ADHESIONS Messages for November, 2001: Re: Amitriptyline - helps to quiet chronic pain... and...promotes restful

Dear Helen & Colette

Yep, I couldn't do without Amitriptyline at night, it has certainly made a difference to me, sleep wise..... I still have nights were the pain is still bad .... BUT I do however have quite a few good nights sleep ... which makes a HUGE difference to how I "handle" my pain these days.

Thanks Helen for posting your experience with it, and Colette, take Helen's story, or at least the name of this drug with to the doctors on Monday... OK?

Love & warm gentle hugs

>From: "Helen Dynda"

>Reply-To: adhesions@adhesions.org

>To: Multiple recipients of list ADHESIONS

>Subject: Amitriptyline - helps to quiet chronic pain... and...promotes restful sleep!!!

>Date: Thu, 8 Nov 2001 10:23:04 -0600

>[] AMITRIPTYLINE - does help with both pain and sleep!!!

>I was prescribed Amitriptyline (generic of Elavil) in the fall of 1976. I was prescribed the lowest strength of Amitriptyline - 10mgs to start with. Then my doctor increased the strength of the Amitriptyline gradually every other week until I had reached a level, which was giving me the therapeutic help I needed.

>He also spent alot of unpaid hours counseling me. He recognized that I was in a lot of pain and also very depressed. Amitriptyline has been recognized as being a medication which is helpful for both depression and pain relief. Depression plays a big part in the sensation of chronic pain. Depression can increase the sensation of pain (so it is important to get help for the depression too). Amitriptyline is not addicting; and best of all, Amitriptyline does not cost "an arm and a leg"!!!!!

>A person's Amitriptyline level can be monitored by having periodic blood levels drawn. When I first started seeing a psychiatrist (My pain is/was not all in my head!! She happens to be a psychiatrist, who specializes in the management of pain; and because she is a medical doctor, she is able to write prescriptions for medications of all kinds.) in January 1997, she wrote a prescription for my doctor to draw a blood level of Amitriptyline. At that time I was taking 225mgs of Amitriptyline.

>As a result of that blood level test, my blood level of Amitriptyline level was 525mgs!! My Amitriptyline level was at a toxic level!!! So gradually over several weeks my psychiatrist lowered the number of milligrams I was receiving so that I am currently taking only 100mgs at night.

>She also started me on Carbemazapine (generic of Tegretol) - starting at a low level and gradually increasing over several weeks. Currently I take 200mgs in the AM and 400mgs before bedtime. As I mentioned before, my psychiatrist specializes in pain management -so she knows what she is doing.

>FOR MORE INFORMATION ABOUT MY EXPERIENCE WITH AMITRIPTYLINE:

>1.) Undiagnosed chronic pain finally diagnosed as adhesions in 1997...27 years later!

>http://www.adhesions.org/forums/ADHESIONS.0006/0220.html

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>2.) My Adhesions Quilt story

>http://www.obgyn.net/cfm/adhesionsdisplay.cfm?SortName=FirstName&ID=22

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