Tricyclics!. . .Get your Tricyclics!. . .Tri. . .

[Chemical_Boy]

I would like to hear about anyones experiences with tricyclic antidepressants. There are not a whole lot of antidepressants that I can take. All of the new ones like Effexor and Lexapro bug me out. They make me all fucked up and wired, but it is not a good fucked up and wired. They kind of remind me of the time I tried Strattera ( I don't have ADHD or ADD) and it kind of screwed me up for a day. Not to mention the fact that they make the "goods" not work properly if you know what I mean. I do better taking a couple of hits of acid as far as functionality. Anyway, the only AD meds I can take with out bad side effects are the old ones that are supposed to have the bad side effects. The new, low-side-effect meds are the oposite for me. I can take trazadone and tricyclics just fine, which is ok because I don't take ADs for depression, I take them for sleep regulation and migraine prevention. I was taking trazadone and was fairly happy with it because it makes me nice and drowsy and gives me weird-ass, long, real-feeling dreams (which I like). The trouble is that it is not a "headache prevention" medicine like the TCs. I have recently switched to amitriptyline which is fine as far as side-effects, but now I am turning into an insomniac again. I know amitriptyline is good for sleep for some people, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has had good luck with it- especially for sleep- and at what dose? I have been taking my amitriptyline at the prescribed dose (50mg) at night, going to bed, tossing and turning, and then getting up and taking trazadone as well. Doesn't seem to have any bad effects, other than being kind of groggy in the morning, but soon I will have no trazzies left. What should I do? Thanks!

[Narkotikon]

I've only taken three tri-cylcics: Trazodone, Elavil, and Anafranil. The trazodone was prescribed for sleep, as it is for a lot of other people. I only had it for a few months, but it worked well enough. My dose was 50mg prn. My oldest sister also has sleeping problems, and she's been taking trazodone since the mid-90's. Now she takes a crazy high dose, 200-250mgs a night. And she says she's still having problems sleeping. Her doctor has got to be either the stupidest or the best. He once was convinced she had adult ADD (she doesn't but she self-diagnoses herself, and it was in '99-'00 when ADD and ADHD were just getting popular) because she basically convinced herself and then proceeded to convince him. She ended up getting 100 mg of Adderall XR a day, but then complained because she was paranoid and too speedy, so the doctor gave her Ativan (1mg 3 times daily) to balance her out. I mean, WTF! People who actually need stimulants for ADD don't get speedy, it calms them down. And to give someone a stimulant and then a depressant to balance out the stimulant has got to be the stupidest thing I've ever heard of. I mean, get rid of the fucking stimulant. The only good that came out of it was me getting to try both for the first time. Shhhh...Don't tell my sister. Anyway, now she takes the Trazodone for sleep, Effexor and Prozac for anti-depressant, Buspar for anxeity, and she also takes Topomax and Lithium. She swears by lithium, yet she won't go get her level's checked like she's supposed to. I swear my family is so fucking stupid. My mother and my other two sisters hate psychiatrists and medicines, yet they try to get me to take it, even though I've tried most SSRI's and a few other types of meds, but they just don't help, and the other sister, the pill head, thinks everyone should take psych meds, yet she's not responsible and takes whatever she can gets her hands on then complains about gaining weight, or feeling dizzy or loosing taste because of the topomax. god, people are fucking stupid.

Sorry for the rant. The other two were Anafranil which was given to me for OCD, which actually helped a little bit. I've taken every SSRI given for OCD and they never helped. The Anafranil did, but I quit taking it because of the side effects. My OCD is weird though. It goes through cycles. It will be really bad for a year and a half or two, then it will sort of go into remission. I mean, the obsessions will be there still, but the compulsions will leave. Then, something major will stress me out, and that will trigger it, and it will start again. Right now it's in remission, which I think happened when I started at the clinic. The higher I went, the more I just didn't care about washing my hands, or arranging things, or counting, etc. anymore. I'm off the done now and have been for about a month, but it's still like that. I wish I was actually in my active OCD mode, because it's so much easier to get stuff done (i.e., cleaning, etc.). It gives me energy to focus and clean, which I don't have right now. Anyway, and the last one was Elavil, which I took once from my one sister a long time ago, and it just helped me sleep, which I think it what it's for. That's why why had it.

I don't have anything per-se against tri-cyclics, other than the side-effects, and the fact that depressed people can use them to committ suicide, but I do believe that they should at least be tried if other, safer, newer anti-depressants don't work. I'm not sure if I feel the same way about MAOI's though. I've never taken one and don't think I would even if I was prescribed one, even if it was the last resort.

[Chemical_Boy]

Right on. Do you remember how much of the Elavil you took that helped you sleep. My trazadone dose was 150mg and even it was starting to kind of loose effect. The only sleep medicine that has actually really helped me get sleep in past was 2mg clonazepam, but I don't want to take benzos nightly. The trazzies may not work super well, but at least they help and if I miss a night or two I won't have any kind of WDs, just some sleeplessness.

[exitwound]

I suggest you try these things before you attempt using any more pharms. But ONLY if you are off all other psych-type drugs or anything that is an MAOI, SSRI, SNRI, DRI, etc or any other sort of reuptake inhibitor. They could be dangerous with these health-food-store options.

