Last Updated on August 3, 2022 by
Alternative to Meds Editorial Team
Medically Reviewed by Dr Samuel Lee MD
Table of Contents:
- Historical Notes on Amitriptyline and Fatalities by Suicide
- Gradual Amitriptyline Tapering and Titration
- Guidelines on How to do Amitriptyline Tapering Properly
- Alternative to Meds Center Amitriptyline Tapering and Amitriptyline Titration
- Toxic Drug Treatment vs Natural Amitriptyline Tapering Methods
- Amitriptyline Tapering Programs at ATMC
Alternative to Meds Center has helped many who needed help with amitriptyline tapering and has provided great relief for those who have had difficulty finding a facility that can correctly administer safe weaning, and titration.
The Alternative to Meds Center inpatient programs are designed to allow the client the opportunity of getting off amitriptyline (and similar drugs) safely and gently, in a nurturing social setting.
Does Your Diagnosis
Require Amitriptyline?
Alternative to Meds has been an antidepressant tapering support resource for over 17 years. We have published evidence demonstrating our success. Much of our population has had outlandish symptoms that were completely misunderstood by their medical provider. Not only are we professionals in amitriptyline weaning but many of our staff learned the pain of all of this through similar sufferings.
When amitriptyline came onto the market in the 1960s, it was hailed with a wave of enthusiasm, in stark contrast to medical opinion today. Shockingly, amitriptyline was named “the gold standard of antidepressants” in 2001 (issue #278) by the British Journal of Psychiatry. Today, amitriptyline is more known for the documented number of fatalities by suicide connected to this drug. Amitriptyline is ranked #1 for deaths by suicide, as well as quite a host of other problems. Amitriptyline is one of the antidepressants known as TCAs, or tricyclic antidepressants, and is believed to be so toxic by many in the healthcare field today that it is often considered an antidepressant of last resort, rather than the aforementioned gold standard.1
Testing for neurotoxicity followed by gentle effective 
Before Alternative to Meds, there were few truly helpful resources for those who were hopeful about amitriptyline tapering and recovery treatment. There can be a level of despair over the unresolved burden of chemical dependence. Amitriptyline weaning does not have to be torturous if one can find the right kind of help. Trying to quit amitriptyline by oneself without competent assistance is sometimes too difficult for success. Amitriptyline weaning can be arduous and near impossible without understanding how to lessen and avoid the physical and mental stress that can accompany the process.
According to clinical studies that have been done over the last 6 decades, amitriptyline is among a handful of antidepressant drugs that are believed to be extremely toxic to human neurochemistry.2 Even so, amitriptyline has been marketed over the last 60 years for many purposes apart from depression and anxiety. Dogs and cats now are prescribed amitriptyline as a pain killer after surgery or if a pet is exhibiting “separation anxiety” when their owner leaves for work in the morning. Humans are also prescribed amitriptyline “off-label” for an ever-lengthening list of conditions including treating insomnia, back pain, preventing migraines, fibromyalgia, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, and one of the more disturbing ones — treating bedwetting in very young children, and this despite the FDA black box warning that states amitriptyline hydrochloride is not approved for pediatric patients.4
