Nortriptyline for Depression User Reviews (Page 2)

• Suzy
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• September 4, 2018

Pamelor (nortriptyline) "25 years ago. I took Pamelor for post partum depression. It worked for the depression but had to stop taking because my stools became hard as rocks & were difficult to pass. I have had irritable bowel syndrome since as a result. I also gained about 40 pounds & no matter how much I diet or exercise, I cannot lose the weight."

• Mom...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• May 17, 2017

"It took four months before I could titrate up from 50mg to 75mg. I'm on it for Dysautonomia, nuerolgia, fibromyalgia, depression. At that point I felt significant improvement from the depression and panic attacks. I weaned myself off at one point for fear that I was having a bad side effect. I had forgotten how much pain relief it provided until I was off of it. This is one of the most helpful medications I've ever taken! It helps with pain, dysautonomia and depression! I don't think it gives me bad side effects. I've had serious bad side effects from SSRI's so I was very nervous but had to try something. I'm also on Gabapentin which helps with sleep and pain but coupled with this drug I've done so much better."

• KLM
• Taken for 10 years or more
• January 1, 2019

"I've been on Nortriptyline (10 mg) for over 10 years and had experienced relief from my depression. I'm now asking myself if it's time to increase my dosage or perhaps try some other med.(Trintellix?) Feeling some symptoms like anxiety, some loss of appetite, and just really not "happy." Anyone else experiencing this after being on it for this long?"

• Bear
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 14, 2019

Aventyl Hydrochloride (nortriptyline) "I've had Aventyl twice. Before, it was an effective antidepressant, and I was on it for years. Now, it helps me sleep; that's a new thing for me. I have not experienced any problematic side-effects. Getting to sleep through the night makes life so much better."

• Kirk1n
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 27, 2016

"I started on 60 MG of noritripteline at the age of 65 as a replacement for Cymbalta, which I could no longer afford. I found that when it was combined with 100 MG of sertaline (zoloft). This combination gave me the greatest relief from the chronic depression I have suffered from since the age of 15. But I was not aware of its anticholinergic effects on older people which manifested at age 67 when I began to experience problems walking, repeated falls, lethargy, mental confusion and memory problems. In addition to the noritripteline, I was also taking benadryl (over the counter) to aid with sleep at night, another anticholinergic drug. Both medications can be detrimental in older population groups and result in my symptoms."

• Zzzzoe
• March 21, 2017

"I was prescribed this stuff for insomnia and the first and only night I took it I had a massive nervous breakdown. About two hours after taking it and still not able to sleep I began to feel slightly nervous and sad. I couldn't stop thinking about killing myself. I had to wake up my husband at 2 AM to help snap me out of it and I never did get to sleep that night. Needless to say I will never take this garbage again."

• Spitf...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 26, 2019

"Felt horrible on nortriptyline during the 5 weeks I took it and never took more than 25mg. Had depression, anxiety, fatigue, dizziness and it sent my BP up. I tapered off and I am day 16 off of it. My headaches are horrible. Does anything help with these side effects. I’ve been to the doctor twice this week and he says it’s out of my system."

• Jay...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 4, 2018

"After trying 10 to 12 other depression meds for the last 5 years my Doctor tried Nortriptyline. It’s probably the best I have felt. There’s more fine tuning but this med is a great start considering all the past failures."

• thesk...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 8, 2017

Pamelor (nortriptyline) "I was tried on this for major depression. After 2 weeks on 50mg per night, I couldn't handle it any more. I ended up going to the ER because my heart was racing. I was at 125/130 beats per min. I'd only been getting a few hours of sleep each night in those 2 weeks, and experienced the heart racing, brain short circuits, insomnia, anxiety, severe constipation, extreme thirst, and an overall feeling of disconnect from aliveness. As a teenager, I took Doxepin and Elavil too, and they were slightly better, but not much. These TCAs should be a last resort like Thorazine and Lithium. Seroquel is much better. Good luck to my fellow sufferers!"

