Amitriptyline Misery

Hi,
I have been depressed for 5 years, almost 6 now. My illness has been very resistant to medical treatment. I have tried a variety of antidepressants and had no results. Now I have been on 150mg of amitriptyline for half a year. It has been THE WORST medication for me. This one has made my suicidal thoughts and overall depression even worse! I can feel my mood drop significantly when I miss a dose, and tapering off this medicine has been a nightmare. I recently saw my psychiatrist yesterday. We made a plan to slow down the tapering process by going down 10mg a week. Last night was my first dose of 140mg, and I really cannot tel if it is just the natural course of my overall illness or if it is making me worse again. Or what if it's just the medicine in general? I don't know if such a small change can even cause me to feel so awful. But, yesterday was an awful day and today is extremely horrible. Help? How do I get off this medication? It has been crazy difficult for me! And how can I tell if it is the dosage problem? Or if it's just the medicine in general? :(

Thanks.

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Hi Sadie,

Sorry to hear about your horrible experience on Amitriptyline. The challenge with coming off of these types of medications after being on them for so long is that tapering too fast may cause withdrawal symptoms and tapering too slow may prolong unwanted side effects as well. Somewhere in between, there may be a sweet spot with little to no side effects. However finding the right regiment could prove to be problematic when deep down you really just want to come off of it as quickly as possible.

Re: "And how can I tell if it is the dosage problem? Or if it's just the medicine in general?"

I don't think there's any clinical way of knowing outside of your own intuition. Not to be mistaken for medical advice, my opinion would be to just get the withdrawal effects over and done with, since there's no guarantee that a slow taper won't prolong or prevent any bothersome side effects as it is...

When you're feeling down and out, exercise is a great way to rebuild endorphins and lift one's mood.

Kratom is a natural treatment option that also supports a positive outlook and is something I'd encourage you to do some research on as a means of helping you transition. Yes, it's recognized in the mainstream as aiding in opiate withdrawal, but from my own personal use, I believe it has numerous applications outside of that as well, promoting a stress-free active lifestyle.

Hope this helps!

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