Positive Results with Zoloft

[sherlockholmesz2]

Mike,

Zoloft seems to be working well for me. I didn't sleep more than about 3 hrs during the first 48 hours on it though. I felt a little spacey for about a week, but nothing that overly concerned me (I'm spacey anyway). If you're like me, after about two weeks you'll be able to fend off the terrible anxiety. You'll still recognize it, but you'll be able to more rationally dismiss it and carry on. I go back to my GP for a "zoloft check" this Friday and I'm sure he'll want to keep me on it. I will have only been on it for three weeks and I'm pleased with my progress. I hope it works for you too!

 

[alyLeoNCali]

Mike:

Like you said, your doc "has" to say he isn't 100% sure. Just take 99.9% and run with it!

I wholeheartedly second the wisdom from Amy and Whatnext. You may benefit from the SSRI, but also you may have to tolerate some pretty groady (remember that word?) side effects for the 1st week or so.

--alyLeoNCali

 

[kurtiscool]

Ha! Groady! Isn't that an 80's word?
Gag me with a spoon. Hey did you ever use the word "mintage!"???

Well my neuro appt. went fine. He asked me *a lot* of questions about my medical history, including mental/anxiety stuff and, of course, I described my symptoms. He then asked me if there was anything specific I was worried about. So I told him MS and ALS. He listened, wrote, and then did the exam.

He listened to my throat and chest, then did the tests for all the reflexes. Much more comprehensive than my GP (as expected). He went pretty fast, again, not stopping at any point and trying a few times. Then he did all the strength, balance, visual tests, and look in my mouth, etc. He then sat down and wrote all the results and said my exam was "perfectly normal". He said "I can tell you 100% you don't have ALS". "100%" coming out of a doctor's mouth is re-assuring. He said he didn't think I had MS either, as my symptoms were not a "typical presentation". He didn't want to do an EMG because he thought it wasn't necessary, but said he could order an MRI of my brain and cervical spine if I wanted (optional), to ease my mind. I asked him about the twitches and he said with ALS they *never* improve, even a little- so if you get twitches every 5 minutes one day then only notice a handful the next day, not ALS. He commented that he looked for, and didn't see, any twitches during my exam. I told him I had felt some, but he wasn't concerned at all.

I asked him if, hypothetically, someone were showing true clinical symptoms of ALS for a month (which I was *not*), would an EMG defeinately show something at that point, he said "yes". So I kindly explained how anxious I was and I told him that he *did* reassure me with his exam, but "something about having a test performed" would really ease my mind. So he agreed to do the EMG also.

He said I'm here to help you feel better- if giving you that test will help you feel better, than that's what matters. Of course I thanked him profusely.

So my MRI is tomorrow morning. I've never had one and they said the appt. will take 2 hours. They asked me if I'm clausterphobic. I kinda am, but said I can do it. I saw on the order sheet "r/o demylating disease and r/o disc disease". I think r/o means "rule out". And I saw that it was without contrast. EMG is Wed. I think they are going to do my right leg and arm (he asked my was areas concerned me the most).

So now I have to go through the anxiety of the tests and waiting on the results and worry about when they call (if they call too soon is that bad?what if they call later? or don't call until my follow-up?) geeez. I remember going through this for an HIV test way back in college...it's going to be tough.

sherlockholmesz2, I saw that you were going for an MRI, but I didn't see anything about that afterwards (may have missed it). Could you post some of your experience with that (the procedure itself and how they followed-up, how long until they got back to you, etc.)?

I've actually more concerned about the MRI now. Even though I still get the twitches, I'm getting pins and needles in my hands and it seems my right foot. The hands thing started up again this morning and was on and off all day. I thought the hands thing was put to bed last Thurs night...oh well. I'm trying to convince myself the doctors are right that all these symptoms are "benign" and that maybe the tingling is chronic hyperventilation. By the way, I've seen some sources say that can cause twitching muscles as well. And it is very common, and common with panic disorder. You don't even know you're breathing wrong. Actually, a lot of my symptoms were a dead-on match. My 1st panic attack many years ago, actually started with *only* a steadily progressing tingling from my left hand up my arm and into the left side of my face, which led to "I'm having a heart attack", which led to a full blown panic attack. It truly was out of the blue, too, and never had one before that. That tingling was due to hyperventilation, so the ambulance guys told me.

I started the Zoloft last night. I slept 4-5 hours and woke up at 4:30. I felt anxious and couldn't get back to sleep. NOt sure if it was the Zoloft or just being so anxious the past week. So I just got up and watched TV in the dark with volume low.

Anyway, *thanks for listening* and *for the replies* to posts. Hope all of you are also hanging in there.

