Posted by 4wd on October 9, 2005, at 22:29:13
In reply to Re: Painful stiff neck from Celexa, any advice?, posted by Cairo on October 8, 2005, at 23:53:40
> I cannot tolerate SSRIs either, due to stiff neck as well as distubed sleep and muscle tremor, especially the jaw muscles. I think raising serotonin is not necessarily the answer for me. I have been diagnosed with Fibromyalgia and Myofascial pain syndrome and have not had any success loosening up the knots with any muscle relaxant (I tried them all), SSRIs, imipramine, amitriptyline, Klonopin, Effexor, Wellbutrin or Topamax.
I've tried all the ones you mentioned except Topamax. Effexor didn't cause the muscle pain for me. I have found that .5 mg of Klonopin makes the muscle stiffness and pain bearable. I've never tried Topamax but I can't risk anything that might raise anxiety anyway. I've switched back and forth between Effexor and Celexa half a dozen times. When I'm on Effexor I hate the way I feel and think that just some physical pain would be preferable. So I switch back to Celexa and then the pain gets so bad I think the Effexor would be preferable. Back and forth.
Neurontin caused some relaxation of the muscles, but "pooped out" and higher doses caused too much weight gain and cognitive side effects.Yeah, the first time I took a Neurontin, the pain magically went completely away. But it didn't last.
I could only tolerate 5mg of Cymbalta which gave me LOTS of energy, but worsened the mucle tightness. I am currently on nortriptyline 20mg which does help with pain somewhat.Nortriptyline made me more anxious. And the dry mouth was awful
I, too, have a bit of bulging disc, but I personally think this is due to constant tight muscles, adding to the problem, but not initially causing the problem.I was thinking about that tonight. I think the disc problems and the lordosis in my neck is from the SSRIs. I was on Prozac for 8-9 years, in terrible pain all the time and had no idea it was from the drug. I think it wrecked my neck.
Tried a course of steroid injections and trigger point injections which I think made matters worse.
Yep, had that. Two cervical epidurals and trigger point injections. Also prolotherapy, physical therapy, etc.
Botox injections did not help and, in fact, also made things worse by reciprocal tightening of muscles on the opposite side of the injections.
>
Acupuncture helped. It really did but it only lasted a few days.> I'm about to try Inderal in addition to the nortriptyline to see if that might help, but it is being prescribed for residual, physical symptoms of anxiety/panic caused by a trial of Topamax.
Inderal was useless to me. I never got above 15mg a day, though.
It will be interesting to see if that helps. Buspar was mentioned, but I really don't want anything with an SSRI component because I've gone through such hell trying them (Celexa, Lexapro, Prozac). Only Topamax side effects were worse.
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> I will also want to give Lyrica (pregabalin) a try since Neurontin helped with anxiety and gave some muscle relaxation, but I wonder if "poop out" might occur with that it also. My pdoc doesn't want to prescribe it yet as he doesn't know much about it and Pfizer seems a little gun shy about promoting it for anything except neuropathic pain since some big lawsuits with Neurontin for off label use. Mestinon interests me also.
>let us know how the Lyrica trial goes. What is Mestonin?
> I've done neurofeedback, acupuncture, regularly stretch and exercise, practice progressive relaxation, CBT, use a CPAP for sleep apnea, regularly use a home neck traction device, use moist heat and rest, take thyroid medication, and go to a wonderful physical therapist who uses a combination of manual therapy, Paris techniques, myofascial release that work, but only for a little while. A couple of hours and I'm as tight as a violin string again.
>
Yes! The tendons in my neck and shoulders actually "twang" if you rub them.> A careful regimen of walking and strength building exercises help the stiffness and pain, but often I pay the price by more muscle knots, so I know what you're going through.
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> Muscle relaxants may work for you, but I've never been able to raise doses to levels where they might work because I get way too zombified to function during the day.Have you tried Skelaxin? It has much less cognitive effects than the others. However, if I take it more than a few days, I start to get more depressed.
>
> You've got to be patient and try everything to see what works for you. You also need to rule out Lyme's disease, Lupus, Rheumatoid arthritis, thyroid disease, CP, and other things that may be responsible for your symptoms.Well, it's been since 1993 that I've had the stiff neck and I've had all sorts of diagnostic tests and treatments. And when I quit the SSRI and go back to Effexor the pain stops. However. the apathy and the tinnitus come back.
Oh well,
>
> Good luck.Thanks,
Marsha
poster:4wd
thread:563558
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051003/msgs/565081.html