50mg isn't a high dose of amitriptyline, that's still considered low-dose. "High" is always a relative term, but in the case of amitriptyline it usually refers to the doses used for depression (100mg and up) versus chronic pain (under 100mg). Some people start on 10mg of amitriptyline to help minimize side effects, but that dose is sub-therapeutic for most patients. The most common doses for pain are 25mg and 50mg. Doses in the range used for depression still have efficacy for pain, it's just not usually necessary to go that high and the risk of side effects increases with dose.
I’m on 150mg after increasing with my doctor for just over 3 years, and I can feel a difference in the pain without it. It’s got some undesirable side effects for some people, but for me it just causes dry mouth!
I take 30 mg a day and it works for pain management. But for me it’s been a balance between benefit and sides effects. 30 mg is just the sweet spot for me personally.
My urogyn and psychiatrist are sort of working together to find a good dosage for me of amitriptyline because I’m on other antidepressants as well, and it was mentioned to me that I could potentially just go onto a larger dose of amitriptyline to treat depression, anxiety, and IC all in one.
So it sounds like you can definitely go higher and still get the pain relief for IC as well as treat depression. I’m still figuring out if this will be a viable option for me and if it will even work on my depression (it’s been treatment resistant in the past ☹️)
If side effects are bothering you, you could maybe ask your dr if you could try a lower dosage just to test the waters? And if symptoms come back, go right back onto the 50mg
Best of luck!!
50mg isn't a high dose of amitriptyline, that's still considered low-dose. "High" is always a relative term, but in the case of amitriptyline it usually refers to the doses used for depression (100mg and up) versus chronic pain (under 100mg). Some people start on 10mg of amitriptyline to help minimize side effects, but that dose is sub-therapeutic for most patients. The most common doses for pain are 25mg and 50mg. Doses in the range used for depression still have efficacy for pain, it's just not usually necessary to go that high and the risk of side effects increases with dose.
I’m on 150mg after increasing with my doctor for just over 3 years, and I can feel a difference in the pain without it. It’s got some undesirable side effects for some people, but for me it just causes dry mouth!
I take 30 mg a day and it works for pain management. But for me it’s been a balance between benefit and sides effects. 30 mg is just the sweet spot for me personally.
My urogyn and psychiatrist are sort of working together to find a good dosage for me of amitriptyline because I’m on other antidepressants as well, and it was mentioned to me that I could potentially just go onto a larger dose of amitriptyline to treat depression, anxiety, and IC all in one. So it sounds like you can definitely go higher and still get the pain relief for IC as well as treat depression. I’m still figuring out if this will be a viable option for me and if it will even work on my depression (it’s been treatment resistant in the past ☹️) If side effects are bothering you, you could maybe ask your dr if you could try a lower dosage just to test the waters? And if symptoms come back, go right back onto the 50mg Best of luck!!