Does Nortriptyline Cause Stomach Upset And Diarrhea?

Question: I might have taken 2 Nortriptyline by accident--couldn't remember if I took it so I took another. I was feeling really good but the next day felt unsettled and today I have an upset stomach and diarrhea. I also took Melatonin each night which I didn't realize I shouldn't--about 8 mg. each night. I have only been on Nortriptyline since this past Monday. What do you think? I am on it for depression and felt a difference for the better right away. So, it is disappointing not to feel well now. Thank you for your help. s it more likely to be a reaction to the Nortriptyline?

Thank you, Dr. Parakh. That gives me hope regarding the Nortriptyline. I am feeling better now and took a capsule of Nortriptyline about an hour ago. I read somewhere to take it an hour before bedtime. Do you agree with this?

I respond very quickly to most medication and am feeling so much better than I was a week ago.

I'll let you know tomorrow how I feel. I have my fingers crossed. Thanks so much.Actually, one more thing. I had a panic attack for the first time about this time last year. Because of my sensitivity to anti-depressants, my doctor prescribed Xanax. I take up to 3 mg. a day. I have left a very stressful work environment and this is feeling really good. My hope is to let go of the Xanax gradually. Do you recommend working with a psychiatrist to do this? Since I started the Nortriptyline, I am feeling less anxious and depressed. It's quite remarkable. Thank you again.

Thank you, Dr. Parakh. This is very helpful. I was going to see a psychiatrist but my GP said he could help me. I was already occasionally using the xanax and with the resistance to my body to anti-depressants, he agreed to prescribe xanax. It is isn't ideal, I know that. I am making an appointment with a psychiatrist regarding the tapering of xanax, but I appreciate your advice not to make changes in it for now until I am feeling much better.

One issue I am dealing with right now that is painful is my daughter-in-law who my therapist feels is borderline. Interestingly, we get along so well most all the time, and then a few a times a year things go awry. Having just left a job that I had been at for 26 years, and the feeling of loss that went with it, it was especially hurtful to have her pull back from me. She is expecting a third child in August and we had been invited to the birth. I also had been invited to help homeschool the other two children (4 1/2 and 2 1/2)--preschool Waldorf. But I was disinvited after the first week. She felt she wanted to do it herself, and indeed when I was there I did feel a bit like a fifth wheel. Being a seasoned first grade teacher, it was difficult not to be able to collaborate. Though at first hurt, I am making a big effort to come from a higher and loving place and just be grandma. Actually, with the borderline sensitivities, it probably is wise to begin any endeavor with her very slowly. But this is why I began the Nortriptyline as I felt like I hit a wall emotionally with the loss of one job and this this.

It has been a hard week, but I am seeing the light and am grateful that I have been able to tolerate the anti-depressant. I have had diarrhea again this morning, no cramping, just diarrhea. I wonder if the combo of Nortriptyline and Xanax have something to do with this--as Nortriptyline is apt to cause constipation.

Thank you again. XXXXXXX

Thank you so much, Dr. Parakh. I feel so lucky to have found you. THis is what I texted the two of them this a.m. The conflict revolves around her perception of my being rude to her--not something that I perceived as that at all. But still, it hurt her and she felt invalidated. I know Marsha Lineman, who does so much around BPD, talks about how important validation is to a BPD, something I am usually very good at with her. I was frustrated that morning at myself, around the craft table, for not being to figure it out. I thought it was funny. She told me to put the book (with instructions) away. It was said without a please.

Dear ones. I love you and yours dearly and would so appreciate being forgiven for anything I said or did that hurt you. I deeply respect the work you have done to create a peaceful, regulated and loving rhythm in your home and lives. It would mean so much to hear from you and be reassured that I am loved and can have some grandma time with Hudson and XXXXXXX Please trust that my love and respect for you runs very deep. I did feel hurt at first but trust that things will work out/evolve as they are meant to. I love you and would love to resolve this lovingly with you. Joan/Mom

Then I added in another text:

I guess what I am asking for is to in a sense start over. I will come from a higher place--perhaps more relaxed and settled from the year. I would love to come over Wednesday and Friday. xoxo

(Wednesdays and Fridays were the days she'd determined I could come over for grandma time after homeschooling time. The homeschooling days for me the week before had been Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday. Overall, I see now that it was too much too soon after finishing up with my job the previous Friday afternoon. Any insight is deeply appreciated, Dr. Parakh.)

