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Questions posted in the
Neurology and Neurosurgery Forum have been answered by doctors from The Cleveland Clinic Foundation.
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Subject: Re: Myoclonus Caused by SSRI's After taking Prozac in March, 1998, I've had several problems such as spinal myoclonus, tingling in arms, legs, and face, headaches, fatigue, etc. I was told by every doctor I saw that Prozac was not causing this. But, on the MGH Neurology Forum I came across others who felt SSRI's caused neurological-like problems. I tried taking Zoloft for about a month and went off of it a couple of weeks ago. While on it, my right leg gave out on me while I walked, a problem I've had off and on since this all began in March. In November I tried a treatment suggested by my doctor at Mayo's: 1000mg of a cortisone/steroid (Methylprednisolone?) administered intraveneously for 5 consecutive days. After the teatment my symptoms went away for about 2 weeks and then came back and due to the semi-success of this treatment, my Mayo's doctor thought this was probably an autoimmune system disorder that they were unable to detect with all the tests they performed on me. My questions now are 1)was this caused or set-off by the Prozac, and 2)once off SSRI's will this eventually go away? (I was off SSRI's for a few months with no improvements.) If this can be caused by SSRI's, people should know this. I was a very healthy athlete before this all began and could have and would have gone without Prozac if I'd known it could cause what I've been going through. Thank you for your help. Michelle = Dear Michelle, thank you for the question. I don't think we know for sure at this point if SSRI's cause all of the symptoms you described above. I sure hope not, there are many people on SSRI's whose lives can change if these were true. Certainly, these are not one of the commonly recognizeable side effects of SSRI's. But few drugs in the past, we learned only years after they're on the market, that they caused harmful side effects. You can be sure that once this problem is resolved, that the drug maker and the FDA will work together to issue warnings or to withdraw the drug altogether if is deemed too dangerous. Again, although I doubt that SSRI causes your symptoms, I don't think I can't say for sure, I shall say that I have not seen such a case. The fact that your sypmptoms are better after a steroid pulse treatment raises an autoimmune basis as you pointed out, or inflammatory state. I hope that you will continue to feel better off the SSRI. Good luck to you and all the best. |
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