is there anything that doesnt cause weight gain?? | F | 39 | 1 days | 7/26/2007 | 1 | fibromyalgia | weight gain!!!!!!!!!!!! | taking 25mg - helps sleep but the weight gain was very fast and made me uncomfortable, I did some on line investigation and talked it over with several medical persons, and my own Dr and was switched to Wellbutrin time released. Works the same as Elavil except for the "sleeping" issue. I now take "Gaba" which is a over the counter purchase at a health food store, at night which helps the sleep and the pain..... will have to see if the weight will come off ...... will keep you posted | F | 53 | 2 years | 7/25/2007 | 5 | IBS/gastritis | NONE | Great drug for not worrying/pondering small issues. | M | 33 | 5 years | 7/23/2007 | 5 | depression, self-harm | Dry mouth etc went away after a few weeks. Extreme drowsiness again reduced to more manageable levels (and the benefit of being able to sleep was good.) At night after taking it, blurred vision. Occasionally dizziness/nausea on waking (especially if rising early after a late bedtime dose.) Some memory problems. | It helped a LOT. 150mg got me from being a depressive sludge and a danger to self back to some kind of normality. This was after SSRIs hadn't helped, and Venlafaxine had but not for long. | F | 26 | 4 years | 7/21/2007 | 1 | Chronic joint pain | Nightmares, hallucinations, zombie like. Took 75mg 2 days ago and can barely sit up. Major DRY MOUTH. Confused, scared. How long does this last? I poured out my prescription. Never again will I take this! | M | 48 | 1 days | 7/20/2007 | 4 | chronic abdominal pain | For the first few days of taking the medicine I felt a bit groggy and slurred the next morning. But due to my chronic pain, I had not been sleeping well, so it helped in that area. I was initially on 10 mg for 3 months and have been on 25 mg for about a year. I have gained 30 lbs and tried everything to lose it! Diet, exercise, you name it--I'm doing it. I'm a NP and still didn't realize the amount of weight gain this drug could cause. Also, my heart rate randomly goes up to about 150 while at rest for no reason. | Anyone with cardiovascular problems or weight issues should strongly consider if they want to use this medicine. After the weight gain and heart issues, I will definitely use extreme caution before recommending this drug to anyone. The initial reason that I took the medicine was for the chronic abdominal pain which was linked to my IBS, but further testing and surgery showed that I also had endometriosis. Am on medicine to treat the endometriosis and seriously considering stopping the elavil--But a bit afraid to do so. | F | 26 | 15 months | 7/18/2007 | 4 | migraines, insomia | WEIGHT GAIN, anxiety, constant thirst | The elavil helped with the migraines. It also started to help with the insomnia. Within 2 hours, I was asleep. But, since taking the medication, my appetite is has gotten out of control. I am eating like I am eating for about 3 people. On top of that, I never feel full. I just keep wanting more. | F | 32 | 1.5 months | 7/13/2007 | 3 | insomnia, chronic pain | weight gain, stupor the first 3-4 days I started taking it... I couldn't go to work. I slept non stop. Unfortunately, my doctor did not tell me about this side effect and I thought I was coming down with something horrible but that went away. | I took the medicine for 3 months which is what my doctor wanted me to do. No more, no less. She thought that would knock me out of my insomnia cycle. I was definitely able to fall asleep and sleep through the nights starting from about the second or third week. I also appeared to have fewer/less intense migraines/It also helped alleviate the sever cramps that I get with endometriosis. This was an added bonus. I haven't had pain free periods in almost 15 years. I stopped taking Elavil about two weeks ago without weaning off of it. The worst side effect that I had was a migraine for 3 solid days. I didn't realize that it was attributed to that until after my migraine and I looked back on it. I wish my dr had told me to wean off of it. I also have experienced insomnia every night since stopping except when taking Ambien. I am going to seek another alternative even though this did work well for the amount of time that I was on it. I gained 10-11 lbs in a short 3 months. This | F | 29 | 90 days | 7/12/2007 | 4 | migraines, trouble falling asleep | constant dry mouth, slight memory loss, lack of energy and desire, destroyed sex drive, hair loss, sudden sweating, vivid dreams | Elavil DID definately cure my migraines. I went from daily migraines, to 1 (that needs migraine med. treatment) every 3 - 6 months. No troubles falling asleep on it either. However, I find I need 12-13 hours of sleep before I can willingly get out of bed. And forget sleeping if you forget it take it! I have been on 100mg for about 2 years and have only recently started to have the more bothersome side effects. ie, sweating and hair loss. I am paranoid about coming off of it for fear of my migraines returning, however I certainly don't want to end up bald at 23! Rock/hard place. | F | 22 | 3 years | 7/8/2007 | 1 | Irritable Bowel Syndrome/ Gastritis | Began taking this medication-10 mg.