During the spring of 2024, I started to feel acute pain in my lower back and down my leg. It was sudden, uncomfortable, and very painful. My mum had not long sadly passed away from a very long illness, and I had had some pretty major surgery about 6 months prior to all this starting. I was also experiencing incredibly high anxiety levels – I was worried about the pain and the sudden difficulty that I had with my mobility sd I was very, very active before this all started.
My GP wanted to get me onto Gabapentin but I was scared to take it. I also had a HR assessment at work, and they advised that I should try Duloxetine.
Then, a local chemist suggested I started taking Amitriptyline, which he said should at least help me sleep. I started on 10mg as just before I started taking it, I was experiencing nerve pain all over my body including my eyes and was starting to have panic attacks which took me to A&E. Things had got really bad. I had shut myself away, couldn’t drive or walk far at all. Life had changed so very much.
Life had changed so very much.
So I started taking Amitriptyline. I noticed that I was very, very sleepy after a couple of nights, and it would actually knock me out by 9.30pm! The optimum time to take the medicine is 7.30pm, and not after 8.00pm – the later you take it in the evening, the bigger the knock-on effect the next morning. I certainly did – at first I felt awful, like I had a hangover. It took me ages to ’come to’.
But I persevered with it, and gradually increased the dose as the nerve pain would flare so badly. By the end of 2024 I was on 30mg a night. The next day hangover feeling has now gone; though this has taken well over a year to stabilise. I no longer feel that I am being knocked out by 9.30pm.
Looking after yourself
Over the last month I've started to reduce my dose of Amitriptyline. However, to enable me to do this I need to make sure that I have a back-up plan in my toolkit.
That means that I am prioritising my sleep, eating better, not drinking alcohol, taking specific supplements so that my body (and mind) feels supported as much as possible. I have a goal and that is to decrease to a total of 10mg by the end of this year.
My journey
At first, I hated the fact that I was taking Amitriptyline. I come from a generation that doesn’t believe in going to the GP or turning to medicine.
But the best thing I did was to go and speak to the pharmacist. This was a turning point for me. My nerve pain was so bad at this time that I could barely function, and all the exercise I would normally be doing I just couldn’t physically do. I look back now and, while my journey with it has not always been an easy one, it has certainly served its purpose.
I think my message would be to use it as a stepping stone, a bridging gap. It may not be forever, and might just give you a window of opportunity to function better and sleep through the night. My worst side effect was feeling like I had the worst hangover in the mornings. This was hard, but it does pass.
My tips
Pain can bring anxiety, and the feeling that this is never going to end. I have learned that this is just a moment in time. Yes, it can be a long moment! But it will pass.
If you can’t do it yourself, get someone to do this for you – get an advocate if need be.
They can talk you through the different drugs and what they do specifically, and have so much knowledge around these drugs.
Eating well, taking supplements, and especially surrounding myself with like-minded friends has reallu helped me. Help yourself as much as you possibly can. Join groups online, and learn from what other people do to help themselves. There is no right or wrong answer.
Getting out in nature can really help – slow walks, breaks on a bench if need be. Take in the scenery, take photos and journal.
Write down, even briefly, how the day has gone. Most of mine was about how bad the pain was and how it made me feel, but now I can look back and see how much has changed.
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