View Full Version : what tricyclics or anti depression meds for cp
metronycguy
05-30-2004, 07:49 PM
i have tried amitriptyline(elavil). 10 to 20 mg, very good burning pain relief. however side effects were troublesome. and pain has receded a bit , for a couple weeks have been trying 25 mg of nortriptyline, i feel better over all. less anxiety , but i cant say for certain its working well for its intended pain use, i still have most of my pain in evening and during night .
anyone try the other tricyclics or newer anti depression meds with any pain reduction as with amitriptyline
Desiprmaine is a tricyclic with allegedly fewer side effects than elavil. Perhaps it will help you, since elavil did. It might make your extremities cold.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
calico
06-02-2004, 08:24 AM
Wellbutrin slow-release, not a tricyclic, has been good for me. I think it has helped a bit with the pain, but I think it may have helped the most with my being able to think better through the pain.
Calico
metronycguy
06-02-2004, 07:08 PM
i was thinking of trying wellbutrin, i hear it doesn't cause sexual side effects and weight gain. i will ask my pain doc about desiprmaine,
the wellbutrin i may have to ask a psychiatrist for, i try and only change 1 drug at a time.
my worst complaint with the elavil is not wanting to get out of bed in the AM, and also when i try to take it early in the evening , say at 8pm , i lose concentration abilities and mental focus ability.
the nortriptyline i feel well on but still need ambien to sleep, and do not think it works as well on the pain issues.
the amitripyline i sleep fine with and works well on low doses for my pain
calico
06-03-2004, 08:56 AM
I have had no bad side-effects from Wellbutrin, though nothing is more particular to the individual than anti-depressants. I wish it weren't such a trial and error thing.
My husband took Elavil as a preventative for migraines and his doc told him not to take it in the morning because it was sedating.
My GP prescribed Wellbutrin for me after having tried nortryptaline, Elavil, Paxil and Effexor. Basically they either had no positive effects or I had side-effects from them.
Calico
Does that cold extremity business caused by desipramine go away after taking it for a while?
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
metronycguy
07-15-2004, 08:53 PM
i don't find the cold extremity to bad, my feet do get it a bit, but its been pretty warm, except at nite so far ..on 25 mg a day of desiprmaine...someone had asked awhile back about how long ot takes for the desperimine to take effect, i am not sure but i would say at least a week maybe two.. hard to say how effective it is unless i stop taking it too.
elavil i consider the benchmark for tricyclics,,definately works well on low doses for pain, except i can do without the sleeepiness the next day // as always the see saw effect.
zillazangel
07-19-2004, 08:59 AM
Amongst the newer generation antidepressants, Effexor has a very good profile in reducing pain. The higher the dose, the better the pain reduction generally, but you need to start low because of the side effects of Effexor (dry mouth, etc) of Effexor. Lilly's new antidepressant, Cymbalta, to be launched this fall, is supposed to treat pain symptoms well too.
Good luck, Zillazangel
Zillazangel, I am an able bodied significant other of a C4/5 quadriplegic man
metronycguy
07-20-2004, 09:55 PM
anyone else use effexor for the burning pain?
i have been using despiramine at 25 mg,
and now for the last couple weeks i have been awoken with pain at 2am, i usually take a ultram at 10pm, before sleep, seems as soon as the ultram wheresdown i wake up with pain, and need another ultram and now a ambien if i am going to return to sleep somewhat soon.
One of the antidpressants I tried earlier this year made my penis shrink, so the externals always blew off. I think it was Effexor.
I still have the desipramine here, but I'm not taking it, because it makes my hands and feet ice cold (actually, not my perception.) I don't know if it's a circulation problem caused by the med, so I'm afraid to go to 25 mg. or more.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
metronycguy
07-22-2004, 06:01 PM
my foot is always colder to another persons touch from the cauda equina injury .
but come to think of it i have noticed that when i go to sleep at night i always put some blankets on my feet, and when i get acupuncture i need a blanket on my feet., and its been very warm here since i have started the desiprmaine
The doc wants me to try Keppra and Desipramine together. If the desiprmaine freezes my hands off, I guess I won't be posting any more.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
Princess "Leia"
07-25-2004, 07:01 PM
[QUOTE]Originally posted by alan:
The doc wants me to try Keppra and Desipramine together. If the desiprmaine freezes my hands off, I guess I won't be posting any more.
Alan,
What is keppra and do you experiance any side effects from it? Also any other side effects from desiprmaine besides cold feet?
I am always extremely cold all the time, feet especially,even living in Florida. I hate being cold.........it hurts way too much!
Am always working on right medication for my own CP, reading, searching, hoping for something to work better. Have discovered meds stop working after awhile, don't they...
Been reading all posts in the pain forum and share with everyone the cruel, daily, torture of CP. No one else gets it but here everyone does.
