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        New Message Board Archives >> Jan-Mar 2004 >> Nortriptyline 
        
(Message started by: phishphan on Jan 26^th, 2004, 1:46pm)

Title: Nortriptyline
Post by phishphan on Jan 26^th, 2004, 1:46pm

anyone ever heard of using this??
I have been taking verapamil and have achieved some relief with 480mgs a day. I told the doctor that I needed more releief so he wants to take me off verapamil and put me on this nortriptyline..
Any advice??

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by thomas on Jan 26^th, 2004, 2:18pm

Sorry, no experience here...........

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by forgetfulnot on Jan 26^th, 2004, 5:12pm

Stick with the verap, there is no reason I know of that would keep you from taking both, I have.

Lee

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by don on Jan 26^th, 2004, 5:15pm

Why would your Doc terminate a medication that is working and replace it with another med that is prescibed for completely differant implications?

http://www.medicinenet.com/nortriptyline/article.htm

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by kissmyglass on Jan 26^th, 2004, 5:19pm

Stay with the verap & hell the doc you want to add Lithium....Works miracles for my chronic head....

480mg Verap & 600 mg Lith is what I use. an Imitrex shot once in a while (instead of 2-4 a day) & I'm kicking the beasts ass....Hope I didn't just jinx myself.....

Kev

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by jonny on Jan 26^th, 2004, 5:25pm

on 01/26/04 at 17:19:49, kissmyglass wrote:

Yeah!!!....What he said!!!

Then get your fucking ass to church.....LMMFAO ;;D

....................jonny

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by Cerberus on Jan 26^th, 2004, 8:48pm

The Reason for the Nortryptiline Rx is because (although it is generally an anti-depressant) It is supposed to be a pain blocker when levels are high enough.
Been there and Done that, those of you who have survived Amytriptiline know the results, as they are sister to each other just delivered differently (Nortryptiline being the stronger of the two)
Unfortunately (at least in my case) having been on Both (Nor). and (Amyt.) the results were equally as equal. TOO Zombified after one dose to realize the benefits. The Nortryptiline version has slightly lesser of an immediate drowsiness effect, but, I still felt detatched and sluggish most of the time.
Verap. and Nortryptiline, basically you run a higher risk of lowering your BP too far. And the pain blocking properties are suspect. A friend of mine with C.R.I.P.S. and onother with Fibromyalgia were put on it for the pain blocking reason, and both claim it didn't do squat to ease thier discomfort. I suspect, it will do little to ease your suffering from CH. But then again, it might, no two people are alike ya know.

Just my experience with them,
Ramon

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by Kevin_M on Jan 26^th, 2004, 9:20pm

Yeah, my doc likes it, I don't. He doles it out to me as his idea of a preventative. 100mg at 6:00pm, 125mg at bedtime. Suppose to help with the headaches at night.
Well, when the cycle starts, it has a small affect. When CH hits stride, forget it. When the cycle gets well through doing what it wants to do and is on the downside, letting up, then again it does a little.
Being that this is the only preventative he has been prescribing, I am going to a new headache clinic. Appointment Feb 6, to get things changed around, new ideas.
This cycle which is concluding, soon I hope, I just stopped taking them. I get the script filled so the insurance can't say I am neglecting to take my meds and has an excuse to say they are not going to cover my abortives because I am causing my own problems by not following doc's advise.
I think what I was taking was a lot of nortrip, in the form of the name called Pamelor. I know CH is tough and perhaps can't expect much better from preventatives, but I've read people here who fair better than I have been while using prevens other than nortrips. Getting new advice with appointment from the doc who is the medical director of the institute. I'm done with half ass advice, these last two cycles have been the worst. The lack of sleep makes me less tolerant at work, nonetheless I'm doing good there.
So if it works for you, maybe it will, I'd be happy for you, but I'm moving on from nortrips. Oh, and kiss your sex life goodbye usin' em. My neuro put me on Paxil and Depakote that did the same thing and didn't work at all for me.
Try it out, see if it helps, maybe at first it will. But if it doesn't, don't stop looking. My doc seems to think they should work for some reason, perhaps because he read somewhere it should, but I've had some pretty bad cycles using them.

Kevin M

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by Edski_1 on Jan 26^th, 2004, 9:38pm

fishfan, I've posted this before, but I'll post it again...othrs have enjoyed the link :)

http://www.future-drugs.com/Iparticle.asp?publicationid=4&articleid=286

I think it's from late November 2002, so it's not to old. Several statements in it are worth note: "polypharmacy is not discouraged and extremely high dosages of medications are normally needed" is one of the most striking. It might not be this article, but somewhere along the line I remember reading that cluster patients usually tolerate very high doseages of meds...some unusal sets of paramets we have it seems :-/

On the surface, it would sound like a better idea to add the nortriptyline to the verapamil rather than discontinue the verapamil...I'm not a doctor but I can read what a doctor has writen inthe medical journals! :o

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by Wifeofchman on Jan 27^th, 2004, 8:34am

There's alot of discussion about using anti-depressants as deterents for CH.

Title: Re: Nortriptyline
Post by don on Jan 27^th, 2004, 9:55am

Quote:

On the surface, it would sound like a better idea to add the nortriptyline to the verapamil

Thats makes a ton of sense rather than discontinue a medication that is already proven effective.