Posted by bookgurl99 on May 24, 2003, at 17:12:17
In reply to Re: Lar,Re: St. John's wort long term safety question? » McPac, posted by Larry Hoover on May 24, 2003, at 15:41:40
> http://www.priory.com/psych/panes.htm#discussion
>Interesting; I had a similar experience to one of these cases for 6 months after discontinuing an SSRI. I had involuntary jerks in the fingertips and limbs, a tingling sensation in them, and an increased tendency towards migraine. (The migraine syndrome runs in my family, however, and may have come up regardless.)
My doctors at the time could not find anything to indicate why the jerking was happening. (I had an EEG, etc.) What surprises me is that they used the fact that I was discontinuing an SSRI as evidence that it was all in my 'head,' without considering that it could be related to discontinuation.
Luckily, the jerking went away. Today, one year later, I occasionally have a tremor-like jerk but it is infrequent and usually related to fatigue.
Since using SSRI's long term, I have also had a persistently short attention span. This may be related to my hypothyroidism, but I'm hoping that getting off meds will help.
I have a feeling that in 20 years SSRI's may be viewed the way we now view TCA's; as useful, but potentially health-impairing medications.
These side effects are why I'm unsure about using St. John's wort. But as a therapy to prevent relapse of depression as I adjust to being off meds, it's worth the (aparently minimal) risk to me.
poster:bookgurl99
thread:228825
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20030520/msgs/228916.html