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Suggest Ways To Deal With Side Effects Of Amitriptyline
Question: My gastro specialist prescribed Amitriptyline this week for intense abdominal chronic pain. He dd that after a colonoscopy and endoscopy. As I look at this on line I note that its primarily an antidepressant. I'm not happy about taking it although its helping the pain, mostly because I'm concerned about the weight gain side effect. Any thoughts? Weight gain will most definitely depress me. I am not a depressed person.
Brief Answer:
used in persons with no depression, need to monitor to prevent wt gain
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
You are right about the fact that it was originally intended to be used as an anti depressant.
It is not used as an antidepressant much anymore because there are a lot more effective drugs for depression(zololf, celexa, paxil, lexapro etc).
It is more commonly used now for pain management particularly chronic pain or neuralgia (nerve related pain).
In fact, many anti depressants and also anti seizure medications are used to treat these types of pain.
They are used in persons with no history of depression or seizures , just pain because they are helpful in that area.
Anti seizure meds like gabapentin, lyrica, tegretol , valproic are all used to treat pain in persons with no seizures what so ever.
In terms of weight gain, meds can cause weight gain in different ways: (1) by increasing appetite
(2)by decreasing energy level and therefore exercise and activity
(3)by affecting metabolism
(4)by affecting satiety - fullness after a meal
It may not be possible to do anything about the last two but if you notice any increase in appetite or decrease in activity then you can consciously monitor what you eat and make sure to be as active as possible.
If you use foods/drinks that would not be associated with weight gain (fruits and vegetables, healthy salads as snacks and with each main meals, water for drink) and are as active as you can manage , then weight gain should not occur.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
used in persons with no depression, need to monitor to prevent wt gain
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
You are right about the fact that it was originally intended to be used as an anti depressant.
It is not used as an antidepressant much anymore because there are a lot more effective drugs for depression(zololf, celexa, paxil, lexapro etc).
It is more commonly used now for pain management particularly chronic pain or neuralgia (nerve related pain).
In fact, many anti depressants and also anti seizure medications are used to treat these types of pain.
They are used in persons with no history of depression or seizures , just pain because they are helpful in that area.
Anti seizure meds like gabapentin, lyrica, tegretol , valproic are all used to treat pain in persons with no seizures what so ever.
In terms of weight gain, meds can cause weight gain in different ways: (1) by increasing appetite
(2)by decreasing energy level and therefore exercise and activity
(3)by affecting metabolism
(4)by affecting satiety - fullness after a meal
It may not be possible to do anything about the last two but if you notice any increase in appetite or decrease in activity then you can consciously monitor what you eat and make sure to be as active as possible.
If you use foods/drinks that would not be associated with weight gain (fruits and vegetables, healthy salads as snacks and with each main meals, water for drink) and are as active as you can manage , then weight gain should not occur.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
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Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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