[rainbow8]

I never had this before--well, maybe once in my whole life. If it is from the zoloft, I give up. This isn't worth it. I don't want my muscles to twitch! Has anyone else experienced this? Plus, my face has a rash that could be something else, not from the zoloft. I have to see a dermatologist.

[ickydog2006]

I don't get undereye twitching, but Zoloft did cause major muscle tremors for the first three months of taking it. The twitching got worse whenever I was tired. I still have some twitching but not as severe. Fairly constant but I barely notice it most days.

[unaluna]

I used to get that eyelid twitch thing all the time. I was gonna say when I was working and I didn't get enough sleep, but it also happened when I was a kid (i.e. in school) and didn't get enough sleep. So first I would make sure you were getting enough sleep. But I am mad they didn't start you on my Prozac first. I'm not in love with it, but side effects are minor.

[rainbow8]

Thanks, hankster. Funny thing, I'm getting more sleep than I've had in years since starting meds. I'm more tired! If zoloft doesn't work, I'll ask about prozac. I thought zoloft was supposed to have the fewest side effects.

My eye twitches when I am nervous and super stressed. Lovely. I have never really had any horrible side effects with my Rx. Except sometimes if I take a X, I get the hiccups for a bit. Weird.

[ECHOES]

(are you winking at me? )

How long has it been happening?

I get that sometimes for no apparent reason. Drives me crazy, and sometimes I have to put my finger on the twitching spot, as if to tell it "stop!". But it goes away in a day or so. I hope it goes away for you, rainbow.

[yellowted]

your potassium levels may be low try eating banana or cucumber with the skin on

Echos, hah! I do the same thing

[Ladyzero]

Banana with the skin on, yummy

[Needin Help]

Thanks yellowted and ladyzero, you made me laugh!

[sunrise]

I have definitely had muscle twitches or tics, although not medication related, and have used the same "trick" as ECHOES. Mine were always stress related.

If a person has side effects when first taking an SSRI, they often go away in a week or two. Some meds are harder to come onto than others, and how each person reacts is very different. I hope you can give this med a fair trial, Rainbow. You sound really stressed out about it, and this could be making the twitch worse. I recall your pdoc also gave you a short term, as needed prescription for valium? This may be a time to try one. Since valium is also a muscle relaxant, it might help in that way with the twitch also.

I would encourage you not to fixate too much on your "side effect symptoms" right now, such as being tired or the twitch. They may resolve. I think if you are focusing a lot on each effect, you could exacerbate them (especially the twitch) and even talk yourself out of even attempting meds due to your anxiety over some noticed effects the first week or two. Maybe just try to be mindful, notice what's going on, then watch the thought pass by on the river as you sit calmly on the river bank, observing. You can reassure yourself by thinking, "it's common to have some side effects the first weeks and these often go away."

I am glad you are going to get your rash checked out. If it is related to your medication, your psych doctor would want to know. I hope you can see the dermatologist soon.

[rainbow8]

Originally Posted by sunrise

I have definitely had muscle twitches or tics, although not medication related, and have used the same "trick" as ECHOES. Mine were always stress related.

If a person has side effects when first taking an SSRI, they often go away in a week or two. Some meds are harder to come onto than others, and how each person reacts is very different. I hope you can give this med a fair trial, Rainbow. You sound really stressed out about it, and this could be making the twitch worse. I recall your pdoc also gave you a short term, as needed prescription for valium? This may be a time to try one. Since valium is also a muscle relaxant, it might help in that way with the twitch also.

I would encourage you not to fixate too much on your "side effect symptoms" right now, such as being tired or the twitch. They may resolve. I think if you are focusing a lot on each effect, you could exacerbate them (especially the twitch) and even talk yourself out of even attempting meds due to your anxiety over some noticed effects the first week or two. Maybe just try to be mindful, notice what's going on, then watch the thought pass by on the river as you sit calmly on the river bank, observing. You can reassure yourself by thinking, "it's common to have some side effects the first weeks and these often go away."

I am glad you are going to get your rash checked out. If it is related to your medication, your psych doctor would want to know. I hope you can see the dermatologist soon.

Thanks, sunrise, and Happy New Year! I took the valium every day for the first week, then I stopped for a while. I took one last night. The twitch seems to be gone, but I'm not sure. I also have a cold, but that never made me have a twitch before! I agree with you about not worrying about the side effects, but I want to be sure I'm not allergic to zoloft. If my allergist would have thought so, after seeing my rash, I think he would have told me. Instead, he said "I think the zoloft will be good for you!"

