Patient/caregiver was educated on precautions to be exercised while taking amitriptyline as follows:
- Amitriptyline takes some time to fairly balance the chemicals in the brain, before any improvement in mood and behavior are noted. It could take about 3 – 6 weeks to see this change in mood. So, do not discontinue taking the medication without consulting your physician, as you failed to see the improvement with depressive symptoms immediately after taking the medication.
- Amitriptyline use can sometimes increase the risk for deterioration and worsening of clinical symptoms of mood disorders. Continue taking amitriptyline, as recommended, even if your mood feels better and discontinuing the medication abruptly, without your physician’s recommendation, can result in disruption of chemical balance in the brain, resulting in worsening of mood disorder and severe withdrawal symptoms. Individuals can present with complaints such as, feeling low, anxiety, panic attacks, trouble sleeping, gross appetite changes, impulsiveness, agitation, aggression, hallucinations, mania, and suicidal thoughts. Report any continuing/deteriorating symptoms of mood disorder immediately to your physician, so that, a dose change or change in plan of care could be considered.
- As the balance between the chemicals in the brain has to be finely regulated to help relieve the anxiety and depressive symptoms and experience feelings of well-being, the dose of amitriptyline also needs to be finely regulated, in order to accomplish this goal. Your physician could change the dose of amitriptyline, based on the response and side-effects developed. Maintain compliance with follow-up physician appointments and be accommodative to the plan of dose changes, until you show an optimum response.
