Elavil? Anyone using it to prevent migraines or other stuff?

[shortbun]

They just prescribed 25mg of Elavil for my 15yo son. He's been getting lots of long migraines and we've had to take him to the ER twice for IV painkillers.
His onset meds are not working. We haven't been able to identify triggers.

Anyway, the Elavil is making me nervous. I'm reading stuff about feeling exhausted on it and not being able to 'go without' it. Also, it's an antidepressant with possiblity of dangerous side effects in teens - suicide and depression. Also, it's apparently being used for IBS, fibromyalgia, migraines and other things causing pain.

I guess I'm looking for anecdotal information or any tips you might have. thanks.

 

[minkydog]

Christian has been on a low dose of Elavil for several months and he has had very little difficulty with it. It does tend to make him drowsy, I think, but it's hard to tell if it's the Elavil or one of the 3 seizure drugs he's also taking. One thing I really like about it is Elavil helps him go to sleep at night. Christian is prone to wonky sleep cycles and the Elavil has competely straightened that out.

 

[shortbun]

Yeah, we've got those 'wonky' sleep cycles here too. Good, I'm glad maybe he'll see some relief from that as well. He's been taking 6mg melatonin every night. Maybe we can leave that for the Elavil.

 

[minkydog]

Yeah, we've got those 'wonky' sleep cycles here too. Good, I'm glad maybe he'll see some relief from that as well. He's been taking 6mg melatonin every night. Maybe we can leave that for the Elavil.

Yeah, Christian has been taking Melatonin for years. We were able to drop it for awhile when he first started Elavil, but had to re-add it later. Oh well.

 

[vettechick99]

I don't know about that drug, but my friend who has aura migraines took Effexor to control hers and it did work. She also cut out aspartame which really cut down on their frequency. GL!

 

[shortbun]

I don't know about that drug, but my friend who has aura migraines took Effexor to control hers and it did work. She also cut out aspartame which really cut down on their frequency. GL!

Thanks vettechick99! We don't use artificial sweetners or HFCS or caffeine or chemicals on our lawn and so forth. we eat mostly organic veggies when they can be locally purchased and I freeze some or go to Whole Foods during the winter months. My son doesn't get an aura unfortunately so he has no warning when a headaches is coming. The docs think his migraines are triggered by his environmental allergies and perhaps stress.

 

[ClarabelleCowFan]

Thanks vettechick99! We don't use artificial sweetners or HFCS or caffeine or chemicals on our lawn and so forth. we eat mostly organic veggies when they can be locally purchased and I freeze some or go to Whole Foods during the winter months. My son doesn't get an aura unfortunately so he has no warning when a headaches is coming. The docs think his migraines are triggered by his environmental allergies and perhaps stress.

Hope you find something that works for your DS. I have battled migraines since I was a young teen and they have just gotten worse with age.

Please post back with your results with this medication. I haven't heard of using this one as a preventative but they are always coming up with something new.

Be sure to track his food intake and when he gets migraines. You may be surprised at some triggers out there, even natural ones. Some common ones are - artificial sweeteners, caffeine, aged cheese, red wine, dark chocolate, nuts, citrus or any food that you may be allergic to. Too much sleep, lack of sleep, too much sun, stress, hormonal changes can also cause migraines.

I have tried 2 migraine preventatives - Topamax with horrible results and am currently weaning off of Zonegran due to side effects such as severe nausea and dizziness. My Neurologist wanted to try me on Lisinopril next but I have extremely low blood pressure normally and he was worried that since that medicine is usually given to people to lower their blood pressure that it would cause me to faint.

If the Elavil doesn't work then consider the Zonegran. It stopped my daily migraines and I would love to have stayed on it if I could have tolerated the nausea.

 

[lsyorke]

Be careful with the use of Elavil in teens. Watch for changes in behavior closely. Do NOT stop elavil cold turkey if you choose to stop using it. Weight gain is also a very common side effect.
There is a black box warning for suicide from the FDA for use of this in teens..it should not be taken lightly.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

My DH has taken Elavil for the past seven years. He was first prescribed it by his neurologist for sleep deprivation/stress related headaches. He was working nights for a month, then changed to days for a month, then back to nights, etc. He had a difficult time adjusting his sleep schedule which is what was causing the headaches (lack of sleep, I mean).

