[Anna]

I believe I would not be alive were it not for anti-depressants. I began taking them about 8 years ago and will continue for the rest of my life. I have stopped taking them twice and never, ever experienced any problems stopping. But, withing ten days, I find myself curled up under the blankets unable and unwilling to get out of bed. I have absolutely no side-effects. However, I did have side-effects from two anti-depressants that I tried and it was third one that worked for me. The side-effect I had was restlessness/restless legs, so sleeping was really difficult.

It is also a fact that some antidepressants are used for pain management. Amitryptiline, an anti-depressant has been investigated as a pain reliever and appears to be the most popular anti-depressant analgesic. Certain kinds of pain have been found to respond favorably to anti-depressant administration. I have fibromyalgia and coincidentally amitriptyline helps with the pain.

I have also used Tylenol 3 for migraines. Tylenol 3 contains codeine which is addictive. I suspect that if you began taking two a day, it wouldn't be too long before you needed 3 or 4 to achieve the same feelings that you had, because the effect of the codeine would be lessened as time goes on. And, I know from reading on this board that withdrawl from codeine is absolutely brutal and very difficult. I believe, the reason drs do not prescribe pain medication readily, is because narcotic pain medication, like Tylenol 3, is highly addictive.