Shoulditakethis: Should I take nortriptyline HCL (pamelor)?

[Shoulditakethis]

Hey everyone. I'm not sure if I'm the right place to ask this but I thought I would give it a shot.

 

So apparently I just got diagnosed with a chronic migraine that was triggered by the irritation of the occipital nerve (I think) from a concussion.

 

I was prescribed nortriptyline HCL, 10 mg once a day to treat this condition. Ironically I do suffer from depression and OCD but this was not prescribed with that in mind.

 

I'm freaking out about the potential side effects of this just to treat a chronic migraine. He said it could take up to 4 months to finally get off the stuff.....4 MONTHS?!

 

I'm afraid that it's going to make me go insane or something.

 

Do you think I can take this dose of it? Apparently this is a very low dose.

[tgirl]

Hello Should,

What ever you do, DO NOT TAKE IT!

Read a few of the stories on here!

Do more research on line!

It's not worth it.

Look for other ways to treat your pain.

please don't do it!

[Petunia]

Welcome Should,

As this is a support site for people withdrawing from antidepressants, its unlikely you will get any encouragement for starting to take one. Most people here are suffering badly trying to get off these kinds of drugs.

 

Here is some information about how to safely taper from what you have been prescribed, if you do decide to take it and ever want to stop.

 

Tips for tapering off nortriptyline

 

My advice is to explore every other possible option for treating your migraine before going down the psyche drug route. I'd highly recommend reading Anatomy of an Epidemic by Robert Whitaker. Psych meds can cause harmful side effects and long term, they can worsen health, increasing the risk of other illnesses. In my opinion they  should only be used for short times and very cautiously, if at all.

[Shoulditakethis]

Thanks for the advice everyone. My gut tells me not to take this stuff but my neurologist said the other option is some weird injection that doesn't sound too fun either.

 

Honestly I would rather live with a migraine for the rest of my life than deal with several months of anti-depressants. I'm going to try and evaluate all of my options.

 

It does kind of suck having a weird chronic migraine triggered by nerve irritation/damage however.  

 

Would such a low dose make it safer for me? He said that the dose for depression is 100 mg per day and I would be at 10 mg per day.

[tgirl]

Do not do it!

It will only compound the problem.

 

Try and deal with it another way. A non drug way!

These drugs can effect you, Even at a low dose!

 

 

Try other doctors to get to the source of the problem.

These drugs have long lasting effects.

Did you read some of the stories on here?

 

I am not a doctor.

Tgirl

[Shoulditakethis]

Do not do it!

It will only compound the problem.

 

Try and deal with it another way. A non drug way!

These drugs can effect you, Even at a low dose!

 

 

Try other doctors to get to the source of the problem.

These drugs have long lasting effects.

Did you read some of the stories on here?

 

I am not a doctor.

Tgirl

 

Unfortunately I did read a pretty comprehensive list of the side effects. They scare me. A lot. Something more ironic is that my weird perpetual migraine has given me brain zaps, one of my most alarming symptoms (until I found out that they weren't harmful).

 

What do you know it....withdrawal gives you brain zaps...Good grief haah

[Altostrata]

Welcome, Should.

 

No one can predict what the nortripyline will do for you. If you take it for more than a month and decide to go off, it will require tapering to avoid withdrawal symptoms. The tapering will take much longer than your doctor thinks it will -- very few doctors know anything about coming off these drugs.

 

You might look into other options for treating migraine. Only two options does not sound right. You need to see other doctors for more opinions.

 

See our topics in the Symptoms and Self-care forum  http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/forum/8-symptoms-and-self-care/about brain zaps.

 

Also, many people do better with fish oil and magnesium supplements, see
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/36-king-of-supplements-omega-3-fatty-acids-fish-oil/
http://survivingantidepressants.org/index.php?/topic/1300-magnesium-natures-calcium-channel-blocker/
 

[chicken]

Should,

I would try to find a natural way to take care of your pain if possible.

 

I'm tapering Pamelor now with no problems but if you look for a thread on here by "Wiggleit" you will see the worst side of Pamelor. Dry mouth was my worst side effect at 10mg and above, caused me have five cavities and had to get them filled. The bad part is I take good care of my teeth so five cavities ticked me off. My dentist said the dry mouth was definitely the cause.

 

It is true that the low doses will stop pain. During my taper I got food poisoning and and the Pamelor knocked the pain out about 30 mins after taking it. But still, I would not have taken this myself but this med was just used a bridge from another AD gone horribly wrong.

 

Avoid meds if you can. They should only be used as an absolute last resort, if that.