Amitriptyline for Chronic Daily Headache+ Migraines?

Hi everyone,
I have had a continuous headache and at least 8 migraine attacks for the past three weeks. They feel more like spasms shooting up from the back of my head, sometimes pulsates, sometimes jabs, sometimes involve eye pain, and alternates between both sides of my head. I am waiting for an appointment to see a neurologist so in the meantime I just keep going to my family doctor. I had a CT scan without contrast at the hospital, showed nothing, so they gave me IV of a muscle relaxant + anti-nauseant and sent me home.

Tried so far: tramacet (tramadol+tylenol), naproxen, advil, tylenol, tylenol + codeine+ caffeine and imitrex. Nothing has worked.

So my doc prescribed Amitriptyline (elavil). I started at 10mg for 7 days and I am now taking 20mg and it is day 10. Headache pain still here (some spasms throughout the day). The drowsiness and dry mouth side effect I can handle but it seems to have increased my heart rate and increased my anxiety (leading to a few panic attacks) as well.

My question is: has anyone tried Amitriptyline and it worked? how long does it take to work and at what dosage? I am just concerned that the anxiety is being caused by Amit. and I don't want to keep taking it if it does not work. Also if I keep taking it, and it does not work, then I will have to deal with the withdrawal symptoms. Please help, I need advise. :(

[Dolphinleiker]

Hi there, I have taken amitriptyline but it was for sleep aid due to cluster headaches along with tizinadine.  The dosage is 25 MGM stopped taking due to trying to get pregnant.. It's a good sleep aid but as for headaches not so much.

[Trixx123]

Thank you for your reply. Did you find another medication that was a better preventive for headaches? So far I'm not seeing much improvement, headache still there but I have only taking this for 11 days. I'm on 20mg now and I still only sleep about 6 hours a night....

[Skippybebop234]

I tried the amitriptyline for several months, it seemed to help me, in that it calmed my anxiety a bit and helped me sleep. However, it began to change my moods and made me groggy all the time. Amitriptyline and the like can help lessen your stress, sleep pattern triggers, and there are other meds and even natural remedies that can help with these as well. If your current med is really bothering you and your headaches are the same, I think you should tell your Dr and maybe he can give you another triptan, like Nortriptyline. This other triptan is milder and might be better to help soothe your nerves until you can see a specialist.

At this point, honing in on your triggers might be the first step to your getting some relief.
If you can answer yes to one or more of my following questions, you might be closer to the cause of your crippling pain:

Are you living/working in a high stress environment?
Do you hold your head crooked, like in a bad chair over a desk for long hours?
Do you sleep on a couch with the TV on? (even if for a few hours)
Do you eat lots of chocolate?
Are your mealtimes sometimes skipped, or different day by day?
Are your sleep patterns constantly changing?
Do you need coffee to get going through the day?
Do you eat fast food, canned food, food that comes in a box (like hamburger helper or rice dishes) more than twice a week?

Migraines are strange things, for the pain comes from triggers that (before your headaches really took off) might never have caused a thing. If no meds are helping, you might want to hunt down the cause and do your best to eliminate it (or lessen, as in the case of stress.)


I have had crippling migraines all of my life and meds only help when you become fully aware of your triggers. I can help you with what I've learned if you want to know more.

[Lilseamonkey]

Ive literally tried everything. My last straw was last time at the er they gave me a coctail of reglan benadryl and toradol. Reglan gave me severe panic attacks. Im currently taking lortab for them and it helps but i stress too easy and I dont want to be high every other day lol. Please inbox me about the amitriptyline and if it helped! Im pretty desperate

[Trixx123]

An update: headache still ongoing- 3.5 weeks continuous
Thank you for your suggestions for looking into triggers. I have been keeping a headache journal trying to keep track of symptoms and what I eat but I have not found a trigger yet. I am light sensitive these days so I try to avoid being in too bright rooms or watching tv much.

I am still taking amitriptyline at 20mg, it has been a little over two weeks. My doctor insists that I stay on it for a couple of weeks longer to see if it is working. I have noticed that it has lessened the pain a bit, though I am still getting 1 or 2 migraines (?) a week. I have not had a headache free day yet. I wonder if this is the best I can expect from the meds, lessen the pain, or if I'll actually have a headache free day...

@lilseamonkey Have you tried a migraine preventative med yet? You mentioned you have tried everything. I'm new to these headaches/migraines but from researching online, I have found that there are a lot of meds used as migraine preventatives such as anti-depressants, beta-blockers, anti-seisure meds and calcium channel blockers. Amitriptyline is the first one I've tried, it seems to have lessen daily pain... but I am having anxiety and increased heart rate as a possible side effect. Different ppl respond differently to meds though, so maybe speak to your doctor about it?

[Dolphinleiker]

To replace amitriptyline I take Benadryl to help me sleep and it works now.

[Trixx123]

@Dolphinleiker It's good that you found a med that works for you. Unfortunately, I am not taking Ami for sleep but for the 24/7 headache that I have been having. From reading other people's experience with Ami, I thought it was going to help with sleep as well. Sleep is the only time when I don't feel my head hurting. :(

4.5 weeks since headaches began.... 3 weeks on Amitriptyline, headache still here. The pain feels different, a bit less severe and at times feels like a burning pain at the back of my head. I'm giving the Ami a couple more weeks to see if there's anymore improvement....