Why might I be experiencing involuntary body twitching and jerking?!


Question: Why might I be experiencing involuntary body twitching and jerking?
For about 6 months I have been experiencing body twitching and jerking of my arms, legs, feet, and shoulders,and once in awhile my stomach muscle. It is not painful. They are small twitches, but I can visually see them. I dismissed them as a sign of stress at first, but they seem to be a little more frequent now. They only occur when I am resting. They feel like the type of twitches you have when you are falling asleep and your body jerks. But they happen even when I just sit down for a few minutes to rest. The twitches seem to occur 2-3 times during just a minute or two, and continue for as long as I am resting. 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.

Answers:

Given the Paxil, it seems like it could be serotonin related.
Also, I would avoid investing too much in "buzz conditions" that conveniently appear with medications to treat them. Underlying causes are usually far more simple. If you're that afflicted, you could simply have the beginning stages of multiple sclerosis or Parkinson's.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myoclonus




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