What is Amitriptyline ?
Amitriptyline is a drug primarily used to treat a variety of psychiatric disorders, marketed under the brand name Elavil, among others. These include major depressive and anxiety disorders, as well as attention deficit hyperactivity and bipolar disorder, which are less common.
Amitriptyline Uses
To treat mood disorders such as depression, this drug is used. It helps to boost the feelings of well-being and mood, reduce anxiety and stress, help you sleep better, and increase your energy level. This drug belongs to a class of medicines which is known as tricyclic antidepressants. It works by altering the equilibrium in the brain of certain natural chemicals (neurotransmitters such as serotonin).
How is this drug meant to be used?
Amitriptyline comes as a mouth-taking tablet. Usually, it is taken one to four times a day. Every day, take amitriptyline at approximately the same time(s). Carefully follow the instructions on the prescription label and ask your doctor or pharmacist to clarify any aspect that you do not understand. Using amitriptyline exactly as prescribed. Do not take or take more or less of it more often than recommended by your physician.
It is likely that your doctor will start you on a low dose of amitriptyline and raise your dose gradually.
Before you experience the full benefit of amitriptyline, it can take a few weeks or longer. Even if you feel well, continue to use amitriptyline. Without talking to your doctor, do not quit taking amitriptyline. You can have withdrawal symptoms such as nausea, headache, and loss of energy if you suddenly quit taking amitriptyline. It is likely your doctor will eventually reduce your dosage.
Amitriptyline hydrochloride is prescribed for
- The management of adult major depressive disorder
- The management of adult neuropathic pain
- Prophylactic treatment of adult CTTH (Chronic Tension Type Headache)
- Migraine prophylactic therapy in adults
- Treatment of nocturnal enuresis in children 6 years of age and older where organic pathology, including spina bifida and associated conditions, has been omitted and no response to all other non-drug and drug therapies, including antispasmodics and vasopressin-related drugs, has been achieved. Only a healthcare provider with experience in the treatment of chronic enuresis should prescribe this medicinal product.
Side effects
If you have any of these following serious symptoms immediately contact your doctor for further assistance. In any case, due to Amitriptyline if you get any kind of reactions in your body try avoiding it.
- Nausea and sickness
- By vomiting
- Sleeplessness
- Weakness or exhaustion
- Nightmares
- Headaches
- Constipation With
- Struggling to urinate
- Vision Blurred
- In your hands or feet, the discomfort, burning or tingling
- Alterations of sex drive or capacity
- Sweating heavily
- Shifts of weight or appetite
- Uncertainty
- Unsteadiness
It can be serious with certain side effects. Call your doctor immediately if you encounter any of the following symptoms or those described in the Essential Alert section:
- Slow or challenging speech
- Faintness or dizziness
- Weakness or numbness
- Chest Pain Crushing
- Heartbeat, rapid, pounding, or irregular
- Extreme rash or hives on the skin
- Swelling of the tongue and face
- Yellowing of the eyes or skin
- Spasms of the jaw, spine, and back muscles
- Uncontrollable shaking of a body part
- Fainting Over
- Uncommon hemorrhages or bruising
- Convulsions
- Hallucinating (seeing stuff or hearing voices)
Precautions
- Inform your doctor if you are allergic to amitriptyline or any other medications.
- Your doctor will guide you when you should not take amitriptyline.
- Inform your doctor and pharmacist which vitamins, nutritional supplements, and herbal products you are taking. surely mention any of the following: antihistamines, mental illness, cimetidine (Tagamet), diet pills (Atrovent), guanethidine (Ismelin); quinidine (Quinidex); nausea, Parkinson's disease, seizures, ulcers, or urinary problems; other antidepressants; If you have stopped taking fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem) in the last 5 weeks, inform your doctor or pharmacist. Your doctor will need to change your prescription dosage or watch you closely for side effects.
- If you have just had a heart attack, tell your doctor. You will definitely be advised by your doctor that you should not take amitriptyline.
