Why might I be experiencing involuntary body twitching and jerking?!
Question: Why might I be experiencing involuntary body twitching and jerking?
I started taking Paxil 10 mg about a year and a half ago. My doctor recently took me off of that, which I very slowly went off of. So along with the twitching I am having some dizziness, and occasionally get a quick, zapping, numb type feeling in my lower lip if I turn my head too fast, which so quickly goes away that I hardly notice it. I took more than a month to reduce and go off of my Paxil. My doctor is aware of the twitching, and blood tests have ruled out any thyroid, diabetes, cholesterol problems. I quit smoking one week ago, and am using the patch. I am a 36 yr old female. I was taking the Paxil for PMS, but have gained 30 pounds since I started taking it, a year and a half ago. But my twitching started about 6 months ago,so I don't know if this is due to the medicine or not. I don't feel any other symptoms. I don't feel the twitching when I am up and moving around. I have had Restless Legs Syndrome for 12 years, and I had thought about Periodic Limb Movement which can be related to RLS, but my husband does not say I am doing this in my sleep, and these movements are not waking me up at night.
I am only taking vitamins, no other meds, and I am not experiencing any unusual weakness or fatigue. I have an appt. with my doctor again in a few days to discuss this. I guess I am most worried this is a neurological problem. Does anyone have any ideas what might be going on with me? Or any good questions I should ask my doctor next week? I would really appreciate any insight to my problems with this. Also forgot to mention that my dr. said that I was not deficient in iron, vitamin D, etc.
Answers:
My stepmother had this happen with a medication - it wasn't an antidepressant though & it didn't start til after she had been on the med for a while. Luckily her GP identified it as related to the med & when she stopped it, so did the jerking. I *think* the drug was for RLS but I can't remember.
I highly recommend a low carb way of eating for optimal health & normalizing hormones. B100 complex & DHA/EPA from fish oils (recommend eating fish 3x or more a week - especially sardines, mackerel, oysters, salmon) for PMS instead of meds.
Did you have vitamin D level tested with the 25(OH)D test & were levels between 50–80 ng/ml (125–200 nmol/L)??? Almost everyone not doing high level supplementation have been found to be deficient & if you are having any health issues at all, I would be surprised if you weren't.
Vitamin D3 deficiency is becoming an epidemic. U.S. RDA are much too low. It is possible that upper atmosphere pollution is blocking the needed UVB light from the sun.
Vitamin D3 is not a vitamin at all but a necessary hormone that effects the immune system & nearly every aspect of health. Having low Vitamin D levels greatly increases risk of cancer, heart disease, diabetes, MS & being deficient can create or greatly exacerbate health problems. Many researchers claim that optimized vitamin D levels are more effective than a flu shot in preventing viral infections.
The prescription vitamin D supplements are the wrong type (ergocalciferol ). As warned by the National Institute of Health -
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17023…
Luckily you can buy vitamin D3 (cholecalciferol) over the counter and the upper limits are extremely high. Current recommendations from researchers are for 35iu per pound - a 150# person needs minimum of 5250iu per day & the rda is 400iu. This amount is for minimal needs and does not account for depleted stores. March is when stores are at their lowest.
I also highly recommend a low carb way of eating to allow the body to regenerate rather than degenerate.
http://curezone.com/forums/fm.asp?i=1560…
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articl…
Your vitamin D level should never be below 32 ng/ml, and any levels below 20 ng/ml are considered serious deficiency states, increasing your risk of as many as 16 different cancers and autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis and rheumatoid arthritis, just to name a few.
They found that the body does not reliably begin storing cholecalciferol in fat and muscle tissue until 25(OH)D levels get above 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L). That is, at levels below 50 ng/ml (125 nmol/L), the body uses up vitamin D as fast as you can make it, or take it, indicating chronic substrate starvation—not a good thing. 25(OH)D levels should be between 50–80 ng/ml (125–200 nmol/L), year-round.
25(OH)D test level - between 50–80 ng/ml (125–200 nmol/L), summer and winter
http://www.vitamindcouncil.org/health/de…
Vitamin D deficiency may contribute to the wide set of disorders associated with metabolic syndrome (syndrome X), as well as to PCOS. In a study published in 2004, the authors saw a 60% improvement in insulin sensitivity in healthy, vitamin D replete adults
http://www.womentowomen.com/healthynutri…
In northern latitudes (above that of Atlanta, Georgia) the sun is at too low an angle for half the year to provide sufficient UV radiation. Most people need to take vitamin D, especially seniors, as the ability to synthesize vitamin D in the skin declines with age.
With exposure to sunlight in the summer, the body can generate between 10,000 IU and 20,000 IU of vitamin D per hour with no ill effects. In addition, no adverse effects have been seen with supplemental vitamin D intakes up to 10,000 IU daily.
Always take your vitamin D with a fat-containing meal to ensure absorption.
http://www.drweil.com/drw/u/QAA400676/Mo…
It's probably just muscle spasms. I get them when I'm in one position for a certain amount of time. When they happen you feel slight twitching and you can see your muscle move. I don't think it's something that you should go to the doctor for because it's completely normal but if you feel its something more, then maybe you should get it checked out.