Posted by Noa on October 9, 1999, at 3:02:07
I've been on this higher dose of effexor xr now for about 5 weeks, I think, and now I am noticing some new annoying effects. They are things I have experienced before at times, but are worse. I was sleeping well for the first few weeks on this dose, but now am having difficulty in the middle of the night. I wake up feeling agitated and end up being up for a while. Then of course I am exhausted in the morning and at times during the day. Also, I am developing some wierd tic-like things that show up when I am going to sleep or waking up or just sleepy. This is in addition to the myoclonus, which is the totally involuntary muscle twitches (it is funny how muscles I never new I had, and could never willfully flex because they are in random places in my body, will just suddenly flex, causing a twitch). I have had the myoclonus for a while, but it is a bit worse on the higher dose. The tic-like things are different. There is the nonsense babble speech that suddenely comes out of my mouth, like when someone is talking incoherently in their sleep. It feels like my mouth is possessed and talking on its own. I wonder if this is what "speaking in tongues" is. Also, I go through these random shoulder shrugs, wierd hand movements, snorts and grunts, nose scrunching, and jaw flexing. It hasn't invaded my more alert waking hours, and I hope it won't, but I really don't like it at all. I feel agitated and antsy and "squiggly" as someone called it a few months ago in a previous thread. Throughout the day, my fingers are tapping, my foot, legs are shaking. There is all this serotonin-induced nervous energy/movement. I do feel better in the sense that my mood is a lot less depressed, but I am anxious (partly due to fears I have about not being able to trust in my improving mood) but partly due to this medication reaction, I think. Should I wait longer? Should I ask my doc to try a diffreent route (naltrexone? lithium? lamictal? neurontin?)
4 am......gonna try to go back to sleep....
poster:Noa
thread:12872
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/19991001/msgs/12872.html