Story My doctor might prescribe me amitriptyline

[SofterSoftest]

I've been struggling with insomnia for months and I finally tell my doctor that I need some help with sleep. Immediately, he starts cautioning me about the "addictive nature" of benzos and says he only prescribes like four at a time. Then he says he can prescribe me an alternative to treat my sleep "over months instead of days" and that the name of the drug is amitriptyline. Having been a healthcare provider in a previous life (my doctor knows this), I felt the entire conversation was incredibly infantilizing, but I said I would agree to amitriptyline - because I also know you can CTB on it.

Then I looked up the lethal dose of amitriptyline and in the PPEH it says I'd need 8-10 grams. Ugh. Knowing my doctor, he'll probably just prescribe 10 mg per day for a month, which won't even be a fraction of what I need.

Also, my doctor is embarrassingly incompetent because - even though doctors have been prescribing the drug for years to help with sleep - there's no research anywhere to support the idea that amitriptyline is effective for insomnia. Funny how doctors run on old wives' tales for years but can still claim their practice is based in "science".

 

[mondoCruel]

I've used amitriptyline for years, sadly I started tapering before I knew it was a good CTB method, it was the only thing that actually helped my insomnia

Might ask the doctor to "reinstate" it and I'll accumulate a few boxes. Over here, the pills come in 25mg with 50 pills. I've used 5 year old boxes stored in extreme heat and they feel the same potency

 

[SofterSoftest]

I've used amitriptyline for years, sadly I started tapering before I knew it was a good CTB method, it was the only thing that actually helped my insomnia

Might ask the doctor to "reinstate" it and I'll accumulate a few boxes. Over here, the pills come in 25mg with 50 pills. I've used 5 year old boxes stored in extreme heat and they feel the same potency

This is really helpful - thank you. Were you on amitriptyline for insomnia specifically? How long did your doctor agree to keep you on it? I might slowly store the pills if my doctor lets me 'stay on it' for a year or two.

 

[mondoCruel]

This is really helpful - thank you. Were you on amitriptyline for insomnia specifically? How long did your doctor agree to keep you on it? I might slowly store the pills if my doctor lets me 'stay on it' for a year or two.

I've been for like 15 years, yes for insomnia (I needed it). I never knew a shrink that gave a damn, they just want you to take the pills and shut up, I should have been weaned out of it way before I developed issues, but again, if you are a quiet patient they like you that way
Wouldn't be surprised if he wants you on more than 75mgs, I've heard some doctors are that insane. For a newbie, even 10mg is enough to kick you and feel the effect the whole next day.

A good plan would be, if he puts you in 10mg, say you don't feel you are getting good sleep (wink, wink) so he increases your dosage. If he plans to to wean you, tell him your sleep got worse. If he is like every shrink I've met, he'll keep you indefinitely on it

 

[HopefulButPrepared]

I've been struggling with insomnia for months and I finally tell my doctor that I need some help with sleep. Immediately, he starts cautioning me about the "addictive nature" of benzos and says he only prescribes like four at a time. Then he says he can prescribe me an alternative to treat my sleep "over months instead of days" and that the name of the drug is amitriptyline. Having been a healthcare provider in a previous life (my doctor knows this), I felt the entire conversation was incredibly infantilizing, but I said I would agree to amitriptyline - because I also know you can CTB on it.

Then I looked up the lethal dose of amitriptyline and in the PPEH it says I'd need 8-10 grams. Ugh. Knowing my doctor, he'll probably just prescribe 10 mg per day for a month, which won't even be a fraction of what I need.

Also, my doctor is embarrassingly incompetent because - even though doctors have been prescribing the drug for years to help with sleep - there's no research anywhere to support the idea that amitriptyline is effective for insomnia. Funny how doctors run on old wives' tales for years but can still claim their practice is based in "science".

im going down this route - it will take a year or so, but it's supposed to be better than SN

i may have a Amitriptyline private source to speed things up a bit - ill let you know

 

[befree]

I found this in a book:

"Although there are numerous cases of suicide with tricyclics alone, there are so many variables that they are not a first choice as a stand - alone self - deliverance drug. (...)

Amitriptyline acts differently with different people. Is is easy to class a drug as reliable or unreliable when the evidence is unstated or inconclusive, and amitriptyline has only been mentioned in passing in earlier editions of Five Last Acts since there are now methods such as helium for which clearer and more conclusive evidence is available. But, for one reason or another, some people will not always have so many choices. If you have few other options, and can swallow 5 or 6g (not milligrams!) of amitriptyline tablets, then at least you have that option. That is a lot of tablets, even crushed up. Your body weight is a factor in determining the lethal dose of this drug, so if you are very heavy you will need more (up to 7g)" (Five Last Acts - The Exit Path. 2015. S.363 – 365)."

