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[Treatment] Amitriptyline
#41
RE: Amitriptyline
Sleepster back in the 90's I had headaches for 5 or so years, most likely these where a result of an injury from the past and cropped up later in life for an unknown reason?
I tried quite a few things to no avail, to cut a long story short I went and had a Bowen therapy session and that was the end of 5 years pain. I had a look and there are a number of Bowen therapists in Texas, a Chiropractor nearly crippled me and an osteopath gave me some relief but not success.
I seen what my parents did to themselves with various pharmaceuticals so you have my sympathies.
Noting that you live in Texas, where it is often quite, hot I am wondering about your hydration, do you drink plenty of water and avoid sugary drinks and artificial sweeteners?
Have you done any research on the causes of headaches and can relate anything to your problem?
eg some peoples headaches are caused because of a faulty heat exchanger in their gas heater that allows carbon dioxide and carbon monoxide to permeate through the house with the heated air, what other environmental toxins are or have you been exposed to?
It sure looks to me that you are banging your head against a brick wall with those drugs, my unqualified suggestion is to look around you for chemicals, breathed or ingested, that could be a trigger, and most definitely get a bit of maintenance done on your body, osteopathy and bowen therapy have kept me moving for years, and I see other people with same problems as me vegetating in their lounge room chairs for years because they think the magic little pills help them, don't forget the dogma of modern medical practices can also be a hindrance to your health, empower yourself with knowledge and alternatives.

sorry for the spiel but I hope it helps Okay


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#42
RE: Amitriptyline
(02-28-2014, 02:34 PM)Sleepster Wrote: Well, looking at my last post I can't believe that I said my headaches seemed to have gone away. They've come back and they've been bothering me ever since. I'm not sleeping well, either. Last week I saw a sleep doc for the first time ever and she put me on trazodone. It helps, but it doesn't keep me asleep through the night. It wears off after about 5-6 hours and then I often can't fall back asleep.

I'm seriously considering my no-amitriptyline experiment to be a failure. I'm very much tempted to start it again, but this time take only half of a 25 mg pill each night and see how that goes.

As I said before I was originally prescribed amitriptyline for headaches many years ago. Stopped for four months prior to starting CPAP therapy, then started two weeks later taking 25 mg because I was having trouble sleeping with the new CPAP machine. Anyways, after I got used to the machine I started seeing relief from the headaches that I hadn't seen in 25-30 years. It was a miracle. I thought that the miracle was caused by the CPAP machine and that OSA was the cause all along of my headaches.

Now I'm not so sure. Maybe I need CPAP therapy AND amitriptyline to tame my headaches.

My big question is this: Has anyone had any experience with this kind of thing? Is it possible that three weeks is not enough time to get over withdrawals and that if I wait longer the headaches and trouble sleeping will fade, or should I give up?

I know no one can give me definitive answers, but if you've had any experience that might be relevant, maybe you can help me figure this out.
Sleepster if you you had no problems with the small dose of Amitriptyline and it was helping your headaches and helping you sleep, I would continue to take it.
After all it is quality of life that we are after. If it helped me, I wouldn't think twice about it.
My husband was on it for fifteen years and it took him a long time to wean off, and get it out of his system. He cannot sleep without medication now as the Amitryptilyne made him dependant on a sedative at night. Not saying that's how you will be, because I was able to train myself to sleep again without any help when I came off it.
I am just trying to answer your question.
As for me, I am fairly sure I need the drug and the machine for my headaches. I have had these headaches almost daily since I was about twelve years old.

PS In fact, my husband got really ill and had a breakdown and that's why they took him off Amitriptyline and put him a lot stronger drugs for the last five years but now he is much better and coming off the stronger drugs, he has chosen to go back on to a medium dose of Amitriptyline. I was quite surprised but he said out of all the drugs they have had him on during his illness this is the one he feels most comfortable with now that he is over the worst of it.
Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#43
RE: Amitriptyline
I see my headache doc in April I think. He had said at the last visit, that if the Topomax did a good job (which it has) that we would decrease and hopefully stop the Amitrip. For me, the Topomax has worked wonders.

The daily "just because I exist" headaches are basically gone.

I've only had a handful of actual migraines since I started Topomax and they were all due to me turning my head or bending my neck.
PaulaO

Take a deep breath and count to zen.




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#44
RE: Amitriptyline
One thing I discovered during these last few weeks is that just half of a 0.5 mg klonopin will fix my headache, even when over the counter pain relievers would only put a dent in it.

After today's therapy session, reviewing my history, and noting that any sedative will reduce or remove my headache, I'm forced to conclude that these are simply tension headaches. Lack of sleep makes them worse. Behavioral therapy, exercise, and diet are going to be my only path to a possible cure.

In the meantime, at least, I'm going to need a sedative. I just have to figure out if one of them should be amitriptyline. And how much.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that last week I finally saw a real sleep doc. She put me on trazodone, 50 mg daily as needed, but said I could halve them if desired. They work ok, except that they don't keep me asleep long enough.

Does anyone have any experience taking amitriptyline on an as-needed basis? My PCP suggested that a couple years ago, but I told him I didn't think it worked that way. He didn't argue with me. Thinking-about

Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#45
RE: Amitriptyline
(02-28-2014, 10:20 PM)Sleepster Wrote: One thing I discovered during these last few weeks is that just half of a 0.5 mg klonopin will fix my headache, even when over the counter pain relievers would only put a dent in it.

After today's therapy session, reviewing my history, and noting that any sedative will reduce or remove my headache, I'm forced to conclude that these are simply tension headaches. Lack of sleep makes them worse. Behavioral therapy, exercise, and diet are going to be my only path to a possible cure.

In the meantime, at least, I'm going to need a sedative. I just have to figure out if one of them should be amitriptyline. And how much.

