Fibromyalgia Support Group

Hi, to tell you the truth, I have never heard that amitriptyline helps pain. I was on it so I could sleep at night. It's an anti depressant if I'm correct. Cold feet I've got that. Can't get them warm. Have you been checked out for Raynauds Disease.
Hugs Nancy

i have been checked for raynauds thanks for asking. i am assured that amitriptyline are supposed to help with fibro pain as the med affects the messages from brain to nerve endings !

Hi, it is funny that I saw this post just now. It was the frist thing I saw when I logged on. Reason being, is that last night was the first night I took the same thing.

My doc wanted to try it yesterday at my appt. so I took it for the first time last night and then could not sleep. i took it at 830 pm and I think I slept finally between 5 am and 7 am. 2 whole hours!! yay! (sarcasm)

The way my doc is hoping is that the antidepressant will help me sleep better. The "right" kind of sleep, so my body can handle my pain better. But that didnt work. I called this morning to tell him it did the opposite, and he asked that I please keep trying for the next few days and call him friday. Then we will see I guess.

He is hoping that it will start to work if I give it a chance to get into my system. I'm not seeing it, but I will try like he asks. He is a sweet heart and I know this trial and eror thing isnt his fault. It is just what it takes.

I want there to be a magical pill that will fix us. You know, we put a man on the moon, but they cant help FM. weird and sad! I dont think my doctor will make me wait 3 months like you. Geez, I hope not. Let me know how it goes, Theresa

Hi, I have been on amitriptyline for about 10 years. I used to take awful muscle spasms in my back, legs & feet. I find that it does help, I don't have half as many spasms. And it does help me with sleep sometimes but now that I have been on it for so long if I don't take it I don't sleep. I hate being dependant on any drugs for anything but it's better than being in pain from the muscles spasm. But I will warn you, it does make you gain weight. I've decided that it helps me enough to take it despite the side effects. I wish you the best with finding something to help you with your pain. Have a wonderful day!
hugs Cathy

i was on it years ago for sleep but it didn't help.
they put my daughter in it for migrains for a short time. it did help with those

Hi, I have been on amitriptyline for about 10 years. I used to take awful muscle spasms in my back, legs & feet. I find that it does help, I don't have half as many spasms. And it does help me with sleep sometimes but now that I have been on it for so long if I don't take it I don't sleep. I hate being dependant on any drugs for anything but it's better than being in pain from the muscles spasm. But I will warn you, it does make you gain weight. I've decided that it helps me enough to take it despite the side effects. I wish you the best with finding something to help you with your pain. Have a wonderful day!
hugs Cathy


thanks cathy , i have no muscle spams only pain !!

I am also on amitriptyline. The way my doctor explained it to me is that people with fibro do not go into stage 4 of sleep, which is the stage that is called restorative sleep. This is when our bodies repair themselves. So, if you're not getting this healing, naturally your body is going to hurt more. And yes, it also helps with insomnia, which I had a terrible time with.

A couple of things about amitriptylene that your doctor may not have told you. Yes it's an antidepressant but the dosage they give for fibro is many times less than the therapeutic dosage for depression. It's an old tricyclic, which nobody prescribes for depression any more because of the yucky side effects, and because there are much more effective antidepressants now.

I have heard some people say it helped with pain, but it never helped me. I take it for sleep, and now can't stop taking it, because if I stop I get wall to wall migraines. I ran out for a few days and had three migraines before I could get my prescription refilled.

I wouldn't hold your breath waiting for it to help the pain - sorry. Ask your doctor about tramadol - it's a non-narcotic pain med that has helped a lot of people. I take mobic for pain as well as tramadol, and vicodin for break through pain.

I've been on amytrip for 7 years now and although some doctors say that it should work on nerve pain, I have never found that. I only take 10mg each night and it has sorted out my sleep issues, 50mg seems a large dose for this. I would look for something else to help as a pain killer and treat amytrip purely as a sleep thing. I would never be without mine, I notice a huge decrease in sleep quality without it.

I was given amitriptyline as a first medication to try. I am very sensitive to medicines so started on the 1/2 of the lowest dose. It did not help anything but when they tried to up to 10 mg I had horrible nightmares. So could not take it.

I would ask the doctor about the cold feet to make sure is not something to do with circulation.

Take care gentle hugs