Other - Amitriptyline as a sleep aid?

[MrPhReeZ]

Has anyone ever heard or took amitriptyline? Im currently taking 40mg of this as a sleeping aid!

[thebige]

Swim was given this for a sleep aid also........from what I remember(and my long and short term memory is toast).......It seemed to work a little bit.......
But it did cause alot of side effects that were not very pleasant......like seeing faces in everyday objects that had some sort of pattern,like couch fabric.......also gave swim Parkinson's like symptoms,arm shaking uncontrolably......so.......
Swim went back to his doctor and told her to stick this stuff up her ass....
Now this stuff might work wonders for some....but not for swim.......Well good luck with it Phreez



By the way your avatar freaks me out every time I see it!....very cool

[nibble]

A slight thread revival but nonetheless.. SWIM has taken amitryptiline on a number of occasions as a sleep aid and finds it good for that purpose (Its a sleep aid due to its anticholinergic action so presumebly other anticholinirgics would have a similar sleep promoting effect.)
Anyway SWIM wouldn't use this too often as it's an SNRI and monoamine reuptake inhibtors are not something SWIM would want in his bloodstream longterm. They're far too overprescribed too, leading to dependence that can be very hard to kick.. But every now and then as a sleep aid would be fine. SWIM says a good alternative for benzodiazepines/GABAergics on stimulant comedowns.

[tyranny4u]

it's one of the older tricyclic antidepressants, works as sleeping aid, too.
tt would prefer doxepin, but that is just tts opinion, no medical advice.

[harrygoldfarp]

i was prescribed it for anxiety only a weeks course but i did sleep really well on it..

[tyranny4u]

i was prescribed it for anxiety only a weeks course but i did sleep really well on it..

hmmm...AFAIK it shows the antidepressive and anxiolytic effects after
taking it for 4 - 6 weeks? correct me, if i'm wrong with that.

[JCJC]

Helps with sleep for sure. Don't expect a knock out like with other sleeping meds, but it helps put your mind in a place where you just dont worry. That's what keeps me awake, mind racing and racing. These help that.

[pinksox]

Swimmy never cared for it much. But it seems to work for some people.

[Stimulants]

Tricyclics have a strong anticholinergic, so dry mouth with possible acceleration of cavities, loss of coordination and difficulty urinating. Amitriptyline is an interesting pharmaceutical. It's an old anti-depressant with a lot of side effects so it's not widely prescribed as the first line of treatment in developed countries, but SWIM believes it's used for many other purposes, such as neurologic pains and certain types of headaches that's unresponsive to first line treatment.



Sedating tetracyclic anti-deps have less of these symptoms Trazodone and Mirtazapine are something to consider as these have less side effects.

Whichever way SWIY choose, these medications would most likely have some sexual side effects.

[nibble]

Originally Posted by Stimulants

Tricyclics have a strong anticholinergic, so dry mouth with possible acceleration of cavities, loss of coordination and difficulty urinating. Amitriptyline is an interesting pharmaceutical. It's an old anti-depressant with a lot of side effects so it's not widely prescribed as the first line of treatment in developed countries, but SWIM believes it's used for many other purposes, such as neurologic pains and certain types of headaches that's unresponsive to first line treatment.



Sedating tetracyclic anti-deps have less of these symptoms Trazodone and Mirtazapine are something to consider as these have less side effects.

Whichever way SWIY choose, these medications would most likely have some sexual side effects.

This is true.. If someone was after purely the sedating effects then there surely exists an anticholinergic that does not have significant action on other systems? These would in theory avoid the the side effects that would be brought about by SNRI/SSRI use. I had first thought of diphenhydramine but apparently that is an SSRI too.

[Stimulants]

Originally Posted by nibble

This is true.. If someone was after purely the sedating effects then there surely exists an anticholinergic that does not have significant action on other systems? These would in theory avoid the the side effects that would be brought about by SNRI/SSRI use. I had first thought of diphenhydramine but apparently that is an SSRI too.

To SWIMs knowledge, amitriptyline is losing share as a psychiatric medication due to its very strong side effects. SWIM understands that tetracyclics have sexual side effects as well, however the anticholigenic effects are milder than tricyclics.

Someone actually conducted a research on mirtazapine (active ingredient of Remeron) used in a much lower dose for treatment of sleep disorder and apaprently was granted a patent. Imagine that. See US Patent #6933293

SWIM suspects pharmaceutical companies will sell these low dose mirtazapine under whatever new name they want to call it and sell for an outrageous price as "patented" medication.

Remeron tablets cut apart to yield these lower doses should theoretically worth though.

[halothanatos]

SWIM is prescribed 25mg a night for insomnia and has found it to be very effective for this purpose.

However, he's not too fond of waking up a zombie every morning.

[Horiz]

SWIM was prescribed these a while ago and didn't find they helped at all. He recently found them again in his cabinate and decided to give them another shot.

He tried 25mg, 50, 100 and finally 150mg last night. Absolutely zero effect, gonna bin these awful things.

[sleepwalker]

ive got it with temazepam amytriptilline to keep my head quit to think., and the temazepam for falling into sleep.

sleepwalkers wife

[zulu1690]

swim is prescribed 200mg a day amitriptyline and now swim has no chance of any sleep at all when swim runs out.when swim tries to sleep with no amitriptyline swim gets sort of bad pains in the brain that causes momentery paralysis.swim finds it difficult to explain these side effects.200mg a day is a hefty dose though it's the maximum dose in the uk swim was told by doctor.swim would advise any swimmers against any sort of prolonged use of amitriptyline.swim has od'd many times on amitriptyline when swim has no heroin and swim has had swims heart stop and swim was also in a week long coma with a 50/50 chance down to amitriptyline,baclofen and a bottle of vodka when swim lost his head a few years back.swim was told an od with amitriptyline can end with heart packing up.swim would urge caution with amitriptyline.