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Please help, I am obsessed with MS

by Jenny Wren, Dec 13, 2006 12:00AM
I can't take it anymore, these weird feelings are driving me nuts.  Everyday of my blessed life, as soon as my eyes open, theug crawling sensations start, then the buzzing sensations under my skin.  Started taking Prozac again, 20 mg did absolutely nothing, upped the dosage to 40 mg, I keep getting these cold feelings, like someone is injecting ice water in my veins, they are everywhere, but the worst is in the face.  If this is just anxiety, then why aren't these feelings going away?  I had a normal brain, c-spine, lumbar MRI, they feel that these symptoms are not enough to test for MS any further.  I have no weakness, numbness, bladder or bowel problems, vision is fine, heat doesn't affect me, Does anyone else have this?  I'm at the end of my rope!!!  HELP!!!!!!
Member Comments (27)

by Lightwise, Dec 13, 2006 12:00AM
To: Jenny
Hi Jenny, I am so sorry you feel so bad ... I will pray for you. Did you see the post I started with the title ANXIETY ? LET'S MAKE A LIST OF SYMPTOMS AND TESTS TAKEN TO HELP EVERYONE. Check it out, it shows how many symptoms can be produced by anxiety. I'm not saying I know that's what your experiencing. I am also trying to rule out physical causes of symptoms. My next test will be for Lyme disease. Once that is ruled out, I am going to focus all of my efforts on alleviating my anxiety.

You don't have to be in the middle of super anxious feeling to feel the symptoms ... a lot of the anxiety is rooted in one's subconsciuos. Even the heading of your post gives away how stressed you are. I can totally relate. Hang in there because you deserve better !

by chcnme, Dec 14, 2006 12:00AM
To: Jenny
I just came across your note and thought I'd offer some suggestions.  Sorry you're having such a tough time.  I'm wondering  - have you been diagnosed with MS  (Multiple Sclerosis), or do you just think you have it?   If so, then these sensations can indeed occur with MS and can be helped.  If, however, you have not been diagnosed with MS and did not notice these sensations prior to beginning Prozac (which is an SSRI) then these sensations could very well be related to the Prozac.   If you have MS and these sensations got worse, then your doctor may want to adjust your medications.  



If you do not know if you have MS or not, and if you were on a different antidepressant prior to Prozac, then these sensations could be coming from a combination of withdrawal from the last antidepressant one beginning another.  This is not uncommon.  Some patients are found to be "intolerant" to the class of antidepressants called the SSRIs.  They react badly to them and complain of sensations all over their body; typically they complain of shock sensations in the head area with buzzes, shock sensations, and cold sensations running under their skin.  



My advice (regardless if you have MS or not)  is get to the doctor who is treating you for your symptoms and who prescribed the Prozac.  Do not stop taking the Prozac abruptly (do not stop any antidepressant abruptly or on your own.)  Do not become discouraged if these sensations do not go away when / if the doctor weans you off the Prozac.  Sometimes they last for a while (sometimes even a few months), but they will eventually go away once the drug is stopped, in most cases.  



Best of luck.

by Jenny Wren, Dec 14, 2006 12:00AM
To: chcnme
Hi there, no I have not been diagnosed with MS.  My brain and c-spine MRI were normal.  These sensations were here before I started the Prozac.  It just seems that the same sensations that I had prior to taking the Prozac became worse, and a few new ones occured.  My doc feels that after 8 years of symptoms that because this all started after I started having anxiety issues, that its anxiety since all my tests have been normal.  I also suffer from migraines so I have been told that you can have weird sensations like this without a migraines also.  Thanks for the help.  Do you think that maybe the Prozac needs to be slowly stopped and maybe take something else?

by chcnme, Dec 14, 2006 12:00AM
Hi Jenny, I can tell you this much from a professional and personal experience.  I was a psych nurse (director of nursing from 1994 through 2000) until chronic illness took me out of my career.  I have not practiced nursing since 2001 due to those health reasons but had worked three major psychiatric facilities prior to having to take leave and go on disability.  I have seen a slew of patients both in in-patient and out-patients settings diagnosed with and being managed for depressive / anxiety disorders.  Loved my job.  At any rate, my health problems created terrible depression and anxiety in me.  I had some of the typical tingling sensations going on  (not uncommon with anxiety), but NOTHING that would match the degree of buzzing that began once they started me on Prozac. They started me out on 20 mg, and for a while I thought I felt better, but the anxiety (and the strange sensations) got worse, and the depression got worse, too.  So, they bumped me up to 40 mg, and I thought I was going to go nuts with the funny feelings.  I was convinced I had MS at that time.  I knew that SSRIs could cause some strange sensations but I never knew to what degree until they put me on Prozac and I experienced it personally, and I honestly thought I had MS.   We (me and doc) finally pinned it down to the Prozac  (this kind of hypersensitivity to Prozac is not that unsual.)  It took almost 8 months for the buzzy sensations to stop in me, and they got worse before they got better.  They got worse when they stopped the Prozac,  then they got better when they put me back on it, and then worse, and it was just a H*** ride, actually.   But I knew  (as did my doc)  that it was the Prozac.  I had to be tapered very very VERY slowly for over a period of about two months.  Even when I finally got all the way off I still had occasional buzzes for a month or more.  I haven't had those sensations since 2003.  It was an awful feeling.  But I knew what it was from (but I only knew because I was familiar with it from my job.)  



