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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 9 of 9. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 30, 2006, at 18:42:36
pdoc suspects restless legs syndrome. i experience tics in my major leg muscles and a big twitch or two when i fall asleep. this is enough to cause me problems falling asleep. (and I kicked my husband once or twice... lol)
seroquel 300mg
cymbalta 120 mg
provigil 200mgpdoc says to try klonopin .5mg and see if that makes it better.
what do yáll think?
and while I´m at it, here are some fun alternate characters croutonosy of my latin american keyboard ç¿¡ºª wheeee
ciao
Posted by chiron on December 30, 2006, at 19:24:05
In reply to ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 30, 2006, at 18:42:36
my guess is seroquel - it gave me restless legs.
Posted by blueberry1 on December 30, 2006, at 20:32:38
In reply to ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 30, 2006, at 18:42:36
Seroquel. Can you reduce the dose or stop it? I'm surprised and disappointed your doctor didn't go that route. He knows that's an antipsychotic thing, unless he is trying to pretend that these so-called newer ones don't do that. They do. I know. It only gets worse with time. Legs now. Eyelids, lips, fingers, arms, stomach muscles later. Sometimes permanent even after stopping the drug. Klonopin will calm the muscles but will do nothing to stop the underlying neurological damage that is underway.
I could be wrong. It's just that as a 10 year user of atypical antipsychotics I recognize from firsthand experience their undesirable consequences. They are handed out like candy like they are safe or something. Safer than old ones? Yeah. Safe? No.
Posted by Phillipa on December 30, 2006, at 22:47:08
In reply to Re: ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by blueberry1 on December 30, 2006, at 20:32:38
Oh no more seroquel for me then. Love Phillipa ps had just started 12.5mg. My legs twitch inside when in bed going to sleep think it's the muscles relaxing with the valium. Will definitely stick with it. thanks
Posted by med_empowered on December 31, 2006, at 2:39:54
In reply to Re: ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs? » blueberry1, posted by Phillipa on December 30, 2006, at 22:47:08
definitely the seroquel. Other meds might be making it more pronounced through some sort of drug interaction no one understands, but the offender has got to be seroquel. This might be "dancing legs," which was a condition common in patients treated with the older neuroleptics, such as Thorazine.
My advice? Ditch the seroquel. Also, if your doctor is really acting confused about whats going on, its either b/c a) your doc is incompetent (not very likely) or b) your doc is just pretending to be confused (unfortunately, likely). Docs know what neuroleptics do, b/c these meds have been around forever, whether it was thorazine or stelazine or seroquel. So...your mystery has been solved. I think you might want to try a new doc.
Posted by tweeds on December 31, 2006, at 10:53:55
In reply to ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 30, 2006, at 18:42:36
Hi Llurpsie,
I just wanted to add, if you weren't aware, and I'm sorry to beat a dead horse every time the subject comes up, but make sure your iron levels are okay. About 20% of all restless leg cases are caused by iron deficiency.
Sorry I can't comment on meds, as they weren't the culprit for me.
Johnie-One-Note, aka Harris
Posted by ed_uk on December 31, 2006, at 16:13:16
In reply to ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by LlurpsieBlossom on December 30, 2006, at 18:42:36
¿Which med?
Seroquel can often cause restlessness, especially in the legs. Muscle twiching is also a relatively frequent side effect of Cymbalta and other monoamine reuptake inhibitors. Given that you are on a high dose of Cymbalta, this may be important.
¿Would it be possible to reduce your Seroquel dose or you Cymbalta dose?
¡It might really help!
Regards
Ed
Posted by LlurpsieBlossom on January 1, 2007, at 19:23:06
In reply to Re: ¿which psych med is causing my twitchy legs?, posted by ed_uk on December 31, 2006, at 16:13:16
Thank you all,
I am aware of the problem with the neuroleptics. My uncle had severe tardive dyskinesia by the time his struggle with schizophrenia ended. Also grandmom had parkinsons, so I am very familiar with the choreioform and other movements.The twitches I got when I started cymbalta (and increased my doseage) were different. More like fasciculations. Muscles were moving, but not contracting strongly enough to cause limb movement.
What I have is more like a convulsion. The klonopin seems to be making it less prominent.
I agree that taking 300 mg of seroquel for a long-term is probably not the best thing for my basal ganglia or nigralstriatal pathways or whatever. On the other hand, I´m sure that I prefer twitchy legs to the other stuff like bad flashbacks and dissociation and intrusive thoughts.
hmm. We´re thinking about changing the seroquel anyways, because of weight-gain issues in my post below.
I think I´ll stick with my pdoc, since he seems to be receptive to both the twitching legs concerns and the weight-gain concerns. Of course, also because he helped me get out of a very bad depression. Sometimes I feel frustrated that advice is given to dump a p-doc without taking my entire history into account. Of course, I shouldn´t have to laud my pdoc at every opportunity. I´m impressed that he answered an email from a patient during the winter holidays. He could have ignored me altogether, no? Instead he wrote back that maybe I can try taking klonopin for the twitchy legs in the meanwhile and we can discuss other options at my next appt.
Happy new years to you all! you are such clever and nice psycho-babblers and I hope you all have a wonderful time getting the cobwebs swept out in the name of ´´´resolutions´´
ciao belli
Ll
Posted by Phillipa on January 1, 2007, at 20:05:08
In reply to general follow-up, posted by LlurpsieBlossom on January 1, 2007, at 19:23:06
Keep on doing what your pdoc says as so far he hasn't been wrong. Love Jan
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