Leia
Keppra is an anticonvulsant like Neurontin. I'm only at 500 mg. twice a day so far, and haven't noticed any problem side efffects yet.
At 10 mg., the only trouble with desipramine was the cold extremities. Doc said it isn't life threatening.
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
imnomis
07-26-2004, 09:45 PM
Simon takes 900 mg Neurontin four times a day for pain. He says it takes the edge off but he is still in serious pain every other day.
He tried .5 mg Klonopin/clonazepan at bedtime and it made him really confused so he stopped taking it after 11 days. After that he tried 25 mg of Elavil. He took it around 10:00 pm then slept until after 2:00 the next day and was still groggy. He decided one pill was enough of that one!
He is now trying 50 mg Trazodone HLC along with the Neurontin. We'll see what happens. He took the first one tonight.
Taking all these prescriptions is really wearing on him. He went from 1 pill a day for heartburn to 23 pills a day for various stuff. I am scared of what life is going to be like when I have to retire in 9 or 10 years. Right now we have wonderful medical coverage with our HMO. It isn't offered after retirement.
mrsnomis
(spouse of imnomis)
imnomis
07-26-2004, 09:52 PM
By the way, Simon sends me to the CareCure Web site to find out what all of you are doing for pain. Neither of us understand why some people get this numbing, burning pain and others don't.
I spend a lot of time reading what the rest of you are doing for your pain. Your posts really do help.
mrsnomis
metronycguy
07-27-2004, 06:29 AM
imnomis maybe try 10 mg of amytripiline in evening rather than 25, it may give enough relief to make it worthwhile, lot less sleepiness to at 10mg
georgeh
07-28-2004, 09:28 AM
As far as antidepressants go, I take 100mg of nortriptyline and 150 mg of Effexor every night at bedtime. I had several blood tests when I first started ramping up the nortriptyline and it actually took 150mg/day to get me in the middle of the therapeutic blood plasma level which, if memory serves me, is 50-150 ng/ml. I cut myself back to 100mg/day because I couldn't stand the extreme dry mouth the 150mg/day was causing. The dry mouth is bad now, but at least I can tolerate it I also take 1600mg (2 X 800mg)Neurontin three times a day and sometimes four times if I wake up in the middle of the night with pain. I also take 15mg of MSContin four times a day. I'm pretty much of a wheelchair zombie, but my central pain is under control most of the time. I'd say it is at levels I can bear 5 or 6 days out of 7.
metronycguy
07-29-2004, 10:08 PM
sometimes it takes a lot of meds , but sure beat being in pain!
I'm not having any results from the 25 mg. desipramine. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
Stiggy
09-19-2004, 10:31 AM
My SCI Doctor wants me to take Amitripytline 25mg at night for buzzing,burning an shock type pain.Anyone taking this for pain at night and if so,does it work and at what dose. Thanks,Matt
"The Meaning of things lies not in things themselves,but in our attitude towards them"
I take Neurontin for pain and have recently added amytripiline. I have found that the amytripiline helped with the burning but caused severe urination problems. I was able to fully empty my bladder before beginning the amytripiline, but had significantly problems after taking it. I also felt drugged out in the morning and could not get going until the middle of the day.
mike
Originally posted by imnomis:
By the way, Simon sends me to the CareCure Web site to find out what all of you are doing for pain. Neither of us understand why some people get this numbing, burning pain and others don't.
Bad freaking luck. http://sci.rutgers.edu/forum/images/smilies/frown.gif
Alan
"Was it over when the Germans bombed Pearl Harbor?"
Lainy
09-20-2004, 06:38 PM
My physiatrist had me on 3600 mg of Neurontin plus 50 mg of Amitriptyline. The pain was tolerable then, so I got off the Amitriptylin. Not because I was feeling so great, but because the crummy side effects weren't worth the little extra pain relief I got. Amitriptylin did make me sleep like a baby though and I had to go to bed pretty early so I could wake up in the morning without feeling like I needed a nap. I still sleep pretty good without it. My pain level is lowest when I'm lying down so the more sleep I get, the less I hurt the next morning - until I do too much the following day. Since falling and whamming my knee, activity causes more burning to my hands and legs than a whole pot of McDonald's coffee could do to them. Rather than put me back on Amitriptyline to get past the accelerated neuropathic pain since the fall, my GP has started me on 10 mg of Fluoxetine to start, as a boost to go with the Neurontin. Has anyone had any experience with Fluoxetine for neuropathic pain? Otherwise I guess I'll continue to take it to see if it helps. It used to be that I didn't want to take drugs because they could kill you. Then when I ended up with neuropathic pain I didn't care if the drugs could kill me. Now on some days when the burning turns to searing, I almost hope the drugs kill me. Quietly of course.