Comments | fibromyalgia: Going off tricyclic antidepressants?

lydiajen in fibromyalgia

Going off tricyclic antidepressants?

Jun 25, 2006 20:31

I'm currently taking doxepin (brand name: Sinequan). I was prescribed it for sleep and also to help with itching skin that I tend to get mostly at night.

Well I've rapidly gained weight since being on it. I noticed an increase in hunger immediately, including when I woke up to urinate in the middle of the night, I would also feel ravenously ( Read more... )

insomnia, advice, anxiety, lyrica

Comments 13

krasota June 26 2006, 01:08:54 UTC

You'll absolutely have to talk to your doctor and pharamacist. Since Doxepin made me crazy (paranoid, hallucinating, hysterical, not exactly in phase with reality), my doctors took me off of it as fast as they put me on it. I didn't have withdrawal so to speak, but I was on it for less than week. ;)

squeek_squeek June 26 2006, 01:17:30 UTC

Yikes! That doesn't sound like a very good reaction at all to a med...especially one that's supposed to help with anxiety and depression and stuff. Glad you went off it :) Though I know for some meds, you can have the opposite reaction.

krasota June 26 2006, 01:22:10 UTC

It was prescribed for sleep (fibro problems). I don't suffer from anxiety or depression or any mental issues unless I take brainmeds. I've yet to find an antidepressant that doesn't make me suicidal or raving mad.

squeek_squeek June 26 2006, 01:30:02 UTC

Oh sorry - I meant other reasons too like sleeping :) I'm on seroquel right now to help me sleep (fibro acts up ALOT in bed!!!) I've never had good experiences with antidepressants though. I tried them to help with the pain, but they usually make my blood pressure go dangerously high. No fun at all! And I remember trying another one that made me awfully sad...

funnel101 June 26 2006, 01:34:25 UTC

I had no trouble stopping the doxepin (it was dropping my blood pressure), but I was only taking 2.2 - 2.4 mgs a night. (Seriously. I'm super sensitive to it and had to get it in liquid form. The lowest dose pill, 10 mg, knocked me out for 24 hours. After 21 hours in bed, I forced myself to stay up for 3 hours.)

jadedmosaic June 26 2006, 02:34:00 UTC

125 pounds is realy kinda normal depending on yourhieght and age. The side effects should steady out after 6 weeks cause if the burning pain is beng managed that is a miricle and may be worth waiting out. The "jumps" aren't too bad cause your safe in bed when it happens. I get them for many reasons on chemo now gives me big jumps but I find them rather entertaining but I'm strange like that. I mean since I sleep alone , with my cat, who looks like your icon BTW it does not bother anyone but us both he and I get starteled for a second Good Luck but if you just started the lycra ya may wanna give it a chance the cravings will go away. Best Wishes Tiea ♥

redcountess June 26 2006, 16:39:54 UTC

I'm just tapering off another tricyclic, dosulepin - I went from 50 to 25mg and am now taking 25 mg every second day. My GP told me not to go off it cold turkey. If you taper off gradually, that should minimise any withdrawal. 150mg does seem a lot for a therapeutic (not clinical) dose.

twostepsfwd June 26 2006, 17:20:01 UTC

Getting off amitryptiline (Elavil) and nortryptiline were both HELL ON EARTH. Shaking, sweats, mood swings, anxiety, panic attacks, suicidal depression, nausea. The whole 9 yards. Awful.

So the second time I got off Elavil it took me an ENTIRE MONTH to taper from 50mg to 0. Still awful, but not quite as bad, and I started Cymbalta towards the end which helped the transition a lot.

Seratonin withdrawal is a nasty, nasty, scary thing.

lydiajen June 26 2006, 21:04:14 UTC

I'm also taking 40mgs of Cymbalta. I wonder if that will make the withdrawal less bad.

I'm seeing my psychiatrist soon too.

How much Cymbalta are you taking? and what for(depression, pain, or other)?

twostepsfwd June 26 2006, 21:12:27 UTC

60mg. For pain, but it's helped with depression more than it's helped with pain.

lydiajen June 26 2006, 21:41:58 UTC

My osteopath says that cymbalta augments the effectiveness of Lyrica...which I guess would be due to the fact that they're both used for diabetic peripheral neuropathy.

After I get off the Doxepin I might ask about my psych about going back up to 60mgs of Cymbalta. I tried that before and it gave me some tachycardia, which initially scared me because I have had surgery for supraventricular tachycardia...but this was mild compared to the SVT I had surgery for.

Some months later, my mum started Cymbalta and also had the tachycardia initially but it wore off within two weeks...so knowing it might wear off makes me more likely to give it a second shot.

I actually had pain relief at 60mgs, but not at 40...but I went on it for depression anyway...just hoping for pain relief as an added benefit.

Going off tricyclics anonymous February 23 2007, 00:00:08 UTC

I have been on amitriptyline with naprosyn for 15 years. I have never been able to stop it. The combination caused me to gain 100 lbs. I have lost 40 lbs on Atkins and have recently added Hoodia to lose the rest of the weight. It does work quite well and has no side effects that I can detect. I don't have complete pain control on the drug combination, but it is much better than it was without it.

Re: Going off tricyclics lydiajen February 23 2007, 00:19:32 UTC

I ended up dropping the doxepin, but nothing has ever worked for my anxiety better.

So you're finding hoodia works well? I've been thinking of trying that but wasn't sure if it was just a gimmick. What brand are you using?