Due to the possibly longer dying process it´s important not to be found for a period of at least 48 hours.

 

[SofterSoftest]

I found this in a book:

"Although there are numerous cases of suicide with tricyclics alone, there are so many variables that they are not a first choice as a stand - alone self - deliverance drug. (...)

Amitriptyline acts differently with different people. Is is easy to class a drug as reliable or unreliable when the evidence is unstated or inconclusive, and amitriptyline has only been mentioned in passing in earlier editions of Five Last Acts since there are now methods such as helium for which clearer and more conclusive evidence is available. But, for one reason or another, some people will not always have so many choices. If you have few other options, and can swallow 5 or 6g (not milligrams!) of amitriptyline tablets, then at least you have that option. That is a lot of tablets, even crushed up. Your body weight is a factor in determining the lethal dose of this drug, so if you are very heavy you will need more (up to 7g)" (Five Last Acts - The Exit Path. 2015. S.363 – 365)."

Due to the possibly longer dying process it´s important not to be found for a period of at least 48 hours.

Thanks - this is helpful. Actually, even when I was thinking about SN as my primary method, I still thought about booking a hotel room for 72 hours, just in case, so I would definitely do that with amitriptyline.

 

[befree]

You should also use an antiemetic and a benzo. I´m sending you the complete book by PM.

 

[SofterSoftest]

You should also use an antiemetic and a benzo. I´m sending you the complete book by PM.

I have a good antiemetic (meto, which my doctor prescribes me for something else), but sadly I won't be able to get my hands on any benzos. Fortunately, I've read that although it might take me a bit longer to lose consciousness without benzos, it is still very peaceful without them (I just have to wait up to an hour, instead of being knocked out in 10-15 minutes).

 

[Euthanza]

im going down this route - it will take a year or so, but it's supposed to be better than SN

i may have a Amitriptyline private source to speed things up a bit - ill let you know

Hi, your name is strike-through, are you still here?

 

[SofterSoftest]

Hi, your name is strike-through, are you still here?

Their name is a grey strike-through, which sometimes means the user has been banned. I might be wrong though.

 

[OverBeforeStart]

I've read that although it might take me a bit longer to lose consciousness without benzos, it is still very peaceful without them (I just have to wait up to an hour, instead of being knocked out in 10-15 minutes).

do you mind sharing the source that said that? I have Ami but no Benzos either. I never considered because I expected I would just get heart attack while awake. but if it's true then that lowers the drugs I need to just one the antiemetic.

 

[SofterSoftest]

do you mind sharing the source that said that? I have Ami but no Benzos either. I never considered because I expected I would just get heart attack while awake. but if it's true then that lowers the drugs I need to just one the antiemetic.

Unfortunately, my sources are just anecdotal. There's one account here on SS (I think from way back) of an amitriptyline overdose that made it seem fairly peaceful (the user reported just feeling very heavy and then passing out), and a few posts in less 'reliable' platforms like Quora. Amitriptyline definitely does have sedating qualities and is used as a sleeping medication, so I don't think you'd be able to stay awake with a huge dose of it, but sadly I'm not sure if there are exceptions to the rule.

Here is the account of amitriptyline OD that I was thinking of:

https://sanctioned-suicide.net/threads/my-final-amitriptyline-overdose.54092/#post-1549927

 

[m56sl]

Also, my doctor is embarrassingly incompetent because - even though doctors have been prescribing the drug for years to help with sleep - there's no research anywhere to support the idea that amitriptyline is effective for insomnia. Funny how doctors run on old wives' tales for years but can still claim their practice is based in "science".

Well in the field health care professionals have been hearing feedback on the drug that "by the way" this drug as also say helped with hair regrowth hello Rogaine and it has helped with sleeping. Sometimes the studies are behind the reality. In the industry it's known as "off-label" use when a physcian perscrubes a medication that hasn't been formally studied and approved for something but does seem to work.

 

[makethepainstop]

Well in the field health care professionals have been hearing feedback on the drug that "by the way" this drug as also say helped with hair regrowth hello Rogaine and it has helped with sleeping. Sometimes the studies are behind the reality. In the industry it's known as "off-label" use when a physcian perscrubes a medication that hasn't been formally studied and approved for something but does seem to work.

When it was available in the USA, it worked well for me for a very long time.

 

[Sad_Sack]

Doctors are largely a bunch of slobbering morons.

 

[m56sl]

Doctors are largely a bunch of slobbering morons.

