Posted by Stan on February 22, 2003, at 12:59:38
In reply to Re: retless legs and myoclonus, posted by noa on February 22, 2003, at 10:45:18
> I get myoclonus (random muscle twitches anywhere on body when at rest) and restless legs (irrepressible urge to kick and move legs at rest) from Effexor. I also got the myoclonus from Paxil. I also have generally restless legs during the day, too, which causes me to jiggle, bounce, etc. my legs and twirl or jiggle my feet, when sitting or reclining.
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> This is one of the reasons (there are others) I cannot take higher doses of effexor, although I believe effexor works for me as an AD. My pdoc added serzone to the effexor to both counteract the myoclonus and restless legs, and to add more AD effect, since I had to lower the effexor dose. The serzone supposedly blocks 5ht2a receptors, which are involved in firing muscles. This strategy works for the most part. I don't get the myoclonus, which felt quite bizzarre--the jerky movements were very random--my arm could shoot straight up in the air or a muscle I could never willfully flex would flex, making it hard to go to sleep.
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> But I still get the restless legs although to a lesser extent. But to address what remains of the restless legs, my pdoc prescribe a low dose of klonopin. It worked well, but I tend to react strongly to benzos, and it was hard to wake up in the morning. So, my pdoc prescribed a shorter acting benzo--ativan (lorazepam). I take a quarter of a miligram about 2 hours before bed, along with the Serzone (500 mg.) This works well.
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> If I forget to take the lorazepam, I can still manage to get to sleep, although not so easily. But if I forget to take the Serzone, or don't take it early enough before bed, it is a mess--legs are a'kickin all over the place.>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
you can do some research on restless legs syndrome at this link: http://www.rlshelp.org
pay particular attention to the patient letters section (where licensed pros comment on symptoms and recommend treatments) and read about the various drugs used to combat RLS and PLMD (periodic limb movement disorder, which you might have) in other sections of the site. dopamine agonists such as mirapex and requip, while primarily used as anti-parkinson's agents, are often more effective than benzos for the problems you describe. i think i have a few more links about RLS stored away somewhere, so if you'd like me to post them, just ask.
Stan
poster:Stan
thread:202620
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030219/msgs/202836.html