Side effects of Elavil/Pamelor?
#184699 - 06/08/05 11:58 AM
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Tinkerbelle
Reged: 04/17/05
Posts: 231
Loc: Los Angeles, CA
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Hello everyone!
I was perscribed some Pamelor/Nortriptaline yesterday, which is a newer version of Elavil with less side effects. I didn't take it last night because I have a really heavy period and was feeling yuk last night, and didn't want to deal with any side effects while in this state. It says on the bottle that the side effects include: dizziness, drowsiness, dry mouth, and increased sensitivity to sunlight. Have any of you experienced these side effects? They don't sound very bad, but I was just wondering what side effects you guys have had, if any.
Has anyone on these medications experienced increased hunger? I'm really hoping for that, as I can barely stomach 1000 calories a day!
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pamelor, of all the tricyclic ads, is second lowest in weight gain potential, (norpramin is the first). BUT i'd still predict you'll likely gain some weight, and that it will most definitely help your appetite, so you'll also gain that way. as long as you don't have GERD (reflux disease), pamelor is an excellent ad. it's probably the most popular tca ad with shrinks in the know. btw, pamelor is not the same as elavil, and is not close to as sedating and constipating. if memory serves, it *may* convert somehow into elavil once inside your body, but i'm not one to know the scientic explanations of the hows & whys. LOL pamelor is known to have a nice combo of calming + just enough stimulating - effect.
if i didn't have gerd, i may well have stayed on it. good luck!
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With Elavil I got drowsiness for the first week or so and dry mouth. Nothing major.
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Elavil made me incredibly sleepy for the first few weeks and, yes, I did gain weight - unfortunately in my case. Apparently the "Elavil sweet tooth" is a well-known side-effect.
It did help my D for a while, then it stopped working, so my doc upped the dose. Again, worked for a while, stopped working, upped the dose. Again - but at this point I wasn't willing to up the dose - I'd gotten to the point where I was totally lethargic, saw no particular reason to get out of bed in the morning. I went off the Elavil and started to feel more myself within a couple of weeks, although it took a couple of months for me to feel like all the effects were out of my system. Sometime after I quit the Elavil I found this Website and Heather's diet has helped enough (along with Immodium fairly often and Donnatol every once in a while) that I haven't been interested in trying another a-d.
On a more positive note, my doctor does say she's had excellent results from people with IBS-D taking Elavil (which is why she had me try it) and my reactions to meds tend to be pretty weird. None of my side effects were horrible - scary or overwhelming - and if Pamelor has even fewer side effects, I'd say it's worth a try if diet and so on aren't helping enough.
HTH.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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I was on amitryptilene (I think I mentioned it to you as a drug you could talk to your doctor about). The first two days I took it I felt very strange- like I was floating just to the right of my head. But after that I didn't have many any other side effects, it didn't make me dizzy or sleepy. I did, like I said, gain a fair bit of weight. Sand is right- it totally made crave sugar. 
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How much were you guys taking? I took 10 mg last night and I slept for 10 hours! I am so incredibly tired but I haven't even gone to the bathroom once today, so that's really exciting. But god, I don't want to be this exhausted! I also have the heaviest period of my life so that could make me tired too. Now I'm totally out of it! Ug, I don't know if this medicine is worth it, I'm so not a medicine person and I'm totally sketched out by their side effects, they just seem so unatural and weird. But hey, I guess going to the bathroom 6 times in the morning is unnatural and weird too...
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Oh ya, forgot about that one - increased hunger. I remember being hungry ALL THE TIME on Elavil. Also, I didn't notice any of the other side effects - just hunger and constipation.
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Dana
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So it makes you constipated? Wouldn't that be a negative side effect in a way? I want to be able to still go to the bathroom, just not as much as I'm going right now!
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It sounds like people haven't had the greatest experiences with them. If I took 5 mg I wonder if it would work at all? I think it worked TOO well today... or maybe it's a placebo, because it's just been a day but I haven't even gone to the bathroom yet!
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Yep I did. But it didn't do a huge amount for me IBS-wise (just a slight improvement in symptoms), and after the first couple of weeks it didn't even help me sleep.
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