I don't think so. You've had the wrong ones. I had a fantastic one for 25+ years before she closed her practice to help low income patients in a high income area. She could diagnois an illness in no time and if she couldn't she could point you right at someone who could.

 

[stilhavinightmares]

My doctor might prescribe it to me for headaches/migraines… I got so excited until I realized how many I would actually need. And suffer from headaches while collecting them.

 

[Sad_Sack]

I don't think so. You've had the wrong ones. I had a fantastic one for 25+ years before she closed her practice to help low income patients in a high income area. She could diagnois an illness in no time and if she couldn't she could point you right at someone who could.

Im glad you had one of the good ones but I stand by my statement that they are largely a bunch of slobbering idiots.

 

[oncebitten]

I get my amis in 50mg pills. Whilst they can be a good way to CTB if you fail or get found it is very unpleasant. Very. I spent a week hooked up to IVs (3 at a time) and was incredibly poorly, vomiting, shaking, horrendous head pain, my muscles in my legs became rigid and very painful. Tbh I was a mess and don't even remember the first 48hrs as I was intubated (have terminal lung disease so because amis affect breathing, mine was bad). I'd never do it that way again. I was sure I'd not be found as was in the local woods at 2am. I mean who walks their damn dog at that time?
Even now I have around 500 50mg pills hidden away (I've been saving for a couple of years) and I'm looking at alternatives as I never want to go through that again.

I'm now not allowed amid from my GP so have zopiclone instead so am saving them now as my respiratory consultant stated if I have to do it, they would be a more peaceful way, (you literally fall asleep, your breathing slows down and you die) As she knows I refuse to slowly suffocate over a long period of time, which is what I'm facing, so she knows I'm going to do what I need as assisted death isn't legal here

So now I have to slowly save these up. Thankfully not a huge dosage is needed for me though due to my lack of oxygen already

 

[oneeyed]

I get my amis in 50mg pills. Whilst they can be a good way to CTB if you fail or get found it is very unpleasant. Very. I spent a week hooked up to IVs (3 at a time) and was incredibly poorly, vomiting, shaking, horrendous head pain, my muscles in my legs became rigid and very painful. Tbh I was a mess and don't even remember the first 48hrs as I was intubated (have terminal lung disease so because amis affect breathing, mine was bad). I'd never do it that way again. I was sure I'd not be found as was in the local woods at 2am. I mean who walks their damn dog at that time?
Even now I have around 500 50mg pills hidden away (I've been saving for a couple of years) and I'm looking at alternatives as I never want to go through that again.

I'm now not allowed amid from my GP so have zopiclone instead so am saving them now as my respiratory consultant stated if I have to do it, they would be a more peaceful way, (you literally fall asleep, your breathing slows down and you die) As she knows I refuse to slowly suffocate over a long period of time, which is what I'm facing, so she knows I'm going to do what I need as assisted death isn't legal here

So now I have to slowly save these up. Thankfully not a huge dosage is needed for me though due to my lack of oxygen already

I also have zopiclone but not enough to ctb as I'm physically healthy and under 40. They do have a weird after taste and very bitter. Alcohol would probably be recommended to wash it down and help with the effects. Just don't drink too much where you get sick from that and vomit.

Food for thought.

 

[mondoCruel]

I get my amis in 50mg pills. Whilst they can be a good way to CTB if you fail or get found it is very unpleasant. Very. I spent a week hooked up to IVs (3 at a time) and was incredibly poorly, vomiting, shaking, horrendous head pain, my muscles in my legs became rigid and very painful. Tbh I was a mess and don't even remember the first 48hrs as I was intubated (have terminal lung disease so because amis affect breathing, mine was bad). I'd never do it that way again. I was sure I'd not be found as was in the local woods at 2am. I mean who walks their damn dog at that time?
Even now I have around 500 50mg pills hidden away (I've been saving for a couple of years) and I'm looking at alternatives as I never want to go through that again.

I'm now not allowed amid from my GP so have zopiclone instead so am saving them now as my respiratory consultant stated if I have to do it, they would be a more peaceful way, (you literally fall asleep, your breathing slows down and you die) As she knows I refuse to slowly suffocate over a long period of time, which is what I'm facing, so she knows I'm going to do what I need as assisted death isn't legal here

So now I have to slowly save these up. Thankfully not a huge dosage is needed for me though due to my lack of oxygen already

Do you remember how much did you took that time? Did they told you at what time were you found?

 

[m56sl]

Im glad you had one of the good ones but I stand by my statement that they are largely a bunch of slobbering idiots.

Completely subjective statement. I'd half believe you if you could back that up with some data(charts, graphs) of healthcare outcomes vs. say other countries.