Bridget,

I really urge you not to be afraid of amytriptylline (or any other medication out there) just because you've heard that it might have side effects.  Of course you should read about the drug, but understand the nature of clinical trials.  If someone is taking a new drug and they get the sniffles, they have to report it and it will be recorded as a possible side effect of the drug!!  So imagine, if a trial goes on during cold and flu season, one of the side effects would likely be listed as 'flu symptoms.'  Okay, maybe I'm oversimplifying, but not by much!

I know how you feel, though, as I have a brand new bottle of a new script for muscle spasms (the bane of my existence, caused by scar tissue wrapped around muscle insertion points and even entire ligaments/tendons and muscle groups).  I'm kind of afraid to try it because I'm worried it will make me loopy or something.  So I deal with the spasms instead...but not tonight.  Tonight when I get home from dinner I will break one of the pills in half and give it a try.  Maybe even a quarter.  So that way you can control the side effects.

Anyway, I took the amytriptylline (called Elavil here) for over a year at a low dose, and the MOST IMPORTANT side effect was that it made me sleepy enough to get at least 5-6 hours of sleep through the night.  That's not a negative thing at all!  I just had to take it at night, after dinner.  And I had to stop taking my primary anti-histimine because it was combining with the Elavil and creating daytime drowsiness, but that was easily dealt with and went away when I switched allergy products.

Give the medications a chance in small, controlled doses in situations where you don't have to study/work/drive.  See how they affect you, and don't be afraid to ask for something different!  I'm on my FOURTH type of muscle relaxant because I had an allergic reaction to one and two others did nothing for me.  It is the duty of your GP to help you--they took an oath to do this, I can't imagine why, with your surgical history, your GP would refuse to give you some kind of medication to help your obvious pain.  You may well need a new GP, one who wants to help a patient's quality of life....

Heather

I tried TENS before, but it didn't work, I'm in at 8:30 tomorrow, so I'll keep u updated with it. I know its so silly but I really don't want to take an antidepressant, even if it is low dose. I tried explaining this to my mum and she really didn't get it. She just kept saying you don't need that your not depressed and the pain can't be that bad. Do u see if I can't explain this to my family and have them understand, its pointless. Also I'm scared about still being drowsy during the day.

Stupid haematoma and scar tissue and nerve and leg.
M
xxxx

M , there's plenty of meds out there that have several other uses than what they were designed for. I feel for the guys that actually took Minoxadyl (SP?) for what it was made for, high blood pressure . And found the side effect was hair growth!
How about women too? If someone saw their pills and started looking at their scalps wondering if they were going bald?

So Sarah Jane is right. No one has to know what your meds are for. Get the help you need. One of my older friends is taking an antidressant so she can sleep and it works great for that.  Hope this makes you feel better now, Ron

Bridget, chronic pain lowers the serotonin levels in your brain. Some anti depressants raise the serotonin levels in your brain, making you not percieve pain so strongly. This is not a bad thing. I take zoloft everyday. My new pt asked me today if I take it for depression, nope, I take it for pain management. There is no shame in taking a med to help ease the pain,no matter what other uses the drug has.

You need a new Gp. good luck
missy

Bridget,

I know what the sleep deprivation cycle is like.  It's just awful.  I used to have occasional trouble sleeping, when I was really stressed.  And I'd go a couple of nights with little to no sleep, then crash and burn--collapsing and sleeping for 12 hours minimum.  I love to sleep.  I've always needed lots of it, too, possibly because I have chronic allergy issues, so I'm generally either a little bit run down from the allergy symptoms or tired from antihistimines.  So anyway, prior to my knee injury in May of 2001, I used to sleep a minimum of 9 hours a night.  I worked at home for myself and could do a flexible schedule.  I'd go to sleep about 10 or 11, then get up at 4:30am to take my dog to the park (we had to do it before 6am because I lived in Phoenix, where summer daytime highs regularly hit 115F/46C, with my all time record being 118F/48C; by 7am the temp was usually over 100F/38C in the summer, because the nighttime lows would be around 88-92F/31-33C--GAH!).  After spending an hour or so at the park with the other dog-owning vampires, I'd slink off before the sun got too bright and go back to bed by about 6am, sleeping until 9am or so.  Nine hours of sleep every night--for the first time in my life I was getting enough sleep.  Until the knee injury.  And the resulting surgeries.  Since September of 2001, I haven't slept more than 7 hours in a single night.  And that is usually interrupted.  Oh, and 7 hours is a GOOD night.  For the past 6 months, I've really been sleep deprived.

I keep waiting for that night when I crash and burn, when I can drop into bed and sleep for 12 hours.  So far, it hasn't happened.  And I wonder to myself, "How long can this go on?"  What is the record for sleep deprivation or inadequate sleep?  I'm even taking sleeping pills, which I finally gave in and started using again about a month ago.  I'd had to use them for almost three straight months following my last surgery, because I was in a CPM machine every night, strapped in and stuck flat on my back.  Not a position conducive to sleep....

Anyway, what I'm saying is that I understand what sleep deprivation can do to you!  It's one of the reasons I'm not able to work much at all right now.  It can impact every aspect of your life, and truly magnify your pain in ways that you just can't imagine.  You've got to get the sleep under control, then get the pain under control.  I don't understand why your OS can't give you pain medication, especially when you are unable to sleep or function because of being in unbearable agony!!  Don't you work with any doctors with a concept of what pain can do to a person?  Do you work with robots...?

Hang in there.  If reading this post hasn't put you to sleep...well, I have no idea what might.  Good and soothing music helps me.  Breathing exercises.  A really boring book (usually something educational, nothing like fiction or an interesting memoir).

Heather

PS And definitely fire your GP.  She just registered a negative score on the Compassion Meter and should be stripped of her license to practice medicine.  What, does she think you're having surgery for fun??  That you enjoy insomnia and eye-crossing exhaustion.  Moron.

I am so sorry you are having this frustration.  I am pain free too during the day and I take a half of a tramadol at night but wake up in pain - 10 week post patella surgery - I take a half of another pill and am okay.  After surgery my doctor prescribed what he called a coclktail - the pain pill plus an a strong antihistimine to be taken together to ensure a full nights sleep.  Best wishes on getting better -Loire