Re: Myoclonus Caused by SSRI's

Posted By CCF Neurology W6 MD on December 24, 1998 at 05:00:04:

In Reply to: Myoclonus Caused by SSRI's posted by Michelle on December 22, 1998 at 11:24:44:






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.