Anyone taking tri-cyclic anti-depressants that would like to share...
#311146 - 07/13/07 05:33 PM
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LtDanFan
Reged: 12/17/03
Posts: 588
Loc: Ohio
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I have been ill for about 9 months now, other then my IBS and I was recently told by my neurologist at the Cleveland Clinic that he wanted me to try and "old" anti-depressent that is now being used for pain management and it is tri-cyclic. Is there anyone out there willing to share their success or disappointment with these types of meds, whether for IBS or depression, sometimes they go hand in hand....If you would want to share, you could e-mail me privately. I tried doing a search and came up empty handed, but I thought I had read that these types of meds are used on IBS patients, and some have an anticholanergic affect also. ANY help would be greatly appreciated.
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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I have taken Elavil (a tri-cyclic anti-depressant) before, but not for IBS. I took it for many years for migraines at 45mg a day. It helped me for many years, but eventually I realized I needed something new. Maybe I built up a tolerance to it. Later I took it again for my bladder condition (Interstitial Cystitis), for pain. It did help quite a bit, and luckily I got to the point with another med that I didn't need it any more. I was on 50mg a day.
One of the common side effects of Elavil is weight gain. I did have a little bit of this because it increaased my appetite. However, I could control it by watching what I ate. Another common side effect is sleepiness/grogginess. This is most pronounced when you first start taking it. For me, it wore off as I got used to the drug after a few days, but I still wasn't quite as "sharp" as I was when off it. This affects some people more than others.
I was taking it for my IC after I was diagnosed with IBS, but I don't think it was helping my IBS at the time. I didn't notice an increase in symptoms when I went off it. It is good for pain though, which I wasn't having at the time.
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Lisa
IBS-A, Interstitial Cystitis, Migraines
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I take it for pain & IBS management. At such a low dose (10 mg at night), it doesn't actually do anything for depression or mood -- that's what my doctor told me. She said I'd have to take at least 4 times that dose. She also said that it's not the best drug to treat depression nowadays, since there are newer and more effective meds. I haven't had any side effects except for sleepiness -- but I take it at night to help me sleep so that's a plus. I've been on it since March '06. Overall, it's really helped with IBS and nerve pain from lupus and I'm glad I started taking it. (FYI, I'm also on Buspar for anxiety and another med for lupus.)
There was a long discussion about this in the Living Room recently and there's been discussions about this in the past, so you might want to do a search. You should find a good variety of people's opinions and experiences.
Best of luck with this med!
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Maria!!Maria!!
What is the name of the one you are taking if I might ask. Thanks for the response, I did a search on the board and came up with nothing, so I will do one in the living room, Also, thanks ElanaDragon!! He has prescribed mine to help me sleep and for my pain, (not IBS pain), but I did remember a discussion about it for IBS....I'll search again!!
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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It's Elavil (amitriptyline). I also forgot to mention that the first month I started out with 5 mg a night and then I went up to 10 mg. I was really nervous when I started taking it so my doctor started me out slowly. See, I had been on tricyclics (desipramine and then imipramine) about ten years ago, but my old doctor back then started me out on too high of a dose (I think 25 mg twice a day) and all I did was sleep AND I had trouble urinating. I've had much more success and almost zero side effects with the low-dose amitriptyline.
I think the discussion on the living room board was started by LittleLisa...I commented on there also. One of the discussions was that you're probably going to still have attacks while on Elavil, but they'll be much less frequent and severe. Also, it may take a month or so before you see improvement and you may experience some mild constipation at first (but not bad if you've been D for so long!).  I think I've only had a couple of attacks in the last year (although, please note, that the lupus was also aggravating my IBS, so once I was treated for the lupus my attacks lessened). If Elavil works for you, that plus the IBS diet should really help get control over your IBS. I still can't have dairy or trigger foods, but I'm feeling so much better that I don't really care. And I'm able to try out more of the recipes in Heather's book and on the diet board.
HTH! Again, if you try this medication, I really hope it works for you!
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Thanks again!! I was given Elavil in the past to help me sleep and it made me jittery and I could not sleep at all. The med this doc wants me to try is Doxepine (adapin), he only wants me taking 10mg at bedtime, and mainly wants me taking it for my neuropathy and inability to sleep, I have not slept more then 4-5 hours straight in probably 10 years....I started it two nights ago, Thursday I could not get out of bed, finally I had to just shoot out of bed and get up and by 11 a.m. I was falling asleep sitting on my couch, however, it was not a restful sleep, I had what I call mini movies - I felt I was half awake and half asleep - and was living things and thinking I was actually doing the stuff I was dreaming?, anyway took one last night and did not sleep more then an hour at a time, restless, jittery. I know with these meds you have to give them time, but I just wish there was something out there that would help me sleep, I have tried it all!!! I had been taking 1/2 a .05mg of ativan, which is practially nothing at bedtime and I slept well for several hours and I wake up with my heart pounding and am unable to get back to a restful sleep..... I had a horrible IBS atack yesterday mid-day which is really unlike me, I usually have them late or during the night. I can say that I was very reluctant to start this medication, only because I'm tired of having to rely on a "pill" to try to make myself and my life "normal". Thanks for the reply, I may try going back on the elavil and taking it longer to see if it does help.
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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Wow! The sleep problems you describe are exactly what I was experiencing until I started the Elavil. "I was falling asleep sitting on my couch, however, it was not a restful sleep, I had what I call mini movies - I felt I was half awake and half asleep - and was living things and thinking I was actually doing the stuff I was dreaming" -- YES! This is exactly what I was experiencing! Sometimes I actually felt like I was floating around my apartment, making lunch and such, but really I was sleeping the whole time. ANd it's a series of waking up, dreaming, falling asleep, but not really sleeping...It's TERRIBLE. And you know, not sleeping well really makes my IBS worse because a bad night's sleep is stressful and leaves you more susceptible to the effects of stress. Plus, not sleeping enough seemed to make me more sensitive to pain during the day and more anxious.
