Faye Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I take nortriptyline 20mg for my GI spasms, they were pretty debilitating...was wondering if anyone has any experience with this med...it has for sure helped to calm them and now even when they break thru for the most part they are manageable. But has anyone had any negative experience with this and if so what? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvie33 Posted December 21, 2015 Report Share Posted December 21, 2015 I take just 10 mg./day. Read history below and you will see why. Yet, it knocked out my afternoon adrenaline/anxiety surge and I am sure it contributed to beating back the worst episode of depression in my life (with onset of dysautonomic symptoms this past April). Negatives: palpably increases my tachycardia and SOB when I take it in the morning. I was told it would help with insomnia, yet it worsened it (so I don't take it at night). Also further dries my eyes and mouth, (anticholinergic effects). Decreased it from 20 mg for these reasons. Neuropathic pain increased when I did. It also helped me with bladder emptying before I lowered the dose...Go figure.Yet, as many of us know here, we might react to meds in highly unpredictable ways (look at my history ...iatrogenic dysautonomia....I'm scared of everything). But you are also on a low dose...If it is working for you, that's great. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Faye Posted December 22, 2015 Author Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 I had read that it could cause higher heart rate and some facial twitches, I am not sure what to a mkame of it. I have had 2 cardiologist, primary, and GI dr say the dose is so low....Since being off the beta blocker for past 5 days it almost seems like the high rate is almost the same as my bad day on it...I do wonder tho if that has been making more emotional in the past I did not do well on antidepressants, if anything they made it worse. I have actually done better with anti anxiety meds....I would say for sure it has helped a little with sleep and empty bladder, side benefits not accounted for... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sylvie33 Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 Hi Faye,Yes, you are weighing it out here. This is good! Here I am on a SSRI again, with my history. The bottom line for me is that I needed some sort of medical intervention after 6+ months of suffering. I do not feel comfortable with nortriptyline, but I see real improvement. As noted, I halved my dose last week, but will not titrate further yet.You have experienced improvement too. It also appears you don't have side effects other than feeling a bit "emotional." If you are uneasy, consider going on 10mg. See what happens.... it may be a high enough dose for the spasms and low enough to reassure you.I've made all my changes with my doctor....It's not a "clean" drug, but it does seem efficacious at a low dose, which was not true of newer SSRIs for me. Also a bonus that it helps you sleep! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
statesof Posted December 22, 2015 Report Share Posted December 22, 2015 I am currently on amitriptyline which is pretty similar, just an older version, but I did try nortriptyline at one point for migraines. On nortriptyline it seemed to cause me some chest pressure (this was before doctors knew about my POTS), but I think it was from upping the dose too quickly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ksibert676 Posted January 17, 2016 Report Share Posted January 17, 2016 Gave me terrible tachycardia, my cardio told me to stay away from that class of drug due to POTS/tachy. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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