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Amitriptyline
3-(10,11-dihydro-5H-dibenzo[a,d] cycloheptene-5-ylidene)-N, N-dimethyl-1-propanamine IUPAC name
CAS number 549-18-8	ATC code N06AA09
PubChem 2160	DrugBank APRD00227
Chemical formula	{{{chemical_formula}}}
Molecular weight	277.403 g/mol
Bioavailability	40%
Metabolism	Hepatic
Elimination half-life	12-24 hours
Excretion	Renal
Pregnancy category	C[1]
Legal status
Routes of administration	Oral

Amitriptyline (or Amitryptyline) hydrochloride (sold as Elavil, Tryptanol, Endep, Elatrol, Tryptizol, Trepiline, Laroxyl) is a tricyclic antidepressant drug. It is a white, odorless (but tastes like licorice), crystalline compound which is freely soluble in water; it is usually dispensed in tablet form. In terms of its mechanism of action, amitriptyline inhibits serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake almost equally.

Contents 1 Mechanism of Action 2 Uses 2.1 Approved 2.2 Unapproved/Off-Label/Investigational 3 Side effects 4 Overdose 5 Footnotes 6 See also 7 References 8 External links

[edit] Mechanism of Action

Amitriptyline affects serotonin and noradrenaline reuptake almost equally.

[edit] Uses

[edit] Approved

Amitriptyline is approved for the treatment of endogenous depression and involutional melancholia (depression of late life, which is no longer seen as a disease in its own right),^[2] and reactive depression and for depression secondary to alcoholism and schizophrenia. Adult typical dosages are 75 to 200mg daily, with half this initially for elderly or adolescents.

It may also be used to treat nocturnal enuresis (bed wetting). Children between the ages of 7 to 10 years having a dose of 10 to 20 mg, older children 25 to 50mg at night. It should be gradually withdrawn at the end of the course, which overall should be of no more than 3 months.^[3]

[edit] Unapproved/Off-Label/Investigational

Amitriptyline may be prescribed for other conditions such insomnia, migraine, rebound headache, chronic pain, postherpetic neuralgia (persistent pain following a shingles attack), fibromyalgia, vulvodynia, interstitial cystitis, irritable bowel syndrome and as a preventative (prophylaxis) for patients with frequent migraines. Typically lower dosages are required for pain modification of 10 to 50mg daily.^[3]

[edit] Side effects

Common side effects of using amitriptyline are weight loss or gain, drowsiness, nervousness, and dizziness insomnia. Some rare side effects include tinnitus, hypotension, mania, psychosis, anticholinergic effects, heart block, arrhythmias, extrapyramidal symptoms, depression, and hepatic toxicity.

[edit] Overdose

Main article: Tricyclic antidepressant

The symptoms and the treatment of an overdose are largely the same as for the other tricyclic antidepressants.

[edit] Footnotes

[edit] See also

• Antidepressant
• Tricyclic antidepressant
• Amines
• Tranquilizing drugs

[edit] References

• PubChem Substance Summary: Amitriptyline National Center for Biotechnology Information.
• TREPILINE®-10 TABLETS; TREPILINE®-25 TABLETS South African Electronic Package Inserts. 12 May 1978. Revised February 2004.
• SAROTEN® RETARD 25 mg Capsules; SAROTEN® RETARD 50 mg Capsules South African Electronic Package Inserts. December 1987. Updated May 2000.

[edit] External links

• Link page to external chemical sources.

Antidepressants (ATC N06A) edit
Monoamine oxidase inhibitors (MAOI)	Harmaline, Iproclozide, Iproniazid, Isocarboxazid, Nialamide, Phenelzine, Selegiline, Toloxatone, Tranylcypromine
Reversible inhibitor of monoamine oxidase A (RIMA)	Brofaromine, Moclobemide
Dopamine reuptake inhibitor (DARI)	Amineptine, Phenmetrazine, Vanoxerine, Modafinil
Norepinephrine-dopamine reuptake inhibitors	Bupropion
Norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (NRI) or (NARI)	Atomoxetine, Maprotiline, Reboxetine, Viloxazine
Serotonin-norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor (SNRI)	Duloxetine, Milnacipran, Venlafaxine
Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor (SSRI)	Alaproclate, Etoperidone, Citalopram, Escitalopram, Fluoxetine, Fluvoxamine, Paroxetine, Sertraline, Zimelidine
Selective serotonin reuptake enhancer (SSRE)	Tianeptine
Tricyclic antidepressants (TCA)	Amitriptyline, Amoxapine, Butriptyline, Clomipramine, Desipramine, Dibenzepin, Dothiepin, Doxepin, Imipramine, Iprindole, Lofepramine, Melitracen, Nortriptyline, Opipramol, Protriptyline, Trimipramine
Tetracyclic antidepressants	Maprotiline, Mianserin, Nefazodone, Trazodone
Noradrenergic and specific serotonergic antidepressant (NaSSA) Mirtazapine

This page uses content from the English-language version of Wikipedia. The original article was at Amitriptyline. The list of authors can be seen in the page history. As with Psychology Wiki, the text of Wikipedia is available under the GNU Free Documentation License.