Misc What is happening to me?

[seventhcandle]

I posted about this before, but I don't think I explained myself properly. For three years I took 100 mg 5-HTP daily (50 in the morning and 50 at night). I did not experience any problems with this until over the summer when I took 12.5 mg of Unisom (doxylamine succinate) three separate times. After the third dose of Unisom, I woke up with tightness in my chest/shortness of breath for 20-30 seconds which resolved and then had muscle twitching (fasciculations) in my legs, arms, and shoulders, jerking of my legs at rest (long before sleep), along with a 7 day run of insomnia and restlessness/agitation. My PCP prescribed me 5mg Zolpidem as an alternative to the Unisom, which I discontinued after the 3rd dose.

I took one 5mg tab of the Zolpidem a few weeks later (I was still dealing with the muscle twitching) and shortly after I took it, I heard popping noises in my head and the muscle twitching spread all over my body. The Zolpidem never did put me to sleep. I could barely get into a light sleep for weeks after this and I noticed that I was no longer getting any deep sleep. I was also having very frequent sleep starts (muscle jerks) that would last, sometimes, all night long. I only took that one pill that one time and nothing else.

The twitching and sleep starts have gotten worse over time, making good sleep impossible. I tried taking 100 mg of L-Theanine at one point and it just made everything ten times worse.

I have taken nothing since then and even discontinued the 5-HTP completely two months ago. Since then, my symptoms continue to get worse and worse, with the muscle twitching happening every 1-2 seconds somewhere on my body, neck, face, or scalp (including my lips and tongue). At night, when I try to sleep, fingers lift by themselves, my neck whips to the left or up and down, feet kick out, shoulder lets out shock-like sensations, I have involuntary facial grimaces and tics. After the Zolpidem, I also developed a strange lump behind my Adam's apple which moves around when I move my neck...it is very uncomfortable, but the least of my problems.

All of this sh*t from 3 isolated doses of doxylamine, 1 dose of zolpidem, and 1 tablet of L-Theanine, all spaced out over a 2 month period. I've seen a few neurologists and they remain perplexed.

I am on the verge of disability with my work.

I posted once before asking if I might have had a prolonged serotonin syndrome from taking the 5-HTP for so long and then throwing in the doxylamine and then the zolpidem. I thought about the responses to that post and I just can't figure out what all of this could be if it wasn't a prolonged, mild version of serotonin syndrome. How could these terrible side effects still persist and worsen to this day?

 

[sekio]

there is no such thing as "prolonged, mild" serotonin syndrome.

to be frank this doesn't make sense at all

 

[sekio]

If you continue to insist you have brain damage, go shell out for a MRI/CT scan. Fifty bucks says it's going to be totally normal. In the event that it's not, you've found your problem, off to neurosurg you go!

If you physical examination and brain scan is otherwise unremarkable I stand by my diagnosis of hypochondria. Some things don't add up here.

1. 9 times out of 10, drug side effects do not persist upon discontinuation.
2. Twitching, tics, erratic sensory behaviour are all very normal upon onset and offset of sleep. Hypnic jerks are what they're known as.
3. Gross tissue changes (lumps appearing) on zolpidem is unheard of and would be incredibly unlikely even with chronic use (Acutely mutagenic drugs are almost never prescribed, except as chemotherapy!)
4. Theanine exacerbating your anxiety, etc, making it "ten times worse" does not make sense. Theanine is probably the most benign excuse for a drug you can find and if anything it would work as a mild anti-anxiety agent. It doesn't exacerbate muscle tics and spasms. In this case it can safely be discounted as placebo. And having a horrible reaction to placebo is indicative the problem is in the mind, not the brain.
5. Unisom wouldn't be provided as an over the counter drug if it lead to disability-level negative effects after 3 doses. At the very least there would be a media furor; look at Accutane/Vioxx.

From my point of view I think you've just gotten really worried over normal bodily processes and as such have induced a psychosomatic condition in yourself. My advice: Go to the gym, work up a sweat, have a light meal and a steamy hot shower, and go rest. Throw in a magnesium supplement too if you'd like. Just be accepting of your bodily state as it is - you're obviously together enough to try to self-diagnose. Reduce stress in your life as much as you can and your sleep disorder should abate somewhat.

Other things you may want to try: hot mineral baths (magnesium sulphate/Epsom salts are good for this), aromatherapy (lavender, heliotrope), massage/accupuncture/accupressure, vigourous rough sex.

 

[seventhcandle]

If you continue to insist you have brain damage, go shell out for a MRI/CT scan. Fifty bucks says it's going to be totally normal. In the event that it's not, you've found your problem, off to neurosurg you go!

