Nortriptyline

[billanschell]

Just wanted to let fellow chronic pain sufferers know that I'm finding nortriptyline to be somewhat helpful in combination with gabapentin (neurontin). Nortriptyline was originally an anti-depressant, but is now used mainly, in lower dosages, for treating chronic pain. I get quite a few side effects from it; the worst is ringing in my ears, which doesn't work well with my career (music). But I've decided that for now, at least, it's worth the trade-off. If, like me, you've previously been prescribed Cymbalta and had no luck with it, don't write off anti-depressants altogether.

[billanschell]

Update: Eight months later, Nortriptylene seemed to be doing very little for me. I just weaned myself off of it, and immediately lost nine pounds. It must have slowed my metabolism a lot. Unfortunately, the downside is that now I'm having trouble sleeping; hopefully just a transitional problem. There's a little more pain now, but I've decided the Nortriptyline doesn't help enough to justify the side effects (though the ear-ringing, it turns out, is tinnitus).

[shindig]

Nortriptyline has been the best for me with "atypical" neuropathic pain.

I take 10mg oxycodone, 1200mg/day of oxcarbazapine + 100mg nortriptyline + 60mg cymbalta daily. I take 50mg of nortriptyline in the morning and at night, because taking it all at once didn't work as well. Before I added cymbalta I was at 150mg but it was causing my muscles to jerk constantly.

I was on 800mg 3x daily of neurontin first but it didn't work for me. It only worked while I was adjusting to it for about a week before fading in effectiveness. It made me a zombie as well. I switched to Nortriptyline + Oxcarbazapine which was way more effective but have had to consistently up the dose over the past year and now I'm at the limit.

The opiates don't even touch this pain, I was ready to die to escape it before I got on my current cocktail and it took a 14 months to get it under control. I hate the idea of anti depressants but it's been the only thing to help with the neuralgia pains for some reason.

Also my arm and side of my ribcage go through periods of being numb completely to a really bad oversensitive burning tickle feeling that makes you squirm. But then when I took the nortriptyline it came back to normal. Still trying to figure out why.

[funnywalk]

I guess nortriptyline is the same as Amitriptyline, which I've just started on. Only 25 mg and I dont want to add anything else to that dose, which makes me sleep like a baby and feel mellow most of the time. It hasnt changed the neuropathy, but like all the other things I've tried [alcohol, codeine and tramadol] it makes me not care about it. If I think it's getting to be a habit I will go back to codeine or tramadol which both give me sweet dreams.