- Tell your doctor if you drink alcohol in significant quantities and if you have or have ever had glaucoma (eye condition); swollen prostate gland (male reproductive gland); trouble urinating; seizures; overactive thyroid gland (hyperthyroidism); diabetes; schizophrenia (a psychiatric disorder that causes diabetes)
- If you are pregnant or planning for a baby, tell your doctor. Contact your doctor if you get pregnant while taking amitriptyline medicine. Do not breast-feed while amitriptyline is being taken.
- If you are 65 years old or older, speak to your doctor about the dangers and benefits of taking this drug. Amitriptyline should normally not be used by older adults because it is not as effective as other drugs that can be used to treat the same condition.
- Tell your doctor or dentist that you are taking amitriptyline if you have undergone surgery, including dental surgery.
- You should know that you may become drowsy with amitriptyline. Until you know how this drug affects you, do not drive a car or run machinery.
- Bear in mind that alcohol will add to the drowsiness this drug induces.
Note: Never share with anyone
Overdose
If overdosed, this drug can be harmful. When someone has taken an overdose some extreme signs such as passing out or respiratory problems can happen
Missed Dose
If you are using this product on a daily basis and forget a dose, take it as soon as you recall it. If it is near the next dose, don’t take the skipped dose. Using the next dose on a regular basis. Do Not double the dose to recover the missed or forgotten dose.
Interactions
Drug interactions may change the way your drugs work or increase your risk of serious side effects. This document does not include all possible drug interactions. Keep a list of all the products you use (including prescription/nonprescription drugs and herbal products) and share them with your doctor and pharmacist. Do not start, stop or change the dosage of any medicine without your doctor.
Storage
Store this medication at room temperature only and try to keep away from moisture
Do not flush the drug in the sink or dump it into the sink unless told to do. Disposal of this product is necessarily important when it has expired or is no longer required to you. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more information and guidance about how to dispose of your product.
Important information
Hold all your doctor and laboratory appointments together. In order to check your body's reaction to amitriptyline, your doctor can order certain lab tests.
Do not let the medicine be taken by someone else. If you have any questions about refilling your prescription, ask your pharmacist.
As well as any products such as minerals, vitamins, or other dietary supplements, it is essential for you to keep a written list of all the prescription and nonprescription (over-the-counter) medicines you are taking. Any time you visit a doctor or if you are admitted to a hospital, you can carry this list with you. Information to bring with you in case of emergencies is also relevant.
Interactions
Some drugs that may interact with this medicinal product include arbutamine, disulfiram, thyroid supplements, some bleeding/bruising medicinal products (including antiplatelet medicinal products such as clopidogrel, NSAIDs such as ibuprofen, 'blood thinners' such as warfarin), anticholinergic medicinal products (such as belladonna alkaloids), some high blood pressure medicinal products (drugs that work in the brain such as clonidine, guanabenz).
A significant (possibly fatal) drug interaction can be caused by taking MAO inhibitors with this medicine. During the treatment with this drug, you should necessarily stop taking MAO inhibitors ( linezolid, methylene blue, isocarboxazid, moclobemide, procarbazine, rasagiline, safinamide, selegiline,phenelzine, tranylcypromine). Also, most MAO inhibitors should not be taken for two weeks before and after this drug is treated. Tell your doctor when to start taking this drug or avoid taking it.
In addition to amitriptyline, several drugs, including amiodarone, cisapride, dofetilide, pimozide, quinidine, sotalol, macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin), among others, can affect heart rhythm (QT prolongation in the EKG). Therefore, mention all the drugs you are currently taking to your doctor or pharmacist before using amitriptyline.
Amitriptyline vs Gabapentin
Amitriptyline |
Gabapentin |
|---|---|
| Molar mass: 277.403 g/mol | Molar mass: 171.237 g/mol |
| Elavil | Neurontin |
| treat a number of mental illnesses | used to treat pains of neuropathic and partial seizures. |
| Formula: C20H23N | molecular formula of C9H17NO2 |
