Your Ultimate Guide to Gaining Weight
Taking Amitriptyline For Fibromyalgia Does It Cause Weight Gain?
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Questions & Answers on
Feb 6th, 2010 |
4 responses
I was just recently diagnosed …was wondering if this medication will cause serious weight gain. I weigh 135 and i’m 5′5 just wondering if it will cause weight gain?
Weight gain is not listed as an adverse reaction and I have never seen that side effect with any of my patients that have taken this antidepressant. Just curious….. how is this suppose to help fibromyalgia? Someone close to me has this debilitating disease and I was just curious. Hope it helps you.
Mel, amitripyline does cause the craving of carbohydrates which can lead to weight gain.
Amitripyline is used at low doses in fibromyalgia for the side effect of making you sleep.
People with fibromyalgia have problems with their sleep cycles which keep the body from completing the ATP cycle on the cellular level which in turn contributes to the pain we feel in our muscles. Muscles repair themselves during the sleep cycle and if you dont sleep deep enough the muscles are unable to repair themselves. Its a complex disorder which is generally not well understood by the public.
Mel:
Weight gain is not listed as a possible side effect of amitriptyline. If fact, it is often used to treat bulimia! It is also prescribed to control chronic pain, to prevent migraine headaches, and to treat a pathological weeping and laughing syndrome associated with multiple sclerosis.
Be aware that it can take up to 30 days to feel the full effects of amitriptyline, but (from personal experience), stick with it! Compared to the current crop of “new” drugs, amitriptyline has few to no side effects, withdrawl problems, etc. In fact, the use of the “old” tricyclic drugs is gaining new respect after the publication of the NIH funded Sequenced Treatment Alternatives to Relieve Depression (STAR*D) study report. These “old” drugs (tricyclics) were found to be actually more effective than many of the new SSRI’s with few to none of the side effects.
Good Luck!
Amitriptyline has not caused me to gain wait. I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia at the mayo clinic. I am only 24 years old. I recently got fibromyalgia after pregnancy. I didn’t know what I was going to do I was in so much pain. Amitriptuline has been the best thing that has ever happened to me. It has been my savor. I can now get up in the morning with only a little of pain. I still have some bad days but I have good days now! Good luck! I hope it helps you like it has helped me.