What are your experiences with tricyclics?

I'm going on amitriptyline soon. I don't know how to feel about it. It's worth a try, but I am apprehensive.

I have generalized anxiety disorder, major depression (not my main complaint or problem), obsessive thoughts, IBS, and attention problems.

What have been your experiences with tricyclic antidepressants?

I tried a lot of tricyclics before they came out with SSRIs. Some helped but I'm treatment resistant so it's hard to say how well the worked. I was on amitriptyline for quite a while and it worked pretty good. The worst side effects i had were constipation and dry mouth.

I've been on amitriptyline, clomipramine and imipramine. (and mirtazapine for sleep) None of them worked for depression, which was what I took them for - clomipramine did help a little for obsessive thoughts.
On clomipramine I had a very dry mouth. I didn't have other side effects.

Gayleggg, thank you for your response. I'm sorry to hear about you being treatment resistant. Were those the only side effect that bothered you?

Breadfish, thank you for your response. I am sorry to hear that they didn't take care of your main concern. (I'm guessing depression is your main concern, lol).

I was on doxepin for a while. I can say that it helped greatly with my depression and also helped me sleep. I don't think I gained any weight on it. It was a pretty good med.

I currently take amitriptyline for my IBS, and it has helped so much. If you have insomnia due to anxiety it will help with that.

It may take some time to get used to the feeling of the medication, but you will. Take it earlier in the night so that you are not physically numb, and (in my experience) nauseated in the morning.

The dry mouth isn't horrible, but is slightly annoying. Urinary retention is a nuisance, but, again, is minor.

Also, even though I have never been diagnosed with depression, about 4~ weeks and 3 days after I started taking it my mood went through the roof. I have been very happy and "alive" for about 4 or 5 months now. I've been feeling better than normal, maybe because of the IBS symptoms going away, but who knows! I have a better drive to achieve than normal.

Thank you, dillpickle1983. I'm glad the med worked for you!

AnxietyMaster, thank you for your response! It's awesome that you take it for your IBS, because that's one of the reasons why I am starting on it. At what time do you usually take yours? When side effects that are [good] occur that's always a bonus!

I can take it as late as 8:00 w/o any effect at 6:00, but I usually take it at 7:00. One thing is, once I started taking this, I do things in the morning I don't always remember. These may be as complex as going on my phone and doing things, to simply yelling at relatives. This may be an issue for you, but I just remembered that this happens.

AnxietyMaster, thank you for the tips! I had something similar happen to me on Remeron, a tetracyclic anridepressant.

Just took my first dose 25mg of amitriptyline. I will keep this thread updated.

I reacted well to the amitriptyline. A little bit of dry mouth, but nothing too severe. I didn't notice any other bothersome side effects. I'm not on any antidepressant right now, because I am going to see how well I can do without them. On the bright side, I know which ones to go back onto if I don't improve.

I reacted better to amitriptyline than I have to some second generation medications. That's a plus from me.

Amitriptyline changed my life . . . for the better. I've been on it for many years. I've tried almost everything else and nothing else helped me at all - with depression and anxiety. Doctors won't use it as a first-line med, due to side effects. But when patients are not responsive to the meds that have less problematic side effect/adverse reaction profiles, they go back to tricyclics. One pdoc has told me that no medication has ever been found to be more effective than the tricyclics. That sure was my experience, though I would go further. I found no other med to be remotely as effective.

Constipation is a bad side effect of these meds, though, for persons suffering from IBS, that can actually be a useful side effect. Dry mouth and throat is another side effect that I am willing to put up with. Another side effect is sleepiness a few hours after taking a dose, which, in my case, is very beneficial.

Give it a try. I take 50 mg each evening, which helps me a lot. More than that is too constipating and gives me a sore throat.

Dill...Good day to ye. I'm glad I found your post. I have battled chronic insomnia since 2003. Average sleep per night: 4 hrs and terribly broken. Moderate sleep apnea was diagnosed in 2010 but could not afford CPAP. After discovering I was eligible for VA and going on SSDI I got a CPAP and also went into therapy for GAD/depression. Since somnolence is almost non-existent the CPAP kept me awake even with Ambien. I found out that doxepin can be prescribed at 3 or 6 mg under the brand Silenol. Due to $200 cost VA would not cover but would at 10 mg under the generic of doxepin. Doxepin is also dosed at 25 - 150 mg as a tricyclic anti-depressant under the brand Sinequan. Studies show that low dosage doxepin is efficacious in sleep maintenance. What dosage are you taking? Are you taking other meds for depression? How many more hours are you sleeping and is it unbroken?

I refuse to take anti-psychotic/tropic meds but use about 1.5 mg Xanax a day as a situational med. It is quite helpful in removing the thoughts I consider in-
trusive. It does provide sedation at a single dose of 3/4 mg but it doesn't hit the g spot for sleep. My goal is to obtain somnolence so I can use the CPAP which should reduce the worsening depression/pain/quality of life from lack of sleep.

Hope you slept well....

I tried Amitriptyline for about 3 weeks. I stopped taking it because it made my insomnia worse. I tried taking both in PM and AM. Aside from that, it was the only med that made me feel good during the day. I'm still searching for the right med for anxiety and insomnia.

I tried Vivactil (protryptiline) about 14 years ago. I didn't take it long, because I noticed that it quickly turned me into a raging B#@(%! That was totally against my normal personality so I stopped it ASAP. That's the only one I've ever tried.

I took amitriptyline (Elavil) for sleep and pain from a craniectomy and spinal fusion for a long time and it helped somewhat with everything - the depression, difficulty sleeping and pain. I really had no significant side effects, other than it made me sleepy (which was one of the intended effects

Yes -- took for a few months following a severe head injury. It helped immensely with eating, sleeping, and depression. However, I became tolerant to the initial dose and once it was boosted up I had a full-on manic reaction (extreme rage). That was years ago.. Since I have been forbidden to take most anti-depressants as it is a telling "sign" of bipolar. Or that a drug could make me manic, thereby making it too dangerous.

Good luck with the med.