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Dr. Andrew Rynne
MD
Dr. Andrew Rynne

Family Physician

Exp 50 years

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Suggest An Effective Alternative To Amitriptyline For Headache

My neurologist has diagnosed my headaches as occitcal neuraliga. He says the best treatment is a shot to the muscles in the back of the neck. He has given me Amitriptyline at 10 Mg and then in a week 20 Mg then up to 30 Mgs daily. At 10 Mg, I noticed no difference. At 20 Mg, still no difference, at 30 Mg I fell to sleep unknowingly. One day while driving my car, I actually crossed the center line and was headed for the ditch. Thank goodness there were no cars on that side of the road. When I last visited my Dr, he said reduce it to 10 Mg of the Amitriptyline and he will add a muscle relaxer morning and night. I am not a person who is in favor of a lot of chemicals in my body at once and wanted to ask your advice......is there some sort of medicine that works better than this one did or preferably, some sort of homopathic help??
Tue, 20 Dec 2016
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General & Family Physician 's  Response
Dear Sir, Hi & Welcome.
I can understand your concerns regarding the safety of the prescribed medication Amitryptiline for occipital neuralgia.

Based on the history given you seem to have developed side effects of Amitryptiline like dizziness, excessive sleep, and blurred vision. It may also cause dry mouth, constipation, weight gain, retention of urine, sexual dysfunction, increase heart beats, confusion and hallucination.

I would suggest Gabpentin or Carbamazepine along with Methycobalmine which are alternate effective medications & which do not cause the above side effects.

If there is no improvement with the above medications your treating doctor may advise occipital nerve block using an injection of a local anesthetic & a steroid drug. These are often quite successful in relieving the pain for several weeks or months at a time.

When combined with physical therapy, daily stretching and strengthening exercises, and other conservative measures, you can do well for many weeks or months at a time.

Hope the advice given above would be useful in getting relief from the pain.

Kindly rate the answers if you are convinced.
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Suggest An Effective Alternative To Amitriptyline For Headache

Dear Sir, Hi & Welcome. I can understand your concerns regarding the safety of the prescribed medication Amitryptiline for occipital neuralgia. Based on the history given you seem to have developed side effects of Amitryptiline like dizziness, excessive sleep, and blurred vision. It may also cause dry mouth, constipation, weight gain, retention of urine, sexual dysfunction, increase heart beats, confusion and hallucination. I would suggest Gabpentin or Carbamazepine along with Methycobalmine which are alternate effective medications & which do not cause the above side effects. If there is no improvement with the above medications your treating doctor may advise occipital nerve block using an injection of a local anesthetic & a steroid drug. These are often quite successful in relieving the pain for several weeks or months at a time. When combined with physical therapy, daily stretching and strengthening exercises, and other conservative measures, you can do well for many weeks or months at a time. Hope the advice given above would be useful in getting relief from the pain. Kindly rate the answers if you are convinced.