"Muscle tension" from multiple antidepressants

[littlepemo]

I've had a rather peculiar side effect from some of the different antidepressants I've taken. Well, maybe not peculiar, but I'm not really sure how I should describe it exactly. It's a sort of feeling like many of the muscles in my body want to clench up and are unable to relax. Additionally, there's a sort of feeling of pressure around my head, as well as my chest (I call it "feeling like a gorilla is sitting on my chest"). When I've mentioned it to my pdocs before, I haven't gotten much feedback despite mentioning how miserable it makes me feel.

I actually feel unequipped to truly describe how it feels. Although I have an anxiety disorder and usually feel pretty tense, this is like on a whole different spectrum. And it was so awful with the drugs I've taken in the past (I've taken quite a few, though I can only remember specifically experiencing it with celexa and lamictal), I'm hesitant to try taking any meds again for fear of this happening again.

Now, I'm a curious person. I was wondering if anyone else has experienced this sort of thing, or maybe if anyone knows what's going on from a physiological standpoint, or if there's any better way I can describe it so that my pdoc might have some idea of what I'm talking about.

Many thanks in advance!

[Guest]

It's pretty common for anxiety to manifest itself as a pressure on your chest. Could it be that your anxiousness about AD's is manifesting itself as the very side effect that is stopping you from taking them? I think maybe it's an anxiety thing and you need to reality test and work through your reservations about AD's.

[littlepemo]

If that is the case, it's some subconscious-level stuff. It happened first when I was taking Celexa, and I assumed it was simply the symptoms of anxiety. Once I stopped taking the med, I experienced a considerable relief of those symptoms. However, that was something I noticed in hindsight, and so if there was fear of the med going on at the time, it must have been beyond my conscious knowledge.

I'm willing to consider the possibility that it's anxiety and I have to "work through it". Of course, having a phobia is nothing particularly new for me. But the tension I was feeling was so utterly different and physical that, at least to my flawed perception, I think it's something worth considering, and that I shouldn't just shut down the discussion and say it's all in my head (so to speak).

I apologize if I sound a bit prickly on this, I've had my experience of side effects denied in the past (i.e. docs saying my PSSD doesn't exist).

[Guest]

Lamictal is not an AD so to have that exact side effect when trialling different classes of meds at different times makes it more likely it is an anxiety thing (not the same as it being imagined, anxiety has its place) rather than that both differing meds affected you in the same way.

However someone who knows more on specific side effects may correct me.

[melissaw72]

For me too much abilify (higher dose than I can handle) causes my muscles to be tense and tight, so that it even became hard to walk. It was building up in my blood too high to cause the tension. Maybe this type of thing could happen with other meds, where a med builds up in your blood and causes symptoms. My pdoc said I was developing Parkinson's side effects. ( I was the one who had taken extra abilify to combat the hallucinations; he hadn't prescribed the higher level. He allowed it though when I asked).

[Guest]

Melissa, I am confused, are you talking about parklnsons or a blood pressure issue?

I looked at the PI sheet for Celexa, all it listed that could be linked was psychomotor restlessness, nothing about muscles at all.Lamictal talks about back and abdominal pain but no specific chest pain. That it's not listed doesn't mean it can't be a side effect, but it's not on either profile.

[melissaw72]

Melissa, I am confused, are you talking about parklnsons or a blood pressure issue?

I looked at the PI sheet for Celexa, all it listed that could be linked was psychomotor restlessness, nothing about muscles at all.Lamictal talks about back and abdominal pain but no specific chest pain. That it's not listed doesn't mean it can't be a side effect, but it's not on either profile.

Hi, with too much Abilify pdoc said I was probably developing Parkinson's side effects. Apparently too much (way too much) Abilify in a person's blood stream will cause effects like that.

I'm not on celexa.