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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 8 of 8. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 11:43:00
I know that Effexor can cause jerking of legs and body. It usually only happens to me at rest. When I was on XR 75mg it was very mild and managable. Now I'm up to XR 150mg and it's getting worse. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that any day over the major depression I was in, however, has any one had the same prblem? What medication works for this?
Posted by DebbieLynn on December 7, 2001, at 15:49:49
In reply to Effexor causing jerking, posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 11:43:00
> I know that Effexor can cause jerking of legs and body. It usually only happens to me at rest. When I was on XR 75mg it was very mild and managable. Now I'm up to XR 150mg and it's getting worse. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that any day over the major depression I was in, however, has any one had the same prblem? What medication works for this?
Hello
I have been on Effexor XR since April of this year. I have generalized anxiety disorder and depression. I started out on 37.5mg and slowly titrated up to 225mg. That was my "magical" dose. Anyway, I used to have a problem with the jerking you are talking about. It has gone away. It did, however take awhile to go away. I never took anything for it, I just tried to ignore it hoping nobody would notice it.You know not to get off your topic, but I remember seeing a lot of negative posts about effexor. I don't really see that many now. I was always a success story on effexor. I know there are problems with withdrawal symptoms, which I have experienced trying to change to another drug. Anyway...I was just wondering if Effexor has a better rep now. I see many more people trying it with success. It is kinda ugly when you first start up on it though!!
Hope I helped you some
Debbie
Posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 18:43:54
In reply to Re: Effexor causing jerking, posted by DebbieLynn on December 7, 2001, at 15:49:49
Thanks Debbie.
I too was a success on Effexor. So good that after 2 1/2 years I thought I didn't need it any more. About 3 months ago I slowly managed to wean myself off (with some withdrawl symptoms) and after 6 weeks, I found myself suffering my second major depression. Never again! I will stay on whatever it takes to get me better again. This is such an awfull disorder!
I work at a pharmacy as a technician, I've seen this drug precribed more often than Prozac now. There must be some merit to that.
Thanks again for your help....I'll try to keep that in mind!
Tim> > I know that Effexor can cause jerking of legs and body. It usually only happens to me at rest. When I was on XR 75mg it was very mild and managable. Now I'm up to XR 150mg and it's getting worse. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that any day over the major depression I was in, however, has any one had the same prblem? What medication works for this?
>
>
> Hello
> I have been on Effexor XR since April of this year. I have generalized anxiety disorder and depression. I started out on 37.5mg and slowly titrated up to 225mg. That was my "magical" dose. Anyway, I used to have a problem with the jerking you are talking about. It has gone away. It did, however take awhile to go away. I never took anything for it, I just tried to ignore it hoping nobody would notice it.
>
> You know not to get off your topic, but I remember seeing a lot of negative posts about effexor. I don't really see that many now. I was always a success story on effexor. I know there are problems with withdrawal symptoms, which I have experienced trying to change to another drug. Anyway...I was just wondering if Effexor has a better rep now. I see many more people trying it with success. It is kinda ugly when you first start up on it though!!
>
> Hope I helped you some
> Debbie
Posted by Willow on December 7, 2001, at 19:23:43
In reply to Re: Effexor causing jerking, posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 18:43:54
Tim
I've taken mirapex and there's another one that isn't as strong (levodopa sp?). The levo one did nothing and the mirapex undid everything the effexor had been doing. I have had the jerks before the effexor, though it worsened them. When I do anything physical my muscles start twitching.
I do take baclofen at night, which is a muscle relaxant, and it doesn't stop the jerks. Codeine knocks me out and I'm able to wake up more refreshed.
Hope this is of some help!
BEST WISHES
Willow
Posted by JohnX2 on December 7, 2001, at 21:40:20
In reply to Effexor causing jerking, posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 11:43:00
> I know that Effexor can cause jerking of legs and body. It usually only happens to me at rest. When I was on XR 75mg it was very mild and managable. Now I'm up to XR 150mg and it's getting worse. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that any day over the major depression I was in, however, has any one had the same prblem? What medication works for this?
This is a "too much serotonin kills dopamine"
problem.The standard treatments are dopaminergic meds:
-mirapex,bromocriptine,anti-parkinson medsAnother approach is to block the serotonin
receptors causing the problem:
add on a med that blocks the serotonin 5ht-2 receptor:
- Remeron,Serzone,Trazodone,Zyprexa to name a few.Kloponin also works (at least it solved the
problem for me and damned fast,
my RLS was quite severe on Effexor).-john
Posted by Noa on December 9, 2001, at 12:36:14
In reply to Re: Effexor causing jerking » Timbuk2, posted by JohnX2 on December 7, 2001, at 21:40:20
For me, Effexor (Paxil did too--even worse for me) causes random muscle twitches (myoclonus) as well as restless legs, mostly at rest for both. The twitching was eliminated by Serzone. I now take more Serzone than Effexor, having adjusted the dosages many times to find the right balance. But I still had the fidgety restless legs--during the day expressed by need to shake leg, at night expressed by urgent need to kick legs--only temporarily suppressible--making going to sleep impossible. It would also wake me up a lot. This is helped by taking a benzo. I had been taking klonopin, which my pdoc said was known to address this kind of thing. But I found klonopin too long acting. I would take a very small dose (1/8 to 1/4 mg)and still have a hard time waking up in the morning. So now I am giving ativan a try. Also a small dose (1/4 mg) and seems to work, without as much difficulty getting up in the morning.
My pdoc also mentioned dopamine agonists (like mirapex, I think), as mentioned by others in this thread.
Posted by Pamela Lynn on December 12, 2001, at 18:55:13
In reply to Effexor causing jerking, posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 11:43:00
I had the exact same thing happen when I went to a higher dosage of effexor....it should subside...Possibly something like Clonopin could help you if the jerks are really bothering you? My hubby takes the Clonopin for periodic limb movement...It works very well....good luck, keep me posted.P.L.
> I know that Effexor can cause jerking of legs and body. It usually only happens to me at rest. When I was on XR 75mg it was very mild and managable. Now I'm up to XR 150mg and it's getting worse. Don't get me wrong, I'll take that any day over the major depression I was in, however, has any one had the same prblem? What medication works for this?
Posted by Timbuk2 on December 13, 2001, at 17:52:39
In reply to Effexor causing jerking, posted by Timbuk2 on December 7, 2001, at 11:43:00
Thank-you all for your input! I will talk to my doc about all your suggestions. It's been 4 weeks now since my re-occurence of depression.
I am getting better. It takes a long time and seems like it's taking forever, but that's all part of it. I'm up to one day at a time (from one hour at a time) I got better once before, and will beat this again!Thanks all!
Tim
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