• Tess
• Taken for 10 years or more
• November 24, 2020

"I have been on nortriptyline for over ten years for depression after I tried different ones which didn’t work so this made me feel better and helps my depression, but my pulse was 68/70 now it is 80 and that’s resting so I guess you take the good and bad just to function ⛄️✌️Sad part about it is that I will be taking these until I die"

• Silve...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 16, 2016

Pamelor (nortriptyline) "Nortriplene isn't a very good medication for chronic headaches. My neurologist put me on 25mg 2 tabs at bedtime.it's suppose to make you sleeply,however it's quit the opposite, it keeps you awake and makes you very irritable.and you still have a headache,and causes weight gain. medication,especially"

• dorde...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• March 16, 2019

"Nortriptyline is a great medication and is one of the only meds that don't numb my emotions completely. In fact, I noticed I was more attuned to things like tv shows and books rather than feeling completely apathetic. You really should get your genes/SNPs tested before you take this to make sure you're a normal metabolizer; if not, it may not work for you at all (ultrarapid metabolizer) or you could have too many side effects (poor metabolizer). If you're doctor is worth his/her salt, he will also take a blood level of nortriptyline to determine you're within the therapeutic window for optimal effects. I highly recommend this medication as a first or second choice after SSRIs even though it didn't quite work out for me because it made a preexisting health condition worse. It's also very cheap."

• Eric...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 21, 2020

"I was getting ECT treatment for depression when my doctor told me Nortriptyline pairs well with the ECT therapy. I once had a bad reaction to Trintillex . Without having much recollection of why I decided to start this new med I did. I felt ECT was starting to heal my depression. As a few weeks passed, I noticed major daytime fatigue. Also EVERY night I would experience irrational fear and panic, also had a few panic attacks at night which has not happened for me in years. Constipation , vomiting , worsening depression, thoughts of self harm . It took me way too long to figure out nortriptyline was the culprit of all this. I was on this medicine for about two months and am in the process of weaning off. If you notice similar symptoms speak up to your doctor ASAP."

• JHarr...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 28, 2021

"I have been on Welbutrin since 2014 and buspirone was added in 2019 for my depression/anxiety/OCD. I also have an autoimmune disease that causes severe neuropathy and migraines. I take other medications for that, but they have been insufficient. My neurologist prescribed this to help further treat my neuropathy and it DID work. I had no idea how bad my migraines were until nortriptyline reduced them almost down to nothing, unfortunately it made my depression much, much worse, and I also spent several days very, very angry. We tried both the 25mg and 10mg dose. After stopping the medication it took about 2-3 days to be back to my previous “normal”. I wish the negative effects hadn’t been so severe, because it worked great for pain."

• Oodle...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• November 28, 2015

"My psychiatrist prescribed me this drug after my neurologist had put me on it for migraine prevention after I was on 20mg of Prozac for 15 years for depression and anxiety. I was on a low dose for my migraines so decided to give it a go. I take 100mg at night and the side effects, mainly irritability, was by far the most disturbing. I felt like I could've beaten anyone up and felt so aggressive! Told my doctor and he added Vistaril and Seroquel. This trio helped me greatly and although it did take almost 8 weeks for everything to even out, I now feel SO SO much better!! Prozac was always my go to SSRI but Nortriptyline really pulled through for me in the end since it helps prevent migraines, help my depression, and anxiety!"

• goodn...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 6, 2016

"I used to take quetiapine to fall asleep at night, but when I started to take nortriptyline I had to stop using it because these two meds interact. the doctors told me that nortriptyline would help me sleep at night, too. it doesn't. i have to wake up at 7 every morning for work, and I honestly can't remember the last time I fell asleep before 0200 in the morning. the side effects of this medication are way more intense than any other meds I've tried. it does help a litte bit with anxiety, but my depression hasn't improved."

• Angel
• Taken for less than 1 month
• August 16, 2018

"This medication absolutely killed my mood and motivation. It also triggered severe acid reflux. I have GERD and hadn't had this bad of a flare up in 10 years. I suffered through it for 10 days and took Zantac but when I was dry heaving by the end of every meal, and continuously had heartburn so painful I cried, I gave up. No more tricyclics for me."

• AlexTS
• April 28, 2017

"Negative: took the full dose of 125mg (Allegron) for 3+ months for depression. No effect whatsoever. Started to taper off about a month ago, went fully off about two weeks ago: very annoying withdrawal side-effects: night sweating, and now one of a sudden also stomach problems (minor but very annoying) and mysterious dizziness, uneasy feeling in the whole body, palpitation and overwhelming fatigue and numbness. Would not recommend at all."