The Elavil totally relieved his headaches. He was able to get the best sleep he's ever had. He was always a very light sleeper before taking the Elavil, and if I walked into the room he would awake. Now he sleeps deeply and gets plenty of rest. The side benefits to the Elavil is that DH is now the most mellow, sweetest guy in the world, and rarely has a bad moment. Elavil is a wonderful mood elevator. I truly hated for him to take any drug for this length of time, but the change in his personality is unbelievable - not that he was a grump before, but he used to be somewhat of a hot head. Now he's the sweetest man in the entire world and everyone comments on how kind and easy going he is.

The only bad side to him taking Elavil is he is lazier than he used to be, and sometimes falls asleep for a nap during the day.

 

[arminnie]

Elavil (amitriptyline) has been around for decades. I think it has been available as a generic for over 20 years. It is generally considered to pretty safe, and there are years and years of results.

My doctor is extremely conservative when it comes to medications. I rarely get more than 15-20 of an item - but she wrote me a prescription for 180 amitriptyline tablets to take as needed.

I don't think I've had any in years - but I used to have bottles and bottles of those bright pink pills. I had great insurance and used to just order any prescription that was up for refill. I was prescriped it for sleep disorders; I didn't know for years that it was an antidepressant.

As with any prescription it needs to be monitored.

 

[136368]

From crazymeds:

Pros: It's been since forever, so doctors are familiar with its uses and effects.

Cons: Generally the worst of the anticholinergic side effects of all the TCAs.

Elavil's Typical Side Effects: The anticholinergic effects typical when starting TCAs - headache, nausea, sweating, dry mouth, sleepiness or insomnia, and diarrhea or constipation and blurry vision. If you get any, or all, of these, expect them to pass in a week or two. Maybe. Weight gain and sedation are common and constant.

Elavil's Not So Common Side Effects: Urinary hesitancy (a.k.a. forgetting how to go), heart palpitations, no libido and other sexual dysfunctions. Nightmares. The urinary hesitancy is something that meds that hit your norepinephrine receptors will just do randomly through the course of treatment.

These may or may not happen to you don't, so don't be surprised one way or the other:

Elavil's Freaky Rare Side Effects: Black tongue (one of my father's rollerderby buddies used to get that from drinking too much), coma.

 

[shortbun]

Be careful with the use of Elavil in teens. Watch for changes in behavior closely. Do NOT stop elavil cold turkey if you choose to stop using it. Weight gain is also a very common side effect.
There is a black box warning for suicide from the FDA for use of this in teens..it should not be taken lightly.

I have read about this and discussed with a pediatrician, psychiatrist, neurologist and our pharmacist. I know what to look for and believe me, I'll be watching carefully. They all say that it's too low a dose to worry about that side effect. Thanks for being so caring. This was a tough issue for me to overcome.

 

[shortbun]

Be careful with the use of Elavil in teens. Watch for changes in behavior closely. Do NOT stop elavil cold turkey if you choose to stop using it. Weight gain is also a very common side effect.
There is a black box warning for suicide from the FDA for use of this in teens..it should not be taken lightly.

I have read about this and discussed with a pediatrician, psychiatrist, neurologist and our pharmacist. I know what to look for and believe me, I'll be watching carefully. They all say that it's too low a dose to worry about that side effect. Thanks for being so caring. This was a tough issue for me to overcome.

 

[lsyorke]

I have read about this and discussed with a pediatrician, psychiatrist, neurologist and our pharmacist. I know what to look for and believe me, I'll be watching carefully. They all say that it's too low a dose to worry about that side effect. Thanks for being so caring. This was a tough issue for me to overcome.

It's always better to be totally informed and now you know what to watch for. The reaction can happen at any dose, especially in a teen. I was on elavil(25mg at bedtime) for 4 weeks for a nerve injury and it did help...except I slept 18 hours a day and gained 25 pounds in that time period. I can't say that it was worth the relief.

Elavil (amitriptyline) has been around for decades. I think it has been available as a generic for over 20 years. It is generally considered to pretty safe, and there are years and years of results.

While this is true, the risks have been updated since 2004 due to many adverse reaction reports. The use of tricylics and ssri's in teens is a pretty recent phenomenon.

 

[Mommee]

i took 25 mg elavil nightly to help me sleep through pain leading up to my shoulder surgery. i gained 7 pounds in the first two weeks then the gain stopped. it really helped my sleep. it did give me dry mouth, though.

they are some of the nastiest tasting pills i've ever taken.

 

[arminnie]

I don't remember my dose - but I knew I could take 4-5 pills without an issue. I never took it all the time. I did not gain any weight.