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Avatar universal

Tremors, spasms, weakness, muscle tightness and side effects of ADD meds

Hi,  I am trying to figure out what happend to me and when the effects will go away, if they ever will.

I have been taking the ADD medicine Cylert for approx 8 years, closely monitoring liver functions< normal function> and had no side effects until recently. I switched to generic in December and no problems for Dec and January.

Middle of Feb..The first day I had a strange visual effect. Rapid "stars" shooting outward while driving. Next day I started having preassure under my ribs, One of my friends is a surgeon and he felt it might be gallstones. Very uncomfortable by next day, when I had a normal GB US.  Saturday I did about 15 minutes of yard work,became overly fatigued, went inside to rest and wound up taking a nap. Awoke 4 or 5 hours later with extreme numbness and tingling, tremor and visible muscle spasms, mainly focused on my left side all the way down to my foot. I did a walk in appt at an interninst Monday and by thursday I had gotten so much worse, I could only shuffle walk, could hardly speak complete sentances. No strength, spasms and tremor continued to increase. Had EKG EEG EMG, CT's and corotid doppler all OK. Cannnot have MRI due to metal implant from Trauma.

I have seen 6 docs from eye to psych dr. Only working diag is that the generic was just different enough to cause a long term overdose?? 37.5mg once a day on a 185 pound guy?  Anyway, still have left side tremor, tics<eyelid and lip> left side. Now I have lost my vocabulary when speaking. I forget common words..Whats left to test? Seeking 2nd opinion Neuro next week. Will this clear up?
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Avatar universal
I did stop taking both the generic and brand name of the drug over 3 weeks ago. The symtoms have decreased some, but have not gone away, and I think the speech and spasms have increased. The shaking when trying to use my muscles has not decreased. All docs are hesitant to put me on any meds but I have been given Clonazepam to see if it stops the spasms. It seems to, but I cant take it and work.

Plus, to top it off, I am not taking ADD meds so I am now about to climb the walls.

I feel like something needs to switch off the adrenaline pump in my head.

Can a stimulant damage that part of the brain so it wont stop stimulating?

Even on the above drug, I slept 4 hours night before last and about 3 last nite.

Cary
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Avatar universal
Sorry to hear about your symptoms. As they came on in the setting of switching to generic Cylert, that could be the culprit. As you know, these meds are well known to cause tics and other movement disorders as a side effect. I agree that 37.5 mg doesn;t seem like a lot for a guy your size, but rather an overdose, it could be an adverse reaction to the medication itself. If it hasn't already been done, someone should check some routine labs on you like blood count and electrolyte panel just to make sure everything is ok. If fever and headache are a part of your symptom complex, an infection such as chronic meningitis should be a consideration and a spinal tap should be done. Otherwise the second opinion is a good move. Nothing takes the place of a well done neurological examination. If the symptoms are due to the medication switch and you're able to come off of it, it is probable that you will get better with time. Best of luck.
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