• Sally...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 29, 2020

"I’ve taken SSRIs for many years to control anxiety but got depression the past year after a few stressful events. My dr couldn’t increase my SSRI anymore as I’m on max dose so she added on nortrip as apparently the combo is really good. I started on 20mg but was still struggling with insomnia from my depression so it was increased to 40mg. It’s wonderful and I no longer feel any depression. However, the side effects of TCA’s are much more noticeable to me than SSRI’s which is really frustrating. I get constipated, dry mouth, bad sunburn and sun sensitivity and cannot tolerate any more than two alcoholic drinks. Doesn’t make summer holidays very fun lol. However, it does work very very well. I’d say better than SSRIs. So I’m going to stay on it but I do hope to come off it one day unlike my SSRI (escitalopram) which I will happily stay on as I get no side effects."

• Daddy...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 27, 2022

"I have been 8 weeks on 50mg nortriptyline once daily. 41yr old male. I’ve taken almost every SSRI out there. When starting I was very sleepy for about 5 days then it leveled off. Anxiety is better, depression is better, the feeling of impending doom has subsided. No constipation or insomnia. I'm still not real motivated to do much but it’s easier to make myself get up! The only real side effect is heart burn, good luck!"

• Cml
• Taken for less than 1 month
• March 31, 2020

"I was put on Nortriptyline for my depression and anxiety, but up to now it did not help yet. The only thing it does help with is sleep, 30 minutes after my dose I get extremely tired and get knocked out, and after 10 hours of deep sleep I wake up still very tired. Also very hard to get orgasm which is a frustrating side effect. Which I never experienced with any SSRI. Phenelzine also has this side effect but less than Nortriptyline If it wont give me any relief in 2 weeks for my depression and anxiety my doctor will put back to Nardil / Phenelzine 90mg, This has very few side effects and at least gives decent positive effect."

• rando
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 31, 2020

"nortriptyline works great for TRD (treatment resistant depression). Gave me a break from the relentless nightmare I was experiencing. Seemed to not do much for anxiety at all, and maybe even make it a bit worse. Side effects were not fun though: inability to lose weight, softening of pecs, heart flutters, dry skin, migraines anything above 25mg, and brutal sun sensitivity. Like absurdly bad sun sensitivity. SPF100 to walk to the mailbox and back and still have red swollen cheeks twenty minutes later. Ultimately had to discontinue due to this as I can't sit in the dark forever. But worked better than any SSRIs/SNRIs by faaar."

• FranS...
• May 17, 2016

"So far, so good. I've been on medication for anxiety & depression since Dec. 2000 & after a few years it seems that the medication stops working. Newly dx'd w/Epilepsy. Hence, the increase in anxiety & depression. I will admit that I was having a really bad day & out of desperation I took this (had it but never took it)--& it squashed the anxiety. (I know clinically better) Epilepsy & Estrogen don't mix well. I'm not thrilled w/another pill but so goes the old..."do you want to be right or happy?" I'll take the latter."

• Shari
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 7, 2016

"Day 1: Took my first dose of 25mg last night about 2200ish. I was still wide awake at 0100. This morning I awoke feeling angry and irritated....reading many of the comments here this seems to be an issue with this medication. I have had 2 failed back surgeries and am trying to avoid the fusion every Dr has said I need. The failed surgeries have made me extremely fearful. I have never ever in my life experienced anything so painful in my life. In 2000 a microdiskectomy and laminectomy led complications. A meningocele the size of a football on my lumbar region. Spinal fluid coming out my nose and ears. My head was going to explode. Now I am willing to try anything to avoid surgery. I'll try this for a few weeks... we will see"

• Yorkie...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 4, 2021

"I had been using Desipramine for depression since 1995 and it had worked very well for me. In 2020 it was changed to a Tier 4 drug so I decided to try something else that was less expensive. My doctor recommended Nortriptyline (Tier 3) and I began taking it four weeks ago. I am 72 years old and in the last four weeks I have developed a SEVERE case of adult cystic acne !!! Enough Nortriptyline for me."