For the relief of symptoms of depression.
Endogenous depression is more likely to be alleviated than are other depressive states.
Dosage should be initiated at a low level and increased gradually, noting carefully the clinical response and any evidence of intolerance. For outpatients 75 mg of amitriptyline HCl a day in divided doses is usually satisfactory. If necessary, this may be increased to a total of 150 mg per day. A sedative effect may be apparent before the antidepressant effect is noted, but an adequate therapeutic effect may take as long as 30 days to develop. An alternate method of initiating therapy in outpatients is to begin with 50 to 100 mg amitriptyline HCl at bedtime.