Started Elavil

[GriffsMommy]

OMG!!! I took my first dose of Elavil last night. My uro gave me a 25 mg dose to take at bedtime to start off w/. I am sitting here at work about ready to fall asleep. I literally feel like I need some toothpicks to keep my eye lids up I read that it could make you drowsy but lord this is nuts. I think I read that some people take it an hour or 2 before bedtime to try to be more awake during the day. Does this help? Thanks for the input

[Braedley]

my doctor started me on only 10mg for 7 days, then i increased to 20mg for 7 days, then tonight i start 30mg for another 7 days...then i can maintain it or decrease, depending on how the 30mg does me...

i DEFINTELY take it before bed! it helps me sleep and allows me to function during the day...I couldn't tolerate it during morning...i'm out within 20 mins of taking it usually...I've even fallen asleep in the bathroom b/c it works soooo fast for me
my husband laughed so hard when he found me in there a couple of times! - rule # 1: make sure you don't have to pee when you take it!
rule # 2: always refer to rule #1!!

lol...

good luck w/it, it's made such a big difference to me with this condition, i was on Ditropan XL for a year, but this works even better for me...

[verdicries]

hi there,
it might help to take it an hour before bedtime...otherwise you'll be a zombie! my dr. started me on the 10mg dose (i'm only 93lbs lol) and i tried it about an hour b4 bed. i wish it worked for me...it made me loony for about 2 hours THEN tired...and then made me retain urine. grrr. but so many have success with it, good luck!

tracy

[meme]

I love Elavil! For me the tiredness went away in about a week, now I can't even tell that I've taken it. It may help in the mornings if you take it an hour or so before bed, but that's only if you can keep awake for that long after you take it. Elavil was a godsend for me. I noticed improvements within 2wks and it just kept getting better! Good Luck! Hope it works for you too!

[GriffsMommy]

Oh thanks Leah!
That's so great to know that the tiredness went away for you. I hope it does for me too. I've read that it helps so many people, I'm really hoping that it helps me too. Maybe I'll take it a little bit earlier tonight and see how I do tomorrow morning.

[petrie86]

I love elavil too. I try to take it about an hour before I go to bed... I usually pass out after about 1/2 hour after taking it. my bf get's mad when I fall asleep before he's ready for bed b/c he says he geting in bed and it;s like hugging a log. I dont cuddle with him lol. I'll never forget the 1st night I took it I wasn't even ready for bed yet. I was watching tv and passed out! My bf had to get me dressed for bed and then try to wake me up to take my contacts out. It was kinda funny.
I'm really tired in the morning too. I've been trying hto have a few sips of coffee in the morning. a few sips will make my hands shake from the caffeine. My body isn't used to it. Then I drink tons of water to flush it out. It works for me. I hope it gets better for you.

Rach

[leelee88]

Christine,

As I have told you I take 25mg of elavil at night to.. If I take it after 10pm I am very tired the next morning but I have found if I take it at 9pm and get more sleep I am fine in the mornings..It just takes getting use to.. If you can deal with the tiredness for about a week the benefits of the meds are wonderful..I went from using the bathroom 4 times a night to just one and in the day it went from 20 times a day to about 9 now..I really hope it works for you also it does take about 2 weeks to get the full effects of the medicine..You will be able to notices a slight change in a couple of days..I sure wish you luck with this medicine I know you surely deserve a break from all this pain..(((((((((((hugs))))))))))

[amartaingirl]

re-started elavil

I just re-started elavil myself.

I was taking elmiron & elavil...but by hair was falling out...so i quit elmiron...
and i was doing fine...except my hair still falling out...so i quit elavil too.
about 1 week after quitting elavil..my symptoms started to creep back up..

so i started back on elavil on sunday.
i am feeling better already

[Sarojini]

Well, I've never taken Elavil -- I can't take antidepressants for other reasons, but I do know it helps a ton of people!! I do hope the fatigue goes away... and that it helps your symptoms!!

[Berkshire Road]

25 mg is kind of a high starting dosage, I think. My dr. started me on 10. I'm still trying to adjust to 20, but honestly I could sleep all day. I mean this quite literally; if no one wakes me up, I'll sleep the entire day. Dr. just told me to try taking 15 for a week, so I'll be getting out my handy-dandy pill cutter tonight. But those pills are already so tiny! I'll try to remember to check back in and let you know how it goes -- if I can stay awake long enough -- LOL.

Anyway, good luck, Christine.

[GriffsMommy]

LOL thanks Carolyn. He said that this was a middle of the road dose. Some patients are on lower and some are on higher so he wanted to start me out with this. I think I'm giong to take it earlier tonight to see how that works. I feel like I could sleep all day as well which is really bad when you work full time I fully told my boss today that the new meds were making me really really tired. She asked me my opinion during a staff meeting and I told her I didn't have one because my brain is not functioning properly. If I still feel really out of it then maybe i'll cut my pills in half and do that for a week or so.

[leelee88]

Christine... Before cutting them in half call your doctor or ask pharmacist about cutting them in half some meds cant be cut in half and can cause more harm than good...Just letting you know....

[GriffsMommy]

Thanks Ronda, I would call someone before I did that, I'm going to try to ride out the utter exhustation. I took it a couple of minutes ago so I'm sitting here waiting to fall asleep in my laptop, and I still have to get Griffin to bed, take the dog out and finish laundry, LOL. Hopefully I can stay awake long enough for all of that, but I guess it can't be any harder than it was to stay awake at work today.

[Bessie]

I can't take it because it makes my heart race......and when I did try it I was totally zonked out within 10 minutes. I hope you can get it worked out and that it helps your pain.