Both amitriptyline, an antidepressant, and acupuncture, a Chinese medical approach that uses needles to relieve pain, have been used successfully to reduce pain in some people. It is not known how effectively these approaches relieve or reduce pain in patients with peripheral neuropathy secondary to HIV infection.

Patients are randomized to receive either standardized point acupuncture or alternate point acupuncture treatment twice weekly for the first 6 weeks, then once weekly for the next 8 weeks, plus either oral amitriptyline or placebo daily for the entire 14 weeks. Acupuncture points are located on the lower leg. Patients are evaluated at weeks 6 and 14 and are asked to keep a daily pain diary.

Inclusion Criteria

Concurrent Medication:

Allowed:

• Antiretroviral therapy.
• Nonsystemic treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma.
• Maintenance with an existing regimen of analgesic medication or herbal treatment.

Concurrent Treatment: Required:

• Acupuncture.

Patients must have:

• HIV infection.
• Lower extremity peripheral neuropathy secondary to HIV infection.
• Pain for at least 2 weeks prior to study entry.
• Life expectancy of at least 6 months.

NOTE:

• Co-enrollment in other experimental protocols is permitted as long as dual participation is allowed in those protocols.

Prior Medication:

Allowed:

• Antiretroviral therapy.

Exclusion Criteria

Co-existing Condition:

Patients with the following symptoms or conditions are excluded:

• Known allergy to amitriptyline (not applicable for patients at sites using an acupuncture only study design).
• EKG indicating malignant arrhythmia or cardiac conduction disturbances (not applicable for patients at sites using an acupuncture only study design).
• Prison incarceration.

Concurrent Medication:

Excluded:

• Active treatment for an acute opportunistic infection or malignancy (nonsystemic treatment of Kaposi's sarcoma is permitted).
• Other tricyclic antidepressants.
• MAO inhibitors.

Patients with the following prior conditions are excluded (not applicable for patients at sites using an acupuncture only study design):

• History of cardiac disease.
• History of seizure disorder.

Prior Medication:

Excluded within 2 weeks prior to study entry:

• MAO inhibitors.
• Tricyclic antidepressants.