TCAs and dementia

[alphalithio]

Hi everyone,

I am a 4+ year sufferer of PN, and I have been taking amitriptyline for pretty much all of that time. It has definitely helped my pain, even if it seems to mess up my memory a bit. As if we didn't have enough problems, I came across a paper in the Journal of the American Medical Society that indicates a clear link between taking anticholinergic drugs (such as amitriptyline and other TCAs) and risk for dementia in later life. The study followed over 3000 people for 10 years, and the people in the study were all at least 65 years old at the beginning of the study. I fully understand the difficult risk-reward calculations that come into play when information like this shows up, and I wish everyone the best in thinking it through. It's usually better to have more information.

I'm not an MD, so investigate for yourselves. Here's a link to the abstract of the JAMA paper: [http://archinte.jamanetwork.com/article ... id=2091745]. Googling anticholinergic drugs and dementia will bring up articles from the non-technical press.

Jim

[peaches]

Hi there
You could try switching from amytrip to Venlafaxin (this is Uk name) but it belongs to SSNRI group not TCA. It works well for me in combination with Lyrica. I take 75mg a day, at night and it a good one in the group for nerve pain. Not hear any bad reports yet about long term effects but you need to have regular blood pressure checks. Good luck

[Violet M]

Another combo you could try is cymbalta and lyrica which some people have used successfully. I guess we don't really know the long term effects of these either but they aren't TCA's.

Violet