Posted by marshall26 on July 4, 2007, at 16:16:39
I’ve always developed this side effect when first going on SSRI/SNRI drugs. This was back in the 90s when doctors didn’t know about starting on the lowest dose. I just remember being put on a moderate to high dose of almost every medication (can’t recall them all but I remember Prozac and Effexor were the worst offenders). When I complained two weeks later they just switched medications. I eventually got used to Zoloft at 75 mg, but now my pdoc is having me increase the dose to 150 mg. The problem, every time I reach 125 mg I get that familiar obnoxious sensation.
Anyways the symptom is this. I feel like there is this vague indescribable ticklish feeling deep inside my left forearm and calves. When it gets bad I have to cross my legs tightly and curl my toes when I sit. I’ve always tried to compare the discomfort to the feeling I get when someone scratches a chalk board with their fingernails. Even though the sound doesn’t literally hurt my ears, my body cringes in discomfort. At high doses, the SSRIs make me feel like my whole body is cringing from some indescribable feeling inside. If I focus on it too much, the feeling sometimes triggers grotesque thoughts of ants crawling through my veins or my innards exploding.
I’m now thinking that this sensation may be related to EPS side effects similar to akathisia. Unfortunately there isn’t a good description of subjective feelings in the literature. I don’t really have the urge to run around or shift from foot to foot like what’s described in the literature. Maybe it’s just not severe enough to the point where I have to move constantly, though I can imagine it driving me to throw myself out the window if it ever became severe.
Ugh. It’s so frustrating not being able to describe what’s wrong. Sometimes I just want to tell the doctors to take a 500 mg Zoloft and see for themselves if they feel anything!
poster:marshall26
thread:767647
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070630/msgs/767647.html