Living with fibromyalgia

As a patient with chronic pain , I have to try out different painkillers and antidepressants to manage my pain. Most of these medications, especially the antidepressants, have side effects that include increased dependence and, therefore, can cause withdrawal symptoms . Depending on the duration and the dosage of the medication, these symptoms can range from a mere inconvenience to brutal and long-lasting  health problems. I myself faced tremendous difficulty while trying to wean myself off an antidepressant called amitriptyline . Like many of its counterparts, amitryptiline also has drowsiness as one of its side effects. Consequently, insomnia as a result of withdrawal from amitriptyline was a major problem for me. From a high of 75 mg, I was able to reduce the dosage to 25 mg at the rate of 5- 10  mg every fortnight without much trouble. However,  reducing dosage from 25 mg onwards was a nightmare - no pun intended. I starte...