So back to your question or my personal opinion (and based on what I had heard patients complain of and what I would eventually experience as a patient myself)  I would tell you - yes, see if your doctor will be willing to evaluate you for hypersensitivity to Prozac and NOT dismiss these buzzy sensations you are having and possibily begin a taper and start you on something else.  It could very well be the Prozac  (and probably is.)  You can tell him/ her you met a psych nurse online who has told you about SSRI intolerance and the syndrome that some patients do indeed have while on this medication.  



But anyhow...when I read your note  (I was just passing through today - had never been here)  your note just made me remember so distinctly my fear of having MS (and it was Prozac).  After I wrote my first note to you here earlier today,  I scrolled down to see if I could find anymore from you.  I think I saw in a previous note where the doc had tried in you to adjust the Prozac dose before, and that is fine, but if it's not working, and if they (docs) don't think you have MS or a neurological deficit / syndrome, then these buzzy sensations could be clearly nothing BUT the Prozac, and you deserve to know that Prozac can cause this.



And by the way, I feel fine now.  No more buzzies.  No more wondering if I just stepped on live wire :)  Best of luck to you.  If you are having more of an anxiety issue vs. a depressive one, Prozac is OK for anxiety, but it's usually better for treating depressed patient  (it's more of a stimulant and tends to aggravate anxiety disorders.)  I'm not trying to tell you on-line  (by any means) that your doc has prescribed the wrong med, but if Prozac isn't helping you, or if you are having these sensations that are getting worse, this is affecting your mental health (would affect anyone's well-being) and you deserve to be tried on something else  (and to be told that these sensations can happen with Prozac.)  Your doctor needs to tell you this,  and if the doctor hasn't, well - that would a shame.  



I hope you will begin to feel better soon.

by Jenny Wren, Dec 14, 2006 12:00AM
To: chcnme
Do you think it anxiety, being that the sensations got worse with the Prozac then?  Have you ever heard of these sensations when someone is experiencing anxiety/worry?  I appreciate the post that you wrote.  Its nice to know that there are certain people in the worl who tries to give their best when some one is in need, I thank you very much.  Now, do you think I could have MS, and what is a good med instead of the Prozac?  Thanks again, Jen

by chcnme, Dec 15, 2006 12:00AM
To: Jenny
Hi Jenny.  Thank you.  I think in your case - if you have been worked up by neuro with negative testing so far - these sensations you are having  (regardless of their origin and regardless if you have an anxiety disorder) could be intensified by the Prozac.  I truly can't say whether it's "just anxiety"  or if it could be MS.   But I can say that it is not uncommon for Prozac to create more anxiety and to cause these sensations that mimick MS.  



If you have no component of "clinical depression" or depressive symptoms, your doctor should not be reluctant at all to try you on something other than Prozac or add something to the current regimen (if they keep  you on Prozac)  to help you with the anxiety,  and also - I think the doctor needs to consider withdrawing you from the Prozac altogether.  You could very well be in the population of patients who are SSRI intolerant and who should not take SSRIs.



I don't know if you are satisifed with your current doctor or not, or whether or not you have a good relationship with him or not.  If you aren't satisifed, then I think you need to tell him you are not and that you would like to try something different.  I think you should mention "SSRI intolerance"  to them.  Let them know you think these symptoms could be stemming from the Prozac and that it is NOT just "anxiety".



It looks as if you have been worked up and the doctors are boiling this down to "anxiety".  If you are still having these sensations, you deserve a medication adjustment (in my opinion) and possibly they need to consider weaning you off the Prozac totally and trying something else. This can be tricky with SSRIs if you cannot tolerate them.  The withdrawal will cause the buzzy sensations, and if they simply start another SSRI, the buzzes will not go away.



As far as other medicines, there are numerous medicines that can be  (and usually are)  given in addition to antidepressants when the patient has an anxiety disorder.  You need to ask your doctor about these.  Ones that come to mind right off the top of my head are Remeron, Risperdal, Trazadone.  (and there are so many more, too).  There is, of course, the benzos to treat anxiety (Valium, Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin), and these are very good, but these are also highly addictive and you need to be closely monitored on these drugs and need to watch out for "abuse". You need to be ever so aware of their addictive properties and their potential for misuse and abuse.



Are you seeing a psychiatrist?  Is the doc who prescribed this Prozac a psychiatrist or psychologist?  If not, then I would strongly urge you to get under the care of one.  If so, then talk to this doc about a possible medication adjustment in you.  If the doctor won't consider it keeps dismissing your symptoms as all "anxiety", I would urge you to get a second opinion.  



Best of luck to you!

by Jenny Wren, Dec 15, 2006 12:00AM
To: chcnme
Hi there, I am going to speak to my doc today about trying something else.  About a month into the Prozac I started getting these cold feelings in my face, they would only last a few seconds, but they went away for about 4-5 days, now last night it came back.  I took a 1/2 of a .25 mg xanax before I went to bed, since I can't fall asleep until the wee hours of the morning, then I get up with my son at 7