I also take Ativan for panic attacks and for those nights I can't sleep. I swear the best sleep I get is when I take my 10 mg of Elavil with .5 mg of lorazepam/Ativan. Trust me, do NOT feel bad about having to take meds to live a normal life. If you need to take the lorazepam with the adapin for a while, then do so; ask your doctor if that would be okay. I only take lorazepam (.5 - 1 mg) a couple of times a month or when I'm in a situation that may cause panic (for example, flying). Remember that lorazepam only lasts 6 - 8 hrs, so if you're only taking .25 mg at bedtime, it's going to wear off and that's probably why you're waking up with a panic attack (I'm assuming that's why your heart is pounding -- that's definitely one of my symptoms of panic). I have a heart murmur that comes and goes, and so far it has not been made any worse by taking Elavil. Your heart racing could be more of an anxiety reaction than a side effect of your med.
Anyway, I really believe that it's better to take meds and be able to live life and enjoy it, then not take it and suffer. I've been on my meds for one year now and for the first time in nine years I have flown TWICE this summer, gone on a real vacation, gone to a huge concert, visited family and SURVIVED (and following the IBS guidelines during those trips). I never thought I'd fly again! And, even though, I'm not ready to be a jet-setter at least I know that I can do it and that there is something that will make me comfortable and not crazy during a flight.
A few years ago, I thought going on meds made me a weak person, but after being diagnosed with lupus and my IBS getting worse, I realized that resisting meds actually was making me a weaker, unhappier person. I really felt like I was losing myself. In the end, thanks to the inspirational people on these boards, I had to learn to be a friend to myself which meant not judging myself or setting expectations that were unnecessary or ridiculous. Life is not perfect now and I have bad days and days with attacks and days I cry and feel sorry for myself, but the majority of my days are getting to be "normal."
Sorry to go off like that, but I just want you to do what's best for you! Don't be so hard on yourself if you have to rely on meds. As someone pointed out to me: Would you be so hard on yourself if you had to take meds to manage diabetes or another chronic condition? I hope not!  Hugs! 
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Oh my, it's so nice to hear from someone who knows what you are talking about so you don't feel like such an idiot explaining it to people, who look at you like you should be in a rubber room....  Did you have the floating mini movies while taking the elavil and ativan? Mine has happened before but was really bad the first night I started the Adapin, I swor I was having a heart attack and kept getting up to get my neighbor, but hadn't left the bed....I literally had to jump out of bed to make myself get out of that sleep/dream state. I didn't like it at all. My neurologist said I could take the two meds together, but was concerned that the ativan is "addictive" and said to gradually cut it out. Now I have been using this drug since December and have not taken anymore then half of one at bedtime and it was prescribed to take 3 times a day. Have you gained any weight with the elavil? I know I need to gain some, but I dont' want to that way, I feel a lot of the weight from this type of medication is water weight, especially if a side effect is unable to urinate! I'm still taking my IBS medication which has a lot of the same side effects, dry mouth, difficulty urinating, or sweating, etc. Hmmmm, I think I still have some elavil, I may try one of those and one whole ativan, do you take them together when you can't sleep?
I too have the occasional "pity" party and cry a lot, today was one of those days and I'm not sure why, especially since this new med is supposed to be for depression also. I know I would take medication to help diabetes or hypertension if I had it but I guess since so many people look at IBS as a ridiculous problem, at times I feel they are right. I have met a few people on this board who have experienced and IBS attack like I have and now you with the sleep "mini movies" lol....it just makes me feel better I'm not losing it!! Thanks again so much for sharing, if you don't want to discuss things on the board you can always e-mail me privately!! Thanks again!!
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IBS-D, extreme pain and cramping - GERD - lactose/dairy intolerant, OCD, Fibromyalgia
DX: w/ Multiple Sclerosis 3/10
I can do all things through Christ who strenghtens me. Phil 4:13
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I love everything you say about using meds to be able to enjoy life. And I especially appreciate your thoughts about Ativan. With everything that's been going on in my life health-wise over the last year I started getting mini-anxiety attacks. My doctor prescribed Ativan but I've really dragged my feet on using it aggressively - I always feel like I "should" be able to cope without it. I'm hoping your post well help me stop being such an idiot, start taking it when I need it, and get on with things.
And I'm really glad to hear life is getting increasingly "normal" for you.
Many thanks.
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[Research tells us fourteen out of any ten individuals likes chocolate. - Sandra Boynton]
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Thanks, Sand. I definitely don't think of you as an idiot! A lot of my current success, with managing the IBS and lupus and anxiety, has to do with advice you've given me and comments you've left for others. So, really, I should be thanking you!
What I've noticed with taking the anti-anxiety medications, like Ativan, is that once I use it to experience something that used to induce panic (like going to a movie), it allows me to see that the situation is not bad or scary. Then next time I try that same experience, I won't take the Ativan and I'll remind myself that I succeeded doing this once before. Not sure if that makes sense...Basically, Ativan allowed me to return to activities I was avoiding, reintroduced me to it and showed me there wasn't anything to be afraid of. I guess that would be called exposure or something? Of course, there are things like flying and then random panic attacks I have (especially when my lupus flares, I've noticed), so I take it as needed.
Best wishes with your own Ativan-use and anxiety management! I am feeling a lot better lately, and I think part of that has to do with not beating myself up for not being "perfect" or "strong."
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