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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 0:07:28
Has anyone experience this and do they know the name or causality?
When I take Lexapro or Zoloft or most other SSRI's at any dosage that is effective I experience fairly severe pains in all my large muscle groups. It resembles fibromylagia but is brought on by taking the SSRI's. My muscles particularly in my larger lower groups become stiff and they spasm, contract and hurt a great deal. Is this Dystonia a neurological side effect?
I would say although I'm not sure and will try experiementing tonight, but I think benadryl, skeletal muscle relaxants, and Trileptal the Carbamazepine like anticonvulsant all help. Problem is...I'm not interested in taking multiple meds to extinguish the side effect caused by one.
Can anyone offer some theories on what exactly is at work here?
Posted by vagen on February 6, 2003, at 5:46:53
In reply to Muscle Pain/Stiffness/SSRI Question. Please Help!, posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 0:07:28
Mr. Scott,
Do you think it might be a vitamin deficiency brought on by the SSRI’s?
While I was on Prozac I had pain like carpel tunnel syndrome, when I tried Paxil I had multiple sclerosis like symptoms with undefined pain in most muscle groups. I also had unexplained pain.
I did find tho, that if I took a strong vitamin, like a prenatal, it wasn’t so bad.
Also, I made a point to exercise somehow 5 days a week. If I didn’t the stiffness would get really bad. Hell, my feet even hurt.
I am not on pro or pax anymore : and it seems to have resolved itself, although I still wonder when I wake up stiff and sore if it is something else. (I am only 32).I have no theory to offer except that it might just be some deficiencies.
It took me a while to get the point. Sorry.
I am now trying Cogentin to get rid of the Risperidone side effects.
Now that is muscle tension!
Yikes.
Posted by jflange on February 6, 2003, at 9:48:11
In reply to Muscle Pain/Stiffness/SSRI Question. Please Help!, posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 0:07:28
Mr. Scott:
Somewhere on this board I just gave some similar advice:
I take Zoloft and experience the same problems you describe. It sounds like you are experiencing Potassium depletion, which makes muscles (especially in the legs) become stiff and spasmodic. The loss of Potassium is a known s/e of SSRIs, and I think it's worth a shot to try supplementing with Potassium to see if it alleviates your symptoms. Consider also supplementing with Magnesium, because it works in tandem with Potassium, and has a considerable effect on muscle tension as well.
Best of luck,
jflange
Posted by Ritch on February 6, 2003, at 9:58:28
In reply to Muscle Pain/Stiffness/SSRI Question. Please Help!, posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 0:07:28
> Has anyone experience this and do they know the name or causality?
>
> When I take Lexapro or Zoloft or most other SSRI's at any dosage that is effective I experience fairly severe pains in all my large muscle groups. It resembles fibromylagia but is brought on by taking the SSRI's. My muscles particularly in my larger lower groups become stiff and they spasm, contract and hurt a great deal. Is this Dystonia a neurological side effect?
>
> I would say although I'm not sure and will try experiementing tonight, but I think benadryl, skeletal muscle relaxants, and Trileptal the Carbamazepine like anticonvulsant all help. Problem is...I'm not interested in taking multiple meds to extinguish the side effect caused by one.
>
> Can anyone offer some theories on what exactly is at work here?Hi Scott, I get similar things, but the SSRI-induced pain I get is primarily in my joints, an arthritis like aching (lower back, ankles-arthralgia). However, I do get stiff neck muscles too. Effexor seems to be the least troublesome pain-wise (no arthralgia), but I get more muscle stiffness in my shoulders and the muscles in the *sides* of my neck. There has been speculation that SSRI's create mild EPS due to interference with dopaminergic function. I wonder if it is also possible that the muscle tension is due to being "wired-up" by taking them (a GAD-like muscle tension thing). The more activating ones did give me the most muscle tension (esp. Prozac). Hope you get some more responses I would like to read them, too.---Mitch
Posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 13:47:53
In reply to Re: Muscle Pain/Stiffness/SSRI Question. Please Help!, posted by vagen on February 6, 2003, at 5:46:53
Thanks for your posts!
Here's what I'd like to add. I take a multi-vitamin daily and regularly use magnesium at about 500-1000mg/day (sometimes I skip a day though). I will buy some Potassium today (thanks for the post). The pain and spasm is quite intense.
In my experiement last night it took 150mg (no joke!) of Benadryl to kill the pain and spasms and it worked except I awoke quite late today. Now Benadryl is like cogentin and artane and used for EPS, but that still doesn't necessarily rule out Ritch's GAD theory.
My question in the end would be something along the lines of "Given the fact I am quite depressed without an SSRI, would you continue to use them even though they caused dystonia or spasms that required anticholinergics?" Or would you switch to a tricyclic, or back to Effexor which gave me less muscle problems, but also had it's own host of perhaps lesser problems.
Let me know your thoughts, since I see a decision coming up for me fairly soon..
Posted by Ritch on February 6, 2003, at 22:29:01
In reply to Re: Muscle Pain/Stiffness/SSRI Question. Please Help!, posted by Mr.Scott on February 6, 2003, at 13:47:53
> My question in the end would be something along the lines of "Given the fact I am quite depressed without an SSRI, would you continue to use them even though they caused dystonia or spasms that required anticholinergics?" Or would you switch to a tricyclic, or back to Effexor which gave me less muscle problems, but also had it's own host of perhaps lesser problems.
>
> Let me know your thoughts, since I see a decision coming up for me fairly soon..
Scott, I *definitely* experienced EPS from Paxil, and wasn't surprised when that was noted as a reason to not prescribe Seroxat (1st line) as an AD in the British NHS guidelines. I got a *little* EPS with Celexa (tongue wag), and got stiff muscles right under my chin with Prozac and Celexa. Zoloft didn't do that, but I got restless legs and jaw "clench". I would suggest going to Effexor first (since it is most like the SSRi's). I got a little jaw "clench" from it, and the stiff shoulder/back of the neck thing, but no clearly EPS-like thing from Effexor. My favorite antipanic combo is a little Klonopin mixed with a little Benadryl. Also, I found nortriptyline to work quite nicely at canceling out the stomach volcanic effects of SSRI's and making me feel less restless. I didn't ask about Straterra at my last visit, but I wonder if low-dose Effexor+Straterra might be a nice deal.
This is the end of the thread.
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