I don't have a dermatologist at the moment, (hated the last one I saw) but my dr. gave me a referral. I have to check insurance and call tomorrow. The rash is just on my face, and it could be coincidence. I didn't get it immediately after taking either of the meds.

I see the pdoc on Thursday so I doubt I will have seen a dermatologist before then. Surprisingly, I feel a little better today. I got up early, went out for breakfast, and don't feel as groggy as before.

About the side effects. I've been taking the meds for 2 weeks and I'm just getting this twitch and the rash. So, I don't know what that means unless they are unrelated, which of course is possible. I have a lot of allergies, and my skin breaks out or itches sometimes, and I think it was happening BEFORE the meds, then went away. I think drs. don't like me because I have so many complaints and I am confused whether they are allergies or skin problems. At least the TMJ or whatever that was, seems to have gone away for now.

This is why I didn't want to start meds. I am also allergic to penicillin and maybe sulfa drugs. My allergist told me it's more likely I'm allergic to other meds because of all my allergies. But, I AM going to give it a fair trial! Unless the pdoc or someone thinks I'm allergic, I'll keep taking the zoloft.

[Ladyzero]

Well that's good. I'm all for that, bring on the laughter !

[rainbow8]

Originally Posted by Ladyzero

Well that's good. I'm all for that, bring on the laughter !

I'm not sure what you're referring to here.

[rainbow8]

Now I'm wondering more about my face rash. Could be anything, meds or something else. I called a pharmacist and he said the only thing to do, after I talk to my dr, is stop the zoloft until the rash goes away!

I will try to ask the dermatologist tomorrow when I call to make an appointment.

This is annoying....not knowing what I have. The twitching is better, though, and so is my toothache/TMJ, but rashes stick around by me. Oh, well. I see my T tomorrow morning so she'll help too, I hope.

[murray]

As others have said, when I have had side effects from meds they have usually gone away after a few weeks. The eye twitching thing happens with me quite often when I am tired or stress, same thing with TMJ when very stressed and even rashes on occasion when I am having a lot of anxiety. Also I tend to get rashes sometimes during the winter because my skin gets dry and irritated. Not sure if any of this helpful, sorry. I just know that the more I tend to worry and focus on things the more anxious I become and this just tends to increase my symptoms.
Also I don't know much about meds but I have found that paxil works well for me for depression and has even seemed to help with my minor OCD issues. I have to say though that for the first few weeks, I drove myself nuts worrying and obsessing about the side effects. They have all gone away thankfully but I nearly stopped taking the paxil in the beginning because I was so anxious about it. Also, for me ativan has been helpful for the extreme panic moments and at this point I take about 1 every 2 months or so. Just knowing that I have them helps me get through for some reason.
Sorry for rambling on. Hope that you experience some relief soon.

[ECHOES]

The irony is striking me today. We take a medication to help because we are very anxious and obsessive in our thinking, then we get very anxious and obsessive about taking the medication and any side effects we experience. A vicious cycle!

It makes sense to look at cause & effect, but it also makes sense to just notice and give it time to see what happens. I don't think it would be possible for a med to have no side effects, to be so targeted that it would affect nothing else. Some side effects we worry about more than others, but even OTC meds have side effects such as drowsiness, or excitability, dry mouth, etc. I think it's a bit harder with psych meds because the healing effect is gradual and more generalized. We take a pain med and we stop hurting, so the drowsiness effect is acceptable. It doesn't work the same way with a psych med.

If aspirin was not already OTC and thought of as benign, we would probably be hesitant to take it as routinely as we do, considering possible side effects.

rainbow, I hope your rash gets better and you feel better too!

[rainbow8]

I saw the dermatologist this morning and she does NOT think my rash is drug-induced, and says it's okay to stay on the zoloft. What I have is a flareup of eczema/atopic dermatitis, which I've had off and on for my whole life, but not lately. I'm so sensitive that she said the zoloft could make my condition worse but it's not a reason to stop it. Also the anxiety about the meds! Yes, ECHOES, how ironic! So I have more prescriptions to get. She didn't have time for a check-up of my skin, because it was a quick appointment, but I managed to show her my foot and I also have a form of athlete's foot, but more of a yeast infection.

Do you ever feel like you're falling apart, piece by piece? I also have a cold!

My H is going with me to the pdoc so I don't get anything mixed up and so he can ask why it takes so long to work. He doesn't understand meds so I'm glad he's going with to meet the dr. I think he'll like him.

[yellowted]

Originally Posted by Ladyzero

Banana with the skin on, yummy

lol x cucumber with skin on, banana unzipped!