I have previously battled withdrawal syndrome that lasted for years from taking Sertraline and doing too quick a taper. It slowly got better.

Recently, I was prescribed Amitriptyline 10 mg. I was wary of taking it, but I ended up taking 1 mg using a liquid solution, thinking such a low dose couldn't cause too many problems. But now, a lot of my symptoms are back and I feel a bit hopeless. It was 4 weeks ago. Symptoms are shifting burning sensations in my body, akathisia, completely broken sleep, sweating, dizziness etc. How long can I expect this reaction to last? I feel very foolish for taking this kind of medication again.

Welcome to the forum!

 

This is a volunteer-run, community forum aimed at helping those who are tapering and/or experiencing difficulties with psychiatric medications and withdrawl syndrome. We are not medical professionals and cannot offer medical advice. We simply offer support and opinions which you could use as talking points with a medical provider knowledgeable in withdrawing off psychiatric medications.

 

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Thank you for updating your signature, that helps to keep things clear.

I'm so sorry to read about the tough time you've had recently you will find plenty of support here for sure.

 

In the mean time this is what I would do if I were you:

 

-Stay Hydrated 

 

-Eat a good clean whole food diet, avoiding processed foods and sugars.

 

-Stay away from caffeine, alcohol and antihistamines and any other psychoactive substances.

 

Supplements are to be avoided initially, as they often irritate our nervous systems. Try to get your nutrition through food.

 

Down the line, you may wish to introduce Fish Oil and Magnesium. Those who can tolerate them have found them calming to the nervous system. Be careful try one at a time and start low and see how you get on should you choose to try them.

 

A daily walk is very important as much as you can manage, if you can manage it. Gets you your fresh air and Vitamin D does wonders for your mind!

 

As for how long this might last, it is difficult to say. People having difficulties for a long time after just one pill are not totally unheard of, however this is very uncommon and my hope would be that in time you begin to slowly improve. This might not be linearly.

Nobody can put a definitive timeframe on it I'm afraid, but it is likely that in time you will begin to improve. You're familiar with withdrawal syndrome, and presumably you recovered from this in time? Your body has clearly demonstrated that it can sort this out and recover, it just needs the space, time and grace to do it again.

You are very welcome here and I hope you find the site supportive.

10 minutes ago, Lenny said:

I have previously battled withdrawal syndrome that lasted for years from taking Sertraline and doing too quick a taper. It slowly got better.

Recently, I was prescribed Amitriptyline 10 mg. I was wary of taking it, but I ended up taking 1 mg using a liquid solution, thinking such a low dose couldn't cause too many problems. But now, a lot of my symptoms are back and I feel a bit hopeless. It was 4 weeks ago. Symptoms are shifting burning sensations in my body, akathisia, completely broken sleep, sweating, dizziness etc. How long can I expect this reaction to last? I feel very foolish for taking this kind of medication again.

Sorry to read this. These drugs are not the answer. Not to WD, and not to lifes problems. I understand it can be tough sometimes. Don't beat yourself up about it though will you! Your body will settle down again in time. We can't say how much time unfortunately, but it will!

We are glad you found us! We are here to help each other. 😀

If you have some time and want to, write some more about your journey, so we can get to know you a little better.

Chippy

Thanks so much both of you. I know it will settle over time, just as I recovered a lot from protracted withdrawal. But I just have a hard time accepting at the moment that I "did this" to myself again. I thought 1/10 of a pill was safe to try and see if my CNS was still too sensitive or whether I could benefit from the medication. But I should have taken just 0.10 or something or, better yet, stayed entirely away from this kind of medication.

Apparently, when Im severely depressed I don't think clearly enough about these matters and take stupid risks. I have learned my lesson, hopefully, and it's a very painful one. At the moment, one of the biggest problems is that I can barely get any sleep because of symptoms. But I try to use all the techniques I have read about here and elsewhere to support sleep.

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

Thanks so much both of you.

It’s a pleasure. Wish there was more we could do.

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

better yet, stayed entirely away from this kind of medication.

This would be best. I suspect your nervous system is so very sensitive still.

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

Apparently, when Im severely depressed I don't think clearly enough about these matters and take stupid risks.

Do you think you had recovered? Could this depression just have been a wave?

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

But I try to use all the techniques I have read about here and elsewhere to support sleep.

I know how tough that one is early on. Main thing is to trust your body to get you the sleep you will need. It might not feel good, but it will be enough. Avoiding second fear is key with sleep.

No, I don´t think I had completely recovered so I might have been in a wave partly triggered by family problems. But I did have these depressive episodes long before I ever touched any psychotropics.

Im just shocked such a small amount can kindle my symptoms to this extent.

9 minutes ago, Lenny said:

No, I don´t think I had completely recovered so I might have been in a wave partly triggered by family problems. But I did have these depressive episodes long before I ever touched any psychotropics.

Im just shocked such a small amount can kindle my symptoms to this extent.

Yeah this was my thinking, once destablised I think it can take some time to be fully back to normal.

I know, it really doesn't take much unfortunately. Brains good at sorting these things out though, it will be ok. Just needs time.

I know Im impatient, but I just feel desperate for some stability at this point. Particularly in terms of sleep. 3 straight nights of completely broken sleep takes a big toll. I actually slept quite a bit better in the initial weeks than now when Im 4 weeks out. Wish I had a timeline but I know no one can give me that.