Such wise advice, Dr. Parakh. Thank you so much. I do agree that validation is important for us all. Yesterday, I left a phone message for my son saying that I am by nature an optimist and always hope that things will work out/resolve themselves. And I said I am letting go and leaving it up to them to contact us--giving them whatever space they need. He texted me later and asked me out to lunch today. Then, this morning, about a half hour before I was to leave, I got a text saying my daughter-in-law doesn't feel well and that he would need to meet later in the day. But I have tutoring too close to that time. I texted back and said "the 11:30 time is better for me with tutoring, so let's meet another day. Thanks for being in touch and hope XXXXXXX feels better soon. xo" Then I felt such fatigue around the drama in their relationship and how her up and downness/drama touches our lives as well. She can be so wonderful and also so difficult--but definitely wonderful. I do agree that I need to begin to relax and enjoy the free time that I have. My husband and I were just talking about how an unstructured time could feel good--time to tutor, to have days off again with my husband, to have lunch with my son and with friends, to take a memoir writing class with a friend, to begin to dream about our move to northern California. But I do need to let go. When I said I was "letting go" in the text yesterday, I felt freer than I have for six years since he met her in his first year of law school. She was pregnant within 2 months. My husband was diagnosed with stage four throat cancer two months later. He is fine now, but the past several years have been at times so magical with the grandchildren and sometimes so dark with her spinning down. But if I let go, and go on about my life, I think more balance will come. I have an EMRD session in about an hour. Have you heard about that? It helped me process and get rid of my fear of my boss really quickly and the fear didn't return. Now I want to process my feelings about leaving my job--that I used to love so much, and moving on with my life. Thank you for "listening."

I left that text in the afternoon because I received a very long text from my son reiterating his wife's hurt feelings, though he never said they were his feelings too or that he sided with her, but he did say that she needs space (something he shared with my husband the week before) and who knows what that means. Her mother and a cousin her mother is close to go months without talking when upset with each other, and one time they went 10 years. I have told both of them several months ago that I do not want this to be the pattern in our family. We must talk and resolve issues and get back to love. My son definitely has this mindset and will not doubt prove to be so helpful with all of this. But responding by saying I am letting go and leaving it up to them does feel good and as you said, puts the ball in their court. Goodness, life is school as one therapist said to me. A former nun, she said, "Life can be heavenly, but it is not heaven. Life is school."

I have suffered from PTSD--and the very difficult past two years at work (at a job I have utterly loved) has triggered the PTSD. So I am finding the EMDR to be very helpful. One, in eliminating my fear of the school director. In my first EMDR session, it became clear that there was a link between my fear of her and my father. It was an incredible experience and truly healing. I can say I no longer fear her. Today I had a session around my father--he came up when I was focusing on feelings of worthlessness since I've retired (earlier than I'd hoped) from this job. My dad came up immediately--around unkind things he said during/after molestations. But curiously, the session ended with my father telling me (I guess in my heart) that he had been wrong, that I had been a beautiful little girl and that I was priceless. My father passed several years ago, and I had a strong sense that in passing he met God and chose to be healed. So after years of therapy, I went full circle and forgave my father. But the EMRD has shown me that abuse still has left me with triggers, fears and this therapy is helping to heal those. I was looking for a therapy that had a strong body, mind, spirit connection, and I think that EMRD, for me, does this. And I think that my daughter-in-law's misconceptions of me hurt as they do in part because of my past. We will deal with her next session. Thank you so much, Dr. Parakh, for your insights. Both my husband and I are very impressed and grateful to you.

Yes, the EMDR is amazing when dealing with PTSD. This morning I woke up at peace with work and grateful for the twenty-six years I had there, twenty-three with the present director. I do feel it is a good thing that I have retired and I am enjoying the tutoring. I credit the EMDR session with helping to resolve this.

Now I will deal with XXXXXXX And I trust, that if I can resolve my feelings about the director, I can come to a more settled place around XXXXXXX my daughter-in-law. This could be another very good thing to come out of a difficult past two weeks.

Thank you so much, Dr. Parakh.