http://www.ei-resource.org/ 2529-478 http://www.ei-resource.org/treatment-%11-medications/antidepressants/amitriptyline/ My doctor prescribed 50 mg when I was suffering from cancer and my osteoarthritis was worsening. At that time, I was a little depressed, because I'd just found out my cancer was much worse, I was weak from chemo and the arthritis (in hip and shoulders) was becoming extremely painful. Even now, in remission, I take it each night and can almost sleep through the night (I still have to shift every couple of hours because my hip becomes too painful). However, the pain from my shoulders rarely even surfaces now. I haven't noticed any memory loss, but I would have attributed that to chemo anyway. It does give me a horrible case of dry mouth each morning. This, in a way, is good, as it's helped me increase my water intake. For a week, when my arthritis was less painful, I stopped it, and was in such severe pain in my hip and shoulders that I couldn't sleep. I really never experienced any anti-depressant qualities other than those caused by being able to sleep and lack of pain. ]]> Sat, 27 Mar 2010 12:26:21 +0000 2529-319 http://www.ei-resource.org/treatment-%11-medications/antidepressants/amitriptyline/ I used low dose amitriptyline (10mg) as a sleep aid for sleep problems associated with chronic fatigue syndrome (ME/CFS). I found it helped with getting to sleep. It basically knocked me out in a way that felt like a general anaesthetic. That would have been fine but the next day I felt extremely drowsy and wobbly on my feet and was basically unable to function. It was like I was walking around like a zombie. My memory was also affected. It could be that I was particularly sensitive but 10mg is already a low dose (much higher doses of 50mg+ are used for depression treatment) so there was little point tinkering with dosages. Not a good experience for me. In terms of medications the benzodiazepines such as diazepam/Valium help with sleep without the next day side-effects and I have also found melatonin and phosphatidylserine supplements highly effective. ]]> Tue, 16 Dec 2008 18:07:45 +0000