Hi all,
I’ve been slowly getting off all 4 drugs that I started when the vertigo was it its worst. I’m now down to just .125mg klonopin (1/4 tab) and 10mg Amitriptyline. (Plus some trazadone for sleeping which I have always taken.) Has anyone successfully come off the Ami? How long does it take to notice any negative consequences? The klonopin withdrawal is immediate but I’m not sure how the Ami works. I was only on 15mg but I want to be super careful. Thanks for any insights or advice!
Super easy. No issues. That’s a minuscule dose of Ami.
Usual rule of thumb is just to down by 10mg a month.
I’ve gone up and down by 10mg in two days before with no ill effects.
I tried to come off 10mg amitriptyline about a year ago and really struggled, my symptoms worsened very quickly. I was back on it within a couple of months and have been taking it ever since. I’d really like to be medication free but it seems to be keeping me stable enough (along with some diet changes and supplements) so I think I’m stuck with it for a while yet. Which is fine! I’d be interested to hear how you get on as am keen to try again at some point. I suspect I wasn’t stable enough when I tried before as I had the same experience when I weaned off Betahistine. First time was awful and I ended up back on them, second time 6 months later was absolutely fine. The fact that you’ve managed to reduce other meds is a real positive!
I’m staying on 10 for a while. I’m definitely feeling a bit more “off” than usual, but to me it seems worth it if I can get my weight back in line. The weight is having consequences (hypertension) that adds to other issues. But off the klonopin is nice. I have A LOT more feelings (good and bad) which is a plus. No one really understands my “microdoses.” They are the same to me as other people’s “standard doses.”
My point was if you are having difficulty coming off of 10mg of Amitriptyline it’s unlikely to be the Amitriptyline and more likely the MAV itself. Perhaps you simply aren’t well enough yet?
When I came off I knew I was getting better and just braved the last of the symptoms, med free. The gamble paid off.
Well I’m feeling rather dizzy tonight after too much TV. But I wonder if it’s also a little less Ami.
Can one really be affected by 5mg less of Amitriptyline??? And if so, I still want to know if it’s tight away or takes 3 weeks to be effective (or withdrawal)? Anyone know?
Of course you could. People accustomed to it can react to an increase of 5mg so why not? A sensitive digestive/vestibular system maybe or even just some psychological affect.
Timescale? Not a clue. Guess anything from a few hours on?
Yep, I’ve successfully come off Paxil and Amitriptyline (tapered both). Amitriptyline was easy for me compared to Paxil. I think most people will have an easier time with Ami as compared to SSRIs (but not all). I suggest tapering by taking your 10mg every 3 out of 4 days for a month, then every other day for a month, then 1 out of 4 days, etc… The point is to taper very slow if you can afford the long taper. This is how I went off Amitriptyline and Paxil successfully.
Hello everyone,
I know that this is an old thread but I have been having severe withdrawal symptoms from stopping Amitripyline 10 mg cold turkey after 2 weeks of use, and I know that it is a very low dose used for a trivial amount of time but I have been having the same symptoms I had when I was coming off Cipralex and Misol / Remeron, had anyone had the same experience?
Sounds less like “cold turkey” and more like the lack of Amitriptyline is causing your symptoms to re-appear?
10mg is absolutely tiny (but can be a really helpful dose for some - I did really much better on just 20mg).
Isnt it funny how individual drugs affect us so differently, I took both Ami and Nortriptyline for MAV and didn’t get on with either, I got daily headaches, fast heartrate and felt very jittery. I was on 30mg of Nortriptyline and just stopped cold turkey and had no ill effects. I did feel almost immediately better not taking it.
Clonazepam is prescribed for me but I’m only allowed 14 a month as I’m on Venlafaxine, so I can take it alternate days if I wish but I am trying to avoid using it and again dont seem to have suffered any withdrawal symptoms, and yet I’ve always been very drug sensitive.
On balance I was better on Amitriptyline for a good while (it eliminated devastating 14 hour migraines)
However I can also atest to feeling better dropping it 1 and a half years later: I felt brighter and the slow bowel stopped.
Actually, my main symptom is not Vertigo (although two doctors thought so, I am a 27 year old male with a rich history of medication, I used a lot of different medications in the past, I was prescribed amitripyline because of a neuralgia kind of pain on my chest (costochondritis, postherpetic neuralgia)
My main symptoms mimic that of my previous SSRI withdrawals and that is ehy I suspect that Amitripyline is the culprit, before then I had no such symptom such as, headache on the temples/side of my head, vision problems(feels like my eyes are gojng backwards inside my skull without control), feeling like I will pass out, brain zaps,
It is the pain that returned but I would much prefer having to endure it or find alternatives for it’s management than having to use an antidepressant and risking such frightful symptoms
That’s rarely anyone’s main symptom.
Usually it is dizziness, nausea, imbalance and migraines.
Vertigo attacks are more episodic.
I’m really thinking of returning to it as it has been 2 months since I last took one and am still having these symptoms, I read somewhere that the symptoms of withdrawal subside within 24 hojrs of retaking the drug, I really thought 2 weeks of use would not have such dramatic withdrawal symptoms.
Same thing happened when I was coming off cipralex (Essitalopram) I was only taking 10 mgs, took them for 7 8 months before I stopped taking the meds and I had crushing withdrawal symptoms, the doctors did not think it was it but after a few months, I was free of them
I’d be very surprised if that’s down coming off of 10mg of Amitriptyline. Sounds more like your underlying condition fluctuating to me.
I tried betahistine for around 15 20 days but it did nothing to improve my condition, my symptoms restarted yesterday, they were gone for around a week, I went to the heater and had an ache in my right ear (I still have it today, it is an intermittent kind of pain) the symptoms came back yesterday night, could that be related?
Ear pain is definitely one of the symptoms of MAV/VM.
I get intermittent pain in my ears, so can agree with this. Sometimes it only lasts for a few minutes but its unpleasant nonetheless. Also ear fullness.
I think this the only symptom (of a massive, depressingly long list for VM/MAV 
!) I’ve never had. But it is very common too!