Nortriptyline - anyone have experience with it?

Post Reply New Topic

Wasn't sure where else I should post this. I hope here is the right place.


My doctor was considering putting me on it as a replacement for Effexor, which is killing my sex drive. for reference I am also on Lamictal and Geodon. I began a taper schedule, going down on effexor, but then we had some concerns about the Nortriptyline and decided to wait on it. The concerns are about the side effects, which appear to be more of what I get from Geodon. Things like overheating/heat stroke if i exercise in hot weather, urine retention, excess sweating, dry mouth, shakiness, enlarged prostate, tiredness...and other unpleasant things. The doctor said that Nortriptyline would help a lot with depression but not with anxiety. Then later he said it *would* help with anxiety after all. He said initially that a lot of teens get prescribed Nortriptyline and like it because it doesn't hinder sex drive and the instance of side effects is low. He also said it wasn't supposehed to make me tired like the other meds in its class. And then after I expressed concern about the side effects (after I read up on them) he said I should wait on this medication and go back up to normal on Effexor.

He's told me in the past that the problem wiht the more effective meds is that they have the worse side effects. His relative indecisiveness about the Nortriptyline is disconcerting. If Nortriptyline isn't an option then I'm kind of SOL because I've been on nearly everything else. I could in theory stay on effexor but that would mean i wouldnt be able to think clearly enough to do anything productive with my life and I'd have to put up with a mostly suppressed sex drive.

Have any of you had experience with Nortriptyline?

I have. It was not a positive experience but I was given it at age 14. What happened to me is it essentially made me a blank slate. So much so that I have very little memory from the time I was on it, but my parents saw what was happening and took me off of it. They said I was like a robot while on it. My experience with this drug has basically shaped my views on mind altering substances in that 1: I don't trust them, and 2: I won't use them.

I am not saying for you to not take this drug or that it won't work for you. I am just telling you about my experience with it as you asked.

Have you been on tricyclics before? Did you check out the crazymeds page on 'em? Er, it's a frame, so I can't post the link, I guess..
Well, if you go to crazymeds you can go to the link on it: http://www.crazymeds.us/ I'm sure someone on the forum there has been on it before.

I just read that since you posted it. SOunds unpleasant. Generally the way it goes for me is that if there is a chance of a side effect, I will definitely get it.

I have been on literally everything else available. The remaining alternatives are things like kelation therapy, diet modification, acupuncture, "alternative medicine" which i don't put much faith in, and ECT. My bro has done a bit of research on ECT and strongly suggests it because of the refinements they've made to the treatment and its apparent success rate. I am considering it only as a last resort. I need to d *something*.

Thank you for your input.

Now I feel kinda guilty.. crazymeds tells you about all of the side effects, but it doesn't mean that you're always going to get them.. especially not the rarer ones. If you look through at other medications you've been on, it can help you gauge what's likely. Like, if you've been on other things that have the same side effects, and got off them because they didn't work rather than because of the side effects, than you might not be particularly prone to those particular side effects. Sometimes you take something that can have nasty side effects for one person, and it doesn't for you. Effexor can have some pretty nasty side effects itself... might want to read up on what he has to say about that one. It's also VERY difficult to get off of.

What do you consider "alternative medicine" to be? There are certainly forms of alternative medicine that are very effective, but that depends on definition, I guess. Things like exercise and diet could be considered alternative. Do you consider things like eating omega-3s, walking outside, or taking melatonin to help with sleep to be alternative medicine?

Well historically i tend to get most of the side effects listed for any given medicine. I get most of the more benign side effects Effexor causes as well as some of the more serious ones, and yes it is difficult to get off of.

By alternative i mean homeopathic and herbal, bach flowers, and other whackiness. I already eat omega 3 in fish oil pills, and melatonin to help with sleep. Good stuff. The getting outside thing helps with depression a little but not much. Exercise, similarly helps a little but not much, though more when its done outside. The debilitating anxiety is not dealt with by either.

I've been on it for years, along with Paxil and Klonopin. I've never had any problems at all with it, but it does make me sleepy so I take it only at night. These meds seem to be the ones that finally work for me, I was on alot of other ones, Prozac turned me into a suicidal lunatic. Still waiting on that wonderful cure-all pill for "life"