- in 2005 for what was diagnosed as irritable bowel syndrome/ gastritis with symptoms of frequent nausea and diarrhea/ loose stool. Have lately been wondering why so many things seem "off" with me, and have been for a long time. Can practically sleep the day away when off from work. Feel lifeless and like a zombie when at work, home, etc. Feel no interest in anything anymore-even things that highly interest me. Feel sad most of time, like life has no meaning. Practically am in a RAGE when anything doesn't go my way. Am extremely and uncomfortably hot often, feel like heart is going to come through chest, tingling feeling in arms, pain in hands, and headaches almost daily. Found this site and read everyone else's comments and am wondering if this is a demon medicine. Going to look into it aggressively and SOON!! | I would proceed with major caution in using this medication, ask lots of questions to your doctor, and do lots of research on it yourself, because there are things that I am only finding out now, by reading other people's experiences. | F | 40 | 2 years | 7/7/2007 | 4 | Headaches | Bad GERD, tiredness, low sex drive | I started taking Elavil a year ago for chronic tension headaches, which begin in the back of my neck. I was averaging 1 - 2 headaches a week, lasting 1 - 2 days, and my quality of life really declined. Also, the meds I took for them (Fiorcet)were creating stomach problems. I saw a neurologist who suggested I take 10 mg, and gradually move up to 20 mg of Elavil. However, I could barely walk around on 10 mg. I read here that someone else tried much smaller doses with some success, and wound up taking 2.5 mg a day(!), with decent results. I still had headaches occasionally but much less often and for shorter duration than previously. Also, it was unexpectedly helpful with several other problems, including insomnia, periodic diarhea and urinary continence. I was less depressed and anxious on it, though frankly fairly numb, (I didn't cry for a year, but I can't say I felt great, - kind of 'out of it'). However, a seemingly minor side effect, mentioned in the warnings was gastric re | F | 50 | 1 years | 6/28/2007 | 4 | nerve pain in back of my legs | The benefits of this drug are great but the weight gain is fast and hard to get rid of. It feels like your whole body swells with it. I have gained 10 lbs and can't drop despite increased exercise and reduced food intake. I am on only 20mg and think I will drop to 10mg to see if this is somehow dosage related with me. Much as I like the relief, and the great sleep, I too find the weight gain distressing and may go off. This would be almost a perfect drug if they could get the weight gain side effect under control. | F | 55 | 7 months | 6/26/2007 | 5 | to control chronic diarrhea/IBS | It took me about a month to work up to 75 mgs a night. During that adjustment period I was sleeping 10 to 12 hours a day...UNHEARD of for me, as I was getting by on about 6 hours of sleep a night. I felt very groggy in the morning and it was difficult to open my eyes. At times I felt like someone was trying to hold my lids together..very creepy. I've also had very intense, very vivd dreams, although not really nightmares. There's sort of a blur between what I dreamt and what is real. I've also been gaining weight, about 6 lbs. in 3 months, and I CRAVE carbs!! I can sit and eat a pretty good sized meal, and feel hungry again 15 minutes later. I'm being very careful about eating lots of protein and staying away from junk food. All my clothes are getting too tight and my breasts have gotten bigger...not very comfortable. | After 25 years of tests and no answers as to why I had constant diarrhea and weight loss, I finally can travel and enjoy my life!! It has totally controlled my diarrhea and the side effects are absolutely worth it. Dry mouth went away after about a month. | F | 55 | 3 days | 6/12/2007 | 5 | Fatigue 10 mg | initial side effects? dry mouth and deep sleep. Extreme decrease in hot flashes!! and anxious heart palpitations | I wrote previously (see "Fatigue 10 mg" below). I have now been on this dose for 3 months. In addition to eliminating my fatigue it has the beneficial side effects of extremely decreasing menopausal hot flashes and anxious heart palpitations. The dry mouth left after a few weeks and it no longer konks me out at night. I feel great every day even at this very miniscule dosage. For fatigue, it's fantastic and the side benefits are wonderful. | F | 48 | 3 months | 6/12/2007 | 4 | Insomnia | I have an terrible craving for chocolate. I've noticed that since taking this medication that my blood pressure has INCREASED. | I have read over the different side effects that others have noted but I didn't notice anyone mentioning an increase in blood pressure. Has that happened to anyone? Please let me know. I've asked the doctors but they said No. I've been on this medicine for about 16 months now. | F | 43 | 16 months | 6/12/2007 |