*5-hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP)
*Passionflower
*L-Tyrosine
*L-Dopa
*"SAM-e"
*Kava (only for healthy organs, in moderation, and not for someone who drinks alcohol esp. not both in the same day or even week)

I've found that especially the first two are quite effective in improving how I feel without the side effects or BS of reuptake inhibitors. The latter two are both quite effective in their own ways as well.

Give them a fair try. I think they'll be well worth the money spent, at the very least.

I would like to hear about anyones experiences with tricyclic antidepressants. There are not a whole lot of antidepressants that I can take. All of the new ones like Effexor and Lexapro bug me out. They make me all fucked up and wired, but it is not a good fucked up and wired. They kind of remind me of the time I tried Strattera ( I don't have ADHD or ADD) and it kind of screwed me up for a day. Not to mention the fact that they make the "goods" not work properly if you know what I mean. I do better taking a couple of hits of acid as far as functionality. Anyway, the only AD meds I can take with out bad side effects are the old ones that are supposed to have the bad side effects. The new, low-side-effect meds are the oposite for me. I can take trazadone and tricyclics just fine, which is ok because I don't take ADs for depression, I take them for sleep regulation and migraine prevention. I was taking trazadone and was fairly happy with it because it makes me nice and drowsy and gives me weird-ass, long, real-feeling dreams (which I like). The trouble is that it is not a "headache prevention" medicine like the TCs. I have recently switched to amitriptyline which is fine as far as side-effects, but now I am turning into an insomniac again. I know amitriptyline is good for sleep for some people, but it doesn't seem to work for me. I was wondering if there is anyone out there who has had good luck with it- especially for sleep- and at what dose? I have been taking my amitriptyline at the prescribed dose (50mg) at night, going to bed, tossing and turning, and then getting up and taking trazadone as well. Doesn't seem to have any bad effects, other than being kind of groggy in the morning, but soon I will have no trazzies left. What should I do? Thanks!

[Chemical_Boy]

Cool man. I have tried the Kava (though I have a hard time finding it in supplement form anymore) and the passion flower, but have not tried the 5htp or some of the others. I will be looking into those.

Funny, but a long (!) time ago I had a bottle of kava supplements and, since I was a stupid and drunk teen, I ate the whole bottle to see if I could catch a buzz of some sort. I think this was after reading the "concise encyclopedia of legal highs. . ." by adam gottlieb that used to be on hypereal and some of the old sites. I think this was about the time I introduced all my druggy friends to Mr Robotussin. Made for some interesting times. I guess this is off track, but the kava made me think of it. I have heard that the kava should be fresh (er) for better effect and that the supplements -like GNC used to carry- aren't that great. Is that your experience exit?

[Narkotikon]

Right on. Do you remember how much of the Elavil you took that helped you sleep. My trazadone dose was 150mg and even it was starting to kind of loose effect. The only sleep medicine that has actually really helped me get sleep in past was 2mg clonazepam, but I don't want to take benzos nightly. The trazzies may not work super well, but at least they help and if I miss a night or two I won't have any kind of WDs, just some sleeplessness.

No, sorry, I don't remember. I took it in 2001. Again, the Elavil wasn't mine, it was my sister's. I couldn't sleep so she gave me a few. I want to say that the dose is similar to trazodone, but I'm probably wrong about it. You could always just do a search on google or in Wikipedia. I'm sure it would give the doseage for sleep. The only other thing I didn't like about trazodone and the Elavil that I forgot to mention is that I always feel so drugged the next day. I mean, I feel half-asleep. I guess it's because they have long-half lives for something. I'm not sure. I just couldn't stand the way they make me feel. Also, they use Seroquel for sleep, but it's an atypical anti-psychotic. I HATE anti-psychotics with a passion. I've taken Risperdol, Haldol, Abilify, and Geodon, and I can't stand them. Psychiatrists give them to me because I always feel so emotionally numb, and I guess they think these will work, but I always end up feeling worse. I mean, literally, I feel extremely dysphoric, and it almost hurts to move. It's just like everytime you move or walk or raise your arm or whatever, it's just so strenuous and exhausting. I can't stand those things. I can't imagine being a schizophrenic and being dependent or (even worse) being forced to take those things. I mean, I know that's a part of the reason why so many schizophrenics are non-compliant with meds, because of the side-effects, but my god, those drugs are really really evil. I can't stand them.

[Chemical_Boy]

Yeah, I've tried the Seroquel and Abilify too. The seroquel I don't mind but I find that the 200 mg tabs don't work any better than the 100mg tabs of tazadone. The Abilify just kind of wired me out like all them damned SSRIs and SNRIs. I haven't ever tried the MAOIs either, but I don't think that I would want to. I'd probably eat the wrong thing and croak or something. It's funny, I guess from years of being a really fuckin' lit druggy (not for years, but the past is there) I don't get chemical hangovers. That kind of helps I guess. I also think maybe those years are why I am so sensitive to the bad side effects of most of the ADs. I could eat the Brown Acid and shake it off . . .but give me a prozac and I am f*&ked. Go figure