we saw another neurologist for my husband's headaches (constant pressure) in his head, dizziness and ringing in his ears? this is an antidepressant and I wonder if this is anything that anyone else has been taking for those symptoms after coiling procedure for ruptured annie? It worries me cuz the side affects can be more depression and thoughts of suicide. He is already depressed due to his hard recovery taking longer than he expected. what are people's thoughts? thanks for listening.
Hi Tami...I take 50mg Amitriptyline every night before bed - helps me sleep, pretty much eliminated my headaches and as a bonus it helps me sleep. My annie ruptured in March 2012 and I was coiled. I have struggled with depression for awhile now and this does seem to help with that too. I hope it helps your husband...Mary
thanks mary, did you start out at a lower dose and work up to a higher dose?
Amitriptyline worked for me. I started at 10 mg then increased weekly to 30mg, which was all I needed for pain control. It sedated me at that does though (I'm not very big) and caused constipation so I've gradually reduced it again over the last year or so. I periodically try to come off, but headaches worsen (particularly my trigeminal nerve pain) and I go back to it to improve my quality of life. I currently take 1/2 a 10 mg tablet at night. Amitriptyline is good for nerve pains at much lower doses than those used for depression. The side effect warnings in the box inserts refer to antidepressant doses not pain doses so are much less likely in the sort of doses your husband will be given. In addition, as it is an older type of antidepressant it doesn't have the same side effect profile as the antidepressants in current use. Judith
I did - went from 10mg to 25mg to 50 mg over the course of 1 year.
Tami, my headaches were quite severe and it took getting me up to 150mg at night to knock them out. At that dose I was putting on quite a bit of weight. My neurologist had me slowly stop that medication and we started topimax. It hadn’t completely knocked out the pain and had some side effects that I wasn’t happy about. I am now receiving Botox treatments and it has been a complete godsend for me. Everyone is different in how they respond to medications and I am happy to hear that your husband’a neurologist is working with him to get rid of the headaches. Prevention of the headaches is key. I pray that he receives relief soon.
God Bless,
~ Carol
Hi Tami. I had an unruptured brain aneurysm coiled and stented 2 1/2 years ago. Since then I have had some sharp "Ice Pick" headaches. I do not know if it is from the aneurysm. Doctor also says that I have Migrane. But since then I also have developed other medical conditions such as peripheral neuropathy.
The Neurologist put me on Amitrypthyline to control the nerve pain from the neuropathy. He said it will also help a lot with the headaches. And it has helped good for the headaches.
The neurologist and the rheumatologist wanted me on a 50 mg dose nightly in addition to Lyrica for nerve pain. But that dose caused me side effects in the form of dry mouth and dry eyes, and severe constipation. So my dose is now lowered to 30 mg. Initially I started on 10 then 25 mg, then 50 mg, then back to 30 mg. Each time the dose has to be tapered slowly.
I wish I could tolerate the higher dose, and then lower the Lyrica. That is my goal.
The Amitripthyline has worked well for me.
As Judith is saying, I think the med would work for your husband, as it was ordered for pain control.
Just monitor for constipation, and use the remedies well known such as prunes, Activia yoghurt workes well for regularities. Als, he couls use a mild stool softenes such as Colace ( over the counter). Drink plenty of fluids.
If he gets dry mouth, there are products such as Biotine mounth spray and gel and mouth rinse. And for dry eyes, there is Systaine eyedrops that will help keep them moist and prevent dry eyes(over the counter)
I wish all the best for your husband.
Tami, I take a combination of Topamax, Propranolol and Nortriptyline (same family of anti depressants) I take only 20 mg a day of those and it took 6 months to find the right combination of drugs to get rid of my spiking headaches. I was resistant to the meds especially the antidepressant but my neurologist told me that as an antidepressant a dose of 100 mg is standard. I researched it to confirm that and was not worried about taking the 20 mgs. Luckily this combination has worked for me and the headaches are basically gone with these (and some other supplements she has me taking including B2 and magnesium). My "new normal" took a good year and a half even though my recovery was technically only 3 months. It was frustrating so I know how he feels. Carol