Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS) Discussion Board

what is the general concensus (did i spell that right?) of amitriptylin? i use 100mg at night along with .25 mirapex and it works good for me.

Hi there MtnMad (nice nic!)

You must be one of the lucky exceptions to the rule!

Although there are no specific guidelines for the use of anti-d's in treating RLS, they are generally used in the same doses as for depression, only in our case, to help us get some much needed sleep!

Amitriptyline belongs to the oldest family of anti-d's; the tricyclics - which have a tendancy to worsen RLS symptoms more often than help them.

I myself am currently using Amitriptyline (for the sleep reason) and have been up to a dosage of 70mg per night; having started at 10mg per night for 10 days, then up to 20mg for 10 days, then to 30mg and so on. At the start, I was using this drug by itself, but after about 4 weeks was finding myself titrating myself upwards by 10mg every 4-6 days, which in the end, with my RLS history (loooong story) was starting to suspisciously look like it could be the cause of my problems so I started titrating back down again and started supplementing it with another drug, cabergoline in an attempt to calm my legs down, but it has pretty much been to no avail.

I'm in a real quandry at the moment, as I am unsure if it was the Amitriptyline that caused the relapse in my RLS, or if it was the sudden change from cold dry winter to hot humid spring. Sucks being your own guinea pig sometimes!

Well, that's my experience with it. I'm not sure how many others here have used it or are using it. Hopefully you will get some other responses.

Take care of you!

well, i do know this, if i dont have at the minimum the amytriptline, i will not sleep. the mirapex kills the pain in the nerve races down my legs. but, i am going to try something new. the nerve races are only about 18 months old, so, after looking at the situation, i am going to try and change my orthotics to updated ones and see if that helps with the pain. who knows, i may be barking at the moon, but you know, one must try! by the way, my daughter shows signs of it at age 12...........

hey its lyndarae, Amitriptaline(spell) was the first antidepresent they put me on in 87. About a week after they put me on it my restless leg was so bad they put me on klonapin.. So it didnt work well with me at all, but we are all diferent Thank GOD************************Lyndarae