Oh yeah, I forgot to mention that last week I finally saw a real sleep doc. She put me on trazodone, 50 mg daily as needed, but said I could halve them if desired. They work ok, except that they don't keep me asleep long enough.

Does anyone have any experience taking amitriptyline on an as-needed basis? My PCP suggested that a couple years ago, but I told him I didn't think it worked that way. He didn't argue with me. Thinking-about
You may say 'simply tension headaches' but I am sorry to tell you Sleepster these are one of the hardest type of headaches to find a cure for.
I feel for you if you are suffering regularly and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#46
RE: Amitriptyline
(02-28-2014, 10:53 PM)Gabby Wrote: You may say 'simply tension headaches' but I am sorry to tell you Sleepster these are one of the hardest type of headaches to find a cure for.

Oh, don't I know it. But 25 mg of amitriptyline and CPAP therapy was working pretty well for me for two years, so I feel lucky to have found that relief.

Quote:I feel for you if you are suffering regularly and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

Thanks. It's something only a fellow sufferer can understand.

These headaches are nowhere near as bad as they were years ago. Before amitriptyline. Even now without amitriptyline I have headache-free days, and many days when I don't have a headache for most of the day. That never happened before CPAP therapy.

I still think that they didn't start until I developed OSA. There's no way to ever be sure of that, though.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#47
RE: Amitriptyline
(02-28-2014, 11:26 PM)Sleepster Wrote:
(02-28-2014, 10:53 PM)Gabby Wrote: You may say 'simply tension headaches' but I am sorry to tell you Sleepster these are one of the hardest type of headaches to find a cure for.

Oh, don't I know it. But 25 mg of amitriptyline and CPAP therapy was working pretty well for me for two years, so I feel lucky to have found that relief.

Quote:I feel for you if you are suffering regularly and I hope you find the answers you are looking for.

Thanks. It's something only a fellow sufferer can understand.

These headaches are nowhere near as bad as they were years ago. Before amitriptyline. Even now without amitriptyline I have headache-free days, and many days when I don't have a headache for most of the day. That never happened before CPAP therapy.

I still think that they didn't start until I developed OSA. There's no way to ever be sure of that, though.
Well that's encouraging for me thank you, knowing that maybe I have some headache free days to look forward to in the future, once CPAP therapy well and truly becomes one with my body.
I have been looking for a magic cure for these daily chronic tension headaches for well over thirty years now. The meds I take make the headaches milder than they used to be but rarely a day goes by that I do not have a headache.
Please if you ever come across something new that gives you relief I would love to hear about it.
Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#48
RE: Amitriptyline
I think the solution is work. Work to make the body healthy and work to make the mind healthy. Tensing the muscles in response to events and thoughts is a habit we acquired, it's an automatic response that everyone has, but for us it has somehow gone into overdrive.

Therapy helps us learn the causes and acquire the tools to deal with the events and thoughts that cause us stress. It's hard work. It takes courage to face those issues and hard work and practice to develop those skills so that we can realign those thought processes.

Physical exercise helps with the above, and it has the additional benefit of helping us sleep better. When we sleep better we are less stressed out and this helps ease the tension.

Both of these have worked for me in the past. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. One day at a time.
Sleepster

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.
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#49
RE: Amitriptyline
(03-01-2014, 08:39 AM)Sleepster Wrote: I think the solution is work. Work to make the body healthy and work to make the mind healthy. Tensing the muscles in response to events and thoughts is a habit we acquired, it's an automatic response that everyone has, but for us it has somehow gone into overdrive.

Therapy helps us learn the causes and acquire the tools to deal with the events and thoughts that cause us stress. It's hard work. It takes courage to face those issues and hard work and practice to develop those skills so that we can realign those thought processes.

Physical exercise helps with the above, and it has the additional benefit of helping us sleep better. When we sleep better we are less stressed out and this helps ease the tension.

Both of these have worked for me in the past. I've got a lot of work ahead of me. One day at a time.

Sleepster you are so right about the tensing of the muscles, I think every muscle in my body is wound up like a spring ready to be sprung.
I agree with you wholeheartedly about the work that needs to be done to release this tension. Sometimes our life circumstances don't make this an easy job but we can only keep trying to work at it.
Thank you for understanding, there aren't many people that do.
As you say, like many things in our life, one day at a time...
Sleep Tight...
Gabby
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#50
RE: Amitriptyline
I find it interesting that the 3 of you have had headaches for such a long time, and want to find a way to get rid of the pain, yet I briefly explained my headaches and the remedy that worked for me and none of you responded in any way to my post?

Have any of you done anything other than take pills for your headaches?

The first thing I can see is that what you all are doing is not working, why, because the drugs you are taking are only masking the problem and you will likely never rid yourselves of headaches.
Have any of you read the clinical studies on the drugs that you use? If you haven't please do so, what you will find is that they don't actually know, completely, how or why they work. What they do know is that these drugs ARE detrimental to both your physical and mental health. Your doctors know that these drugs have a masking effect and only give them to you for that purpose, why, because he/she doesn't know why you are having headaches, so how the hell can he/she help you remedy the actual problem? Painkillers should only be given to you to alleviate your pain until your body repairs itself, if it can.

Nearly ALL headaches are caused by "REFERRED PAIN" from the neck, EVEN if you have no pain in the neck.

Here is one of the many papers about this http://www.jaoa.org/content/105/4_suppl/16S.full

I have lost count of the amount of people over the years that I have suggested to go to see an osteopath and/or a bowen therapist to remedy various muscular/skeletal problems, including headaches, they mostly have had much much much more help than they ever did from a pill, and very often cured.

Please, do some reading/research and try something else, flogging a dead horse will get you all nowhere.

good luck and good health







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