Chronic back pain

jackieann3

Hello I'm new on here and wanted to discuss with anyone who suffers with back pain too, I had a fall in December and had to have a complete reverse shoulder replacement my back was fine then, then 6 month down the line I got up one morning and just could hardly take a step without terrible pain in my upper back so I had an osteopath come to my house and after examining me he said it was trauma after my fall effecting the muscles, well 4 and half months 3 doctors xrays and osteopath 4 appointments still all my muscles and nerve endings it's just carried on and on and changed places all over my back,for the past 2 weeks it's moved to my left lower back just above the buttock very painful, so made another appointment with doctor and been put on amtitriptyline which I've only been taking for 5 days and heard they will take at least 2 weeks to kick in so I'm hoping they will help or at least stop the pain so I can do some gentle exercises, I've heard amtitriptyline are very good and will relax me which is something I haven't been able to do since December because I've been in constant pain and was wondering if anyone else has suffered with muscle pain and amtitriptyline and how was they for you, been in pain for so long now 10 months if I include my shoulder just would like a bit of hope it seems never ending ,really could of done without my back as well as my shoulder pain lol thanks x

Alex_Alumni

Hello there @jackieann3 and welcome to the community, thanks for taking the time to reach out.

It sounds like you're really having a bad time of it with all these appointments and x rays, all while managing acute pain. I'm sorry to hear that it feels never ending. I know some of our other members have shared how they feel similarly about their own back pain issues- that they aren't being heard, or that it's taking an age to get anywhere. 

Personally I don't have experience with muscle pain and amtitriptyline so I can't answer your query directly, hopefully as your post has been marked as unanswered our members will be able to share their thoughts with you soon. 

Please use the community for any help or support you might need, don't be afraid to ask if you have any further questions

Alex

jackieann3

Thank you.

MillieMay

Hi,
I suffer with back pain and take gabapentin, I have tried amtitriptyline as well, it helped however I felt very sleepy on it.
Hope you find it helps and it eases your pain.
Take care 

jackieann3

Hello milliemay, yes I feel very tired although I've only been on them just over a week so not sure if it's the tablets or I'm just feeling sleepy anyway because not sure if they are working yet suppose to take a couple of weeks to kick in , but I will carry on and see how I go thank you for your reply x

Cartini

MillieMay said:

Hi,
I suffer with back pain and take gabapentin, I have tried amtitriptyline as well, it helped however I felt very sleepy on it.
Hope you find it helps and it eases your pain.
Take care 

Hi,

I was prescribed 30mg Amitriptyline for spinal pain; unfortunately it doesn`t help for that.  Where it does help is with my insomnia; up until Dec 21 (when I started taking Amitriptyline) my sleep pattern was atrocious. After starting on Amitriptyline I`m regularly "knocking out" 8 or 9 hour nights without stirring.  The only downside to taking Amitriptyline is that it makes me feel groggy when I get up the next morning, but that`s a small price to pay for an improved sleep pattern.

Andy

SueHeath

Good morning @jackieann3 you have been through a lot and hopefully the new meds will be starting work now and allowing you to move more and relax your body.

jackieann3

Good your getting your sleep its so important, see I've only got 10 which I suppose they start you off on that but think I might need to go up a bit, but even that dose is making me tired during the day but as you say its a small price to get sleep and out of pain, my pain is lower left back and buttock but it hasn't always been there its been all iver my back and ended up there , wish you better x

jackieann3

Thank you sue health x

Cartini

Thank you jackieann3

jackieann3

Would anyone know who has been on amtitriptyline if the tiredness wears off the longer you take them , I don't mind in the evening it's during the day x

SueHeath

Hi @jackieann3 i had the same problem with Duluxotin the funny head and sleepy took a month for me. 

jackieann3

OK thank you hopefully will be the same x

[Deleted User]

I had a slipped disc 5 years ago. I was put on Dihydrocodeine. Never again. I became a drug addict. I never knew amitriptyline was used for pain.

SueHeath

Yep @KerryBemmy these type of drugs are being used to help relax muscles and help with nerve damage. I have found them very good for my condition, but every one is different. We can only go with Docs recommendations.

Sandy_123

Hi there, I take amitriptyline but only a low dose, tried the 30mg was too strong, happy on 10mg but everyone's different. Hopefully you'll feel the effects soon

shira21

My situation might not be similar to yours and might be unlikely, but still possible. I had back pain about 30 years ago and finally one Chiropractor did some x-rays of my legs and found one to be 5 MM shorter than the other.

He gave me a lift to put in the shoe of the shorter leg. Straightened my spine and the pain went away. Unlike other Chiropractors that wanted me to constantly come back, he had me come back only one more time for x-rays, and then said nothing more was needed, unless the pain returns, which it has not. Might be worth checking out.

poppy123456

Cartini said:

 After starting on Amitriptyline I`m regularly "knocking out" 8 or 9 hour nights without stirring.  The only downside to taking Amitriptyline is that it makes me feel groggy when I get up the next morning, but that`s a small price to pay for an improved sleep pattern.

Andy

Couldn't agree more with that. I've been taking this for a couple of years now. Before taking them my sleep was so bad and only ever slept a couple of hours at a time. I take 50mg each night about 45 minutes before going to bed and it knocks me out for several hours.

Occasionally, i'll have a night where i don't sleep as good but mostly it's amazing.

It does make me feel a little groggy when i first get up too and i feel like my brain is in slow motion but it's worth that to have more sleep.