Hi all,
I’ve been away for awhile (because I had been feeling quite a bit better! hooray!) but wanted to ask a question about a potential side effect I’m experiencing.
I’ve been on Nortriptyline (40 mgs) for a few months and it seemed to be helping the dizzies. I initially had some issues with dry mouth and I have gained some weight, but generally the side effects weren’t too bad. But unfortunately in the past few weeks I’ve noticed my resting heart rate is elevated–it’s running at about 80-110 beats per minute. And my heart feels like it’s practically beating out of my chest! This is not so good. Dr. Rauch confirmed that he would expect my heart rate to be 50-70 given that I run four times a week. So something is going on. I’m not sure if it’s the drug or not. I did some Googling and tachycardia, which is an elevated heart rate, is listed as a potential side effect of Nortrip. But then again, it seems like anything you can imagine is listed as a potential side effect!
Has anyone else had issues with this? I’d hate to go off of the drug and go back to my old dizzy ways. I’m especially nervous about going off of it since I’ve read some horror stories on this forum about going off of a drug that seemed to be working and later restarting that drug, but having the drug fail to work the second time around.
Badger,
I’m really sorry to hear about your side effects. I got up to 60mg of Nori – and now that I’m off of it I’m starting to realize how much it was helping. I mean not an awful lot, maybe 10-15% tops, but it was better than nothing. Anyhow, the reason I went off of it was for a few reasons – one of them being elevated heart rate. It definitely is a side effect and it definitely did that to me. How long have you been on that dose? I noticed it would go back up again everytime I increased it – and slow down an incy bit once my body got use to it. Thing is though - between being on Citalopram and Nori (Nori was def worse heart rate wise) my heart beat was in the high 80s, low 90s. And like you, I’ve been an athlete and runner most of my life. I run almost everyday to every other day and that did not help my heart rate go down. For me, any kind of heart issues/rhythms/tachycardia is not worth it. You’ll have to decide for yourself if you think it is worth it and if your doctor thinks it is safe. Nori is a drug that seems to be very helpful and has been around for a long time, people have used it and have been okay, so you should be okay staying on it.
Perhaps give it more time for your body to get use to it? I hope it works out for you! It’s so tough going through all these meds, finding something that works, but the side effects not being worth it. It’s like a lose/lose situation.
I had an elevated heart rate when I was guinea pigging Nortriptyline, and it skyrocketed with light activity, or stress. That was the side effect that I could not tolerate, and the reason I stopped taking it.
I’ve been on Nori for a few years, so far without that side effect tho I’m on 75 mG.