Member Comments are provided by individuals and reflect their personal opinions only. Under NO circumstances should you act on any advice or opinion posted in this forum. ALWAYS check with your personal physician before taking any action regarding your health! MedHelp International and our partners, sponsors and affiliates have no obligation to monitor any comments posted on this site, or the content and/or accuracy of such exchanges. MedHelp International does not endorse the views of any user.
I had been taking elavil for 8 years for irritable bowel syndrome. In late 2007, increased dosage from 35 mg. to 50 mg. This caused constipation and within a few months a thick sticky saliva with a horrid taste in my mouth. For months I was misdiagnosed with acid refluxGastroesophageal reflux disease Gastroesophageal reflux in infants Hiatal hernia repair Reflux nephropathy Vesicoureteral reflux and finally went to the Cleveland Clinic where they had seen this thick saliva and horrid taste from elavil - this was diagnosed by a neurologist who prescribes elavil for headaches and has seen this side effect/result.
The diagnosis was dry mouth syndrome(xerostomia) caused by elavil. By the time I got to Cleveland in September, has reduced dosage over 3 months from 50 mg. to 25 mg. I was told to get off the drug very slowly. I reduced by 2.5 mg. per week (over 10 weeks) and use ativan to help with the withdrawal - I try to take as little ativan as posible because I don't want to get hooked on this - take .25mg at bedtime and .125 mg 2-3 times per day. I realize that this low dosage may not be enough to ameliorate the withdrawal symptoms.
I have now been off of the elavil for 12 days. My withdrawal symptoms are terrrible at times and vary daily - dizzy, headache, nausea, thick saliva and taste, tremors - usually have the "shakes' in the morning, some bowel discomfort.
When can I expect to start feeling better - what if anything can be done to relieve the withdrawals symptoms or hasten the drug out of my system? I would have thought I would have started to feel better by now - this is really negatively impacting my quality of life.