Hey @Lenny just wanted to stop by and say I’m sorry you are feeling bad again. I hope that you get sleep and some relief soon.

42 minutes ago, Lenny said:

I know Im impatient, but I just feel desperate for some stability at this point. Particularly in terms of sleep. 3 straight nights of completely broken sleep takes a big toll. I actually slept quite a bit better in the initial weeks than now when Im 4 weeks out. Wish I had a timeline but I know no one can give me that.

It's fair enough! Those acute phases are not nice! There is no sugar coating it. My first couple of weeks off, Im not sure I slept hardly at all. Awful. Even now after 2+ years my sleep is very broken. I get plenty of it. But it's always broken. I feel for you. But as you know, this will pass. I hope it passes quickly for you.

20 hours ago, Lenny said:

Thanks so much both of you. I know it will settle over time, just as I recovered a lot from protracted withdrawal. But I just have a hard time accepting at the moment that I "did this" to myself again.

Sadly, the time is all there is. In the meantime, all you can do is take care of yourself as best you can.

Hopefully it isn't significant lengths of time and you stabilise fairly quickly.

Try not to beat yourself up, but I do suggest avoiding psychiatric drugs for the rest of your life. If you don't tolerate them, it's very risky.

Thanks a lot for your kind words, all of you! I will try to be patient and let time do the work. I had a night of pretty decent sleep after three terrible nights, so that gives me a bit of hope. I think one magnesium glycinate an hour before bedtime might be helping me "power down" and sleep with fewer symptoms. I will try and see if one magnesium capsule with my breakfast as well might help me during the day, if my body tolerates it okay.

1 hour ago, Lenny said:

Thanks a lot for your kind words, all of you! I will try to be patient and let time do the work. I had a night of pretty decent sleep after three terrible nights, so that gives me a bit of hope. I think one magnesium glycinate an hour before bedtime might be helping me "power down" and sleep with fewer symptoms. I will try and see if one magnesium capsule with my breakfast as well might help me during the day, if my body tolerates it okay.

Pleasure, glad the Magnesium helped. Sleep is good :)

Status at 3 months is that I still have a lot of symptoms, like nerve pain, burning and electrical feelings in body and head, muscle twitches, flu like sensations, brain fog, hypersensitivity, not-great sleep etc. Intensity is lower than in the beginning so there is gradual progress, but it is very slow. Still in disbelief at how badly I got kindled by such a tiny amount.

It's good that you can notice progress, hopefully this will begin to accelerate at some point.

17 hours ago, Lenny said:

Intensity is lower than in the beginning so there is gradual progress, but it is very slow.

This is a very good sign. Unfortunately the healing process is just this, slow. Hang in there more to come.

17 hours ago, Lenny said:

Still in disbelief at how badly I got kindled by such a tiny amount.

It shocks me too. I only took Mirt for 6 weeks and then CT, the effect it has had on me has been life changing. I still find it hard to fathom some days.

Thanks for your encouragement and for all the work you do on the site. Hope you are experiencing progress as well.

Yeah, I badly overestimated how much I had healed and what my CNS would be able to tolerate. Even minimal doses are not at all safe for me. I think it's safe to say I shouldn't ever take my chances with drugs that mess with neurotransmitters, no matter how much my symptoms have subsided.

16 hours ago, Lenny said:

Thanks for your encouragement and for all the work you do on the site. Hope you are experiencing progress as well.

Pleasure on both counts @Lenny, Very up and down, I do feel quite positive some days I am seeing progress. Such a long non linear process.

16 hours ago, Lenny said:

I think it's safe to say I shouldn't ever take my chances with drugs that mess with neurotransmitters, no matter how much my symptoms have subsided.

Yeah I agree. We should not be touching these drugs anyway, but now, absolutely not. I'm not sure I will ever go back to drinking alcohol even tbh, not sure it's worth the risk.

Very glad to hear you are seeing (non-linear) progress and feeling okay! Im sure this will continue to be the case. Hope the same goes for you, Luke.

On 6/23/2026 at 3:05 PM, Lenny said:

Thanks for your encouragement and for all the work you do on the site. Hope you are experiencing progress as well.

Yeah, I badly overestimated how much I had healed and what my CNS would be able to tolerate. Even minimal doses are not at all safe for me. I think it's safe to say I shouldn't ever take my chances with drugs that mess with neurotransmitters, no matter how much my symptoms have subsided.

I don't think that there's any safe level of doing that.

Some are lucky, some are lucky until one drug turns on them.

Yeah, you are very right about that. In hindsight, it was a bad gamble on my part to think I could tolerate a low dose. I was just not thinking clearly.

Edited June 25Jun 25 by Lenny

Sorry to hear you're in this situation @Lenny

Thanks for the support. Hope your tapering proces is going as well as it can at the moment, and that the waves are manageable!

20 hours ago, Lenny said:

Yeah, you are very right about that. In hindsight, it was a bad gamble on my part to think I could tolerate a low dose. I was just not thinking clearly.

It's not your fault, these drugs are ubiquitous, especially in western societies, and they're heavily marketed as being safe by the pharmaceutical companies that make billions from them.

Thank you. It takes a lot effort for me to stop the self-blaming. Yeah, they really are being offered to you everywhere in the health care system.