Myoclonus?

[ms-ramirez]

  Dear Dr. I wanted to write to you and tell you my story to see if you
  could give me your advice.
  I'll "try" to keep it brief and to the point.

  Here goes:
  
  I started Zoloft in March of '97, was on it for one week, was too
  lethargic so my medical dr. took me off of it and put me on prozac.

  was on prozac for ~ one month, woke up at 4:30 A.M. with my stomach in
  convulsions and i was so extremely anxious that i was pacing back and
  forth and felt like i could've ran a marathon.

  my dr. told me to stop taking the prozac, i was in and out of the
  emergency room 3 times in a week with stomach convulsions and seizure
  type symptoms(hands curled up, eyes rolled back, could hear what was
  going on around me but i couldn't respond, etc)

  My first two times to the hospital, they just shoved it off as
  depression because of all that i've been through in the past 3
  years(will spare you the details). My third trip, they transferred me to
  a larger hospital where they were going to test me for psychological and
  neurological problems. They thought that maybe one of three things could
  be happening or maybe a combination of these: 1) the prozac could be
  causing this. 2) i could be near a nervous breakdown from all the life
  events that had happened and depression also genetically runs in my
  family. 3) I could have nerve damage from a physical assault by my
  ex-husband in nov of '96--he is 6'2" , 220 lbs; i was 5'3" & 110 lbs. he
  slammed me on my back about 4-5 times with his full weight on top of me.
  then he threw me about 15-20 ft and i landed on my back. I went to the
  hospital that night and they took x-rays and my chiropractor said that
  the bones in my neck were going the opposite way of what they
  should,etc. in other words, he really messed my back and neck up. (i
  also have an acute case of spina bifada in my lower back)

  During the month of april i also began to have pain and weakness in my
  left limbs. My left leg would get sharp pain if i sat with my knees
  bent, sitting on my heels. when i would go for walks, my left leg would
  start feeling like rubber - no strength. also when rollerblading, a
  couple of different times i had to actually stop and walk because the
  pain was so intense. My left arm also had pain that would shoot through
  from time to time. My left hand also had tingling and numbness. Then my
  left hand is what really baffled the doctors and me as well, i could n't
  hold anything in my left hand without it sending my stomach  into
  convulsions. This persisted until June/july?, then the pain in my leg
  slowly went away, and; while the stomach convulsion subsided, they have
  never completely gone away. Even now when i get really stressed or
  anxious or at night when i'm extremely physically tired, when i lie down
  to go to sleep my stomach will convulse.

  So after going through several trips to the hospital, two medical dr's,
  and one local neurologist who also said it was depression, In June? of
  '97, i got help through BVR, a government agency, and they sent me to a
  neurologist at cleveland clinic. He diagnosed me with myoclonus. I left
  there very upset because i was hoping that he would order an MRI to be
  done or something. Instead he diagnosed me with myoclonus, what the heck
  was myoclonus, i thought? I was just very disappointed and just
  dismissed it from my mind. I had only one dr (a chiropractor) who ran a
  two hour special test on me, and the results showed that 21% of  my body
  was impaired.  But impaired from what??? Okay, i finally had a diagnosis
  of myoclonus, but why?

  In jan of 1998 i was put on lithium, i was so very lethargic that it was
  affecting my a/b average in college, so i asked to be taken off of it.

  In march of '98 i was put on paxil, started out with 5,10, then 20 mgs.
  it seemed to work out pretty good, better than the others i had tried.
  However, i was only on it for about 3 weeks, then  my prescription ran
  out and i couldn't afford the refill. went off again.

  In sept of '98 BVR helped me with my prescription of paxil. so i went
  back  on and worked my way up again. After being on it for 4 weeks, i
  became so lethargic that i slept 25 hours in a 32 hour period. The next
  day when i woke up my stomach was convulsing worse than it had done in a
  long time. i called my ex boyfriend who just happens to be a
  psychologist and he said, "Ophelia, have you ever heard of myoclonus?" i
  said, "yes, that's what the neurologist at cleveland clinic diagnosed me
  with." He said, "you're kidding! i just read on the internet that
  myoclonus is one of a common side-effects of SSRI's." I couldn't believe
  what i was hearing. He said, "you mean to tell me that you never had any
  stomach convulsions, etc until that time that you started on prozac?" i
  said, "Exactly!" He then went on to say, "you poor thing all this time
  the dr's  were telling you it was all in your head due to depression,
  etc."  

  Finally i knew! The clouds parted and the light came shining through!

  I didn't just take my friends word for it, i went on the internet and
  found information myself. Sure enough it was there. Myoclonus is one of
  the common side-effects of SSRI's .

  Needless to say, i went off the paxil and now i am reading a book that
  my friend, mentioned above, is letting me read. It's called "Prozac and
  the New Antidepressants". I want to read up on these pills before i ever
  try another one. I read up on st. John's Wort and am taking that until i
  decide or if i ever decide to try another SSRI.

  In conclusion, After all of this do you think that the symptoms i had,
  the stomach convulsions,etc was indeed myoclonus caused from the SSRI?

  What about all the pain & other symptoms in my left limbs?
  I would sure appreciate your input to help bring such a dark chapter in
  my life to a close. Thank you!  email address ramirez.***@****
Dear Ms Ramirez:
Myoclonus is not a common side effect of SSRI, it is a side effect.  However, you have myoclonus with a SSRI then you were effect by the drug.  Sounds like you have done your homework, that is great.  It helps to understand what your disease is about and the medications we use to help control the disease.  Having not examined you, it is almost impossible to tell you why you had the numbness.  Best of luck to you in the future.
Sincerely,
CCF Neuro MD