Posted by Brainbeard on May 23, 2010, at 14:50:39
In reply to Re: Question for Linkadge (anyone can comment though), posted by tonyz on May 19, 2010, at 11:55:22
I've been on and off low doses of amitriptyline for quite a while now - have been on 25mg for the last couple of months.
Based on its pharmacological profile, it should approach the perfect antidepressant to my taste. Reality, as ever, is slightly different. As soon as I go up with the dose, I wind up with a state of being in which I can see the beauty of the world surrounding me, but it's as if I can't fully partake in it, 'cause the side-effects of the drug are bothering me too much. The sedation/brain fog depresses me, the constipation makes me worry..
Currently, I'm using amitriptyline as an add-on to my sertraline (original brand name Zoloft). Biochemically, this oughta make sense. (Countering 5HT2A-over-activation. Dr. Bob, please don't move this to 'Neurotransmitters'). One advantage of combining amitriptyline with an SSRI is that you don't have to worry about constipation anymore, while the amitriptyline gets rid of SSRI induced dhiarrhoea or loose stools too.
In my experience, the brain fog and sedation were horrible in the beginning, but if I build the dose up slowly , tolerance to these side-effects develops rather quickly. I think I should give a higher dose a fair chance. If I go up with the dose too quickly, I become very irritable.
I have combined low dose amitriptyline with low dose imipramine several times and that made for a damn fine combination. The imipramine has enough noradrenergic Kaboom! to make up for amitriptyline induced sedation and brain fog. Taken together, I do suffer from dry mouth, especially in stressful situations.
I have my amitriptyline prescribed these days, and I get them as little round ocre 25mg pills. I used to buy the Indian generic produced by Lundback before, and those pills were somewhat larger and thicker, and dirty, chocolate brown.. That seemed like the perfect colour match for this drug. It's dirty, but it's good!
Current meds: 10mg melitracene + 0.5mg flupentixol; sertraline 100mg; amitriptyline 25mg; gabapentin (Neurontin) 300mg; melatonin 0.3mg. PRN: diazepam (Valium) 2.5-5mg.
poster:Brainbeard
thread:946798
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20100514/msgs/948467.html