Nortriptylin and Neurontin

[vickinmn]

I just want to say that I've been taking 50mg of Nortriptylin and 900mg of Neurontin daily. I started 2 months ago and I am having no adverse reactions to them. I actually enjoy the fact that I am sleeping like a log and not waking up at the crack of dawn as usual. I'm experiencing some weight gain, but cutting back on how much I'm eating has been helping. I was so afraid to take any of these drugs, because of everything I've read on here. I haven't felt a brain fog or been feeling loopy as I surely anticipated. Just wanted to state these reactions, just so others can see that not everyone has negative reactions to these things. I feel quite like myself.

[JeanieC]

Are they helping your pain as well as sleep, Vicki? If so that would be even better. I take amytriptyline 50mg which is in the same class of drugs, it has also made me sleep much better but no help with pain. I have gained weight too, but that does seem better than lying awake in pain. Actually I had been thinking about switching to nortriptyline as I had heard that one did not cause weight gain. Sound like this is wrong though. It may be that sleeping well is a cause of mild weight gain in itself. I do take percocet for pain which is a little help but not much.

I am really interested to know if this helps your pain as I have not tried this combination.

[patti]

Hi vicki,
I take Lyrica and have short term memory loss. It does help with pain though. Recently Dr. prescribed Nortriptyline in addition to Lyrica, but after one pill I stopped because it made me feel foggy and tired all day. Did the Nortriptyline cause tiredness and fog that eventually wore off after a few days? How long have you been on these meds?

Patti

[JeanieC]

Patti, Amytriplyline will definitely cause a fog if you start out at 50mg, at least it did for me and so I stopped taking it. Dr Renney gave me 10mg tablets and told me 10mg at night for the first week, 20mg second week and so on till you reach 50 mg. This is definitely the way to take it as it does not cause fuzzy brain that way and each week you sleep better than the week before.

[KC17]

I just started Amytriplyline 25mg. It hasn't affected my pain thus far, but I was told it could take a month before I started seeing results.

On a positive note: I sleep like a rock now, it's wonderful!

On a negative note: I'm so so so constipated as a result...

I'm considering a magnesium tablet daily to counter this side effect, but I'm unsure how it will work.

[calluna]

You might find Nortriptyline better than Amitriptyline, it is almost without side effects.

I asked my GP the other day why it is not the first one to try? - why do they prescribe amitriptyline first and only shift to nortriptyline if the person has probelms with the side effects. He said it is because some people do take amitriptyline without problems, and also it is 'cheap as chips'. So they try it first.