If you physical examination and brain scan is otherwise unremarkable I stand by my diagnosis of hypochondria. Some things don't add up here.

1. 9 times out of 10, drug side effects do not persist upon discontinuation.
2. Twitching, tics, erratic sensory behaviour are all very normal upon onset and offset of sleep. Hypnic jerks are what they're known as.
3. Gross tissue changes (lumps appearing) on zolpidem is unheard of and would be incredibly unlikely even with chronic use (Acutely mutagenic drugs are almost never prescribed, except as chemotherapy!)
4. Theanine exacerbating your anxiety, etc, making it "ten times worse" does not make sense. Theanine is probably the most benign excuse for a drug you can find and if anything it would work as a mild anti-anxiety agent. It doesn't exacerbate muscle tics and spasms. In this case it can safely be discounted as placebo. And having a horrible reaction to placebo is indicative the problem is in the mind, not the brain.
5. Unisom wouldn't be provided as an over the counter drug if it lead to disability-level negative effects after 3 doses. At the very least there would be a media furor; look at Accutane/Vioxx.

From my point of view I think you've just gotten really worried over normal bodily processes and as such have induced a psychosomatic condition in yourself. My advice: Go to the gym, work up a sweat, have a light meal and a steamy hot shower, and go rest. Throw in a magnesium supplement too if you'd like. Just be accepting of your bodily state as it is - you're obviously together enough to try to self-diagnose. Reduce stress in your life as much as you can and your sleep disorder should abate somewhat.

Other things you may want to try: hot mineral baths (magnesium sulphate/Epsom salts are good for this), aromatherapy (lavender, heliotrope), massage/accupuncture/accupressure, vigourous rough sex.

The reason I've suspected the serotonin syndrome effects was because I have been on 100 mg daily 5-HTP for 3 years and I was taking it both before and after each of the pills (and when I say "after" I mean twice a day all the way up until I discontinued the herb completely a month later). I know you mentioned in my previous thread about how 5-HTP acts and how Unisom and Zolpidem act. My concern was 5-HTP is basically a serotonin increasing agent (and I've been on it for years, so wouldn't I most likely have elevated blood serotonin levels anyway?), Unisom has SSRI properties, and so does Ambien, from what I understand. I also read that Zolpidem + 5-HTP can induce insane hallucinations in some people. The thing is, I was taking the 5-HTP both before and after taking each of these drugs. In fact, I only discontinued it about a month after taking the Zolpidem pill.

The reason I suspected S.S. is because my symptoms after taking these pills matched up with mild cases of serotonin syndrome I read about in Sternbach's diagnostic criterion: agitation/irritability, anxiety, hypomania, myoclonus, rapid heartbeat, muscle twitching. The reason I said "prolonged mild serotonin syndrome" is because I experienced some of these symptoms on the first dose, and then an increase on the second dose (this is when the muscle twitching in my calves appeared), and then another increase on the third dose of Unisom (this is when the muscle twitching spread to my arms and legs), and then after the Ambien, I developed those nightly "tics" and the muscle twitching spread to other places too.

If I theoretically had SS and I didn't give my body ample time to adjust its serotonin levels back to normal, but I also didn't raise them enough to cause coma/seizures/death, wouldn't it be possible to keep serotonin levels at an unhealthily elevated level for days or even weeks by continuing to take the 5-HTP in between doses and after doses as well? Or is that impossible given how the brain/body works?

And given the way Ambien + 5-HTP have induced wild and crazy hallucinations in 9 anecdotal reports, isn't it possible that it interacted in some kind of harmful way in my brain or exacerbated whatever was going on before?

If this wasn't S.S. and it is a psychogenic disorder, shouldn't the symptoms wax and wane with anxiety? I tried taking epsom salt baths as you suggested in your last post, but I was just twitching away the whole time in there so I couldn't really relax. Even sex doesn't calm down my symptoms at all.

In any case, as you suggested, I am going to see a neurologist this Friday.

So, basically, can I lay my fears aside about the effects long-term 5-HTP use may have had on me, especially as I was continuing to use it with these other drugs both before and after dosages? If I can lay that fear about S.S. aside, I think it will do me much good.

 

[oxyaddict05]

If you are not satisfied with the anonymous non-medical advice given by non-MDs (ironic as I am sure some here know more than MDs on certain subjects lol) on this board, may I suggest seeking more medical advice if you are this concerned? I mean that in all sincerity.

What you describe sounds abnormal. A message board is great for the "normally when this happen....ect" type of thing. Unique and rare events are difficult to asses on a web forum.

EDIT: Just saw your penultimate line/sentence, my bad. Good move.

 

[tricomb]

Please seek medical attention and let us know how it goes.