 

[twitchamy]

Hi again Mike,

Tingling in your limbs (especially extremities) is very commonly a sign of hyperventilation. Like what I've experienced, you most likely don't realize you're doing it. You don't have to be wheezing away to get hyperventilation. If you are anxious, you're probably breathing more from your chest instead of your stomach. Or you might be sighing more without realizing it. I ended up in the ER twice last year over 'panic attacks' which were diagnosed as hyperventilation syndrome. Trust me on that one! It can come and go without you ever realizing it. The best remedy for this is either a benzo (xanax, ativan, klonopin) as needed....or just breathing into a paper bag for a while. Helps every time!

Whatnext will be able to talk about MRIs like you asked. I had one last year to rule out MS too. If you're claustrophobic, they will likely offer you a valium before hand. I'm not claustrophobic at all--but I did feel a little 'trapped' when I first went in the tube. Basically you're in there for quite some time. The person doing the scan will talk to you through a speaker to keep you posted on what's going on. Be prepared for lots of strange and loud beeps and funky noises. I just kept my eyes closed and tried to relax--despite all the annoying beeps. I'd say I was in the tube for probably at least 45 minutes. It's a bearable procedure---considering you just have to lay there. Keeping your eyes shut will help with any claustrophobia as well. I was at the radiological center for a good hour and a half in total.

Don't stress about it!

Amy

 

[kurtiscool]

Hi Amy,

Yeah I'm hoping it's hyperventilation...I have been really wound up the last week.

It's funny you say that, cuz I was thinking of keeping my eyes closed and taking a valium also.

Thanks for the words of encouragements and I hope all is well with you.

 

[sherlockholmesz2]

Mike,

Here's my experience with the mri thing. My neuro PA put had written "parasthesias and weakness, MS protocol with contrast" on the mri order and it suddenly hit me that I was REALLY going to be checked for MS! That in itself caused me some anxiety. I showed up right on schedule and they took me right away to the imaging room. One of the techs asked me some general questions like "Where is the weakness you noticed?" and "Are you claustrophobic?". I told them I was very afraid, having never done an mri before. They reassured me that everything would be fine. They put me on a sliding table and gave me some ear plugs (the mri is rather noisy) and covered me with a blanket (lots of moving air inside the imager) and rolled a small towel up and placed it over my eyes, at my request, to keep me from getting claustrophobic. The actual imaging took way less than an hour (I exited the hospital in slightly less than an hour after my arrival). About halfway through, they injected a contrast into my left arm. The contrast is to help the telltale signs of MS show up in the images. I was warned beforehand by the neuro PA that since I have a history of migraine, signs of that would likely show up on the mri and while they're similar to signs of MS, the neuro CAN tell the difference. So, I won't be overly concerned if they tell me they saw some plaques consistent with migraine. Be aware that even though the techs are in a different room while imaging, they CAN HEAR EVERY WORD YOU SAY AND ARE IN CONSTANT CONTACT WITH YOU AT ALL TIMES! They said that if I started having a panic attack to just wiggle my feet (which are in full view to the techs) and holler "get me out of here!". I was indeed nervous, but took the opportunity to do my breathing exercises and got along just fine. Oh, before going into the imaging room, I had to remove all metals from my person, including my ring. I also had to take out my wallet since the magnet could zap my credit cards. In summary, no worries! As a physics instructor, it was actually interesting.

I've not gotten the results yet, but I will when I go back to the neuro. I feel very sure that if something bad had shown up I'd have been notified by now. Don't forget that the neuro PA administered a neuro exam to me and said it was normal. She also left the option of further testing (mri and emg) UP TO ME and she wouldn't have done that had she suspected something evil going on.

As for the zoloft, I can sympathize with the sleeplessness. For the past few nights I've woken up at like 4 am and had some trouble getting back to sleep. This happened the first week I was on zoloft and then subsided for about a week. I'm not overly concerned because it's getting to be less of a problem and it's a known side effect that I'm told will eventually subside. I have a "zoloft check" appointment with my GP this afternoon and I'll mention it to him. Zoloft is really helping me deal with bouts of anxiety though. Just last night I had an episode of "jelly legs" with some slight buzzing and would normally have freaked out. But this time, I was able to say "Okay I'm having some anxiety right now but I just don't have time to be anxious. Go away and I'll be anxious later." and I finished sweeping the garage and made dinner. Without the zoloft, I couldn't have done that! I also had some hand/wrist twitching last night and was kind of anxious about that, but once again I was in a good frame of mind thanks to the zoloft and I was able to get my work done. I was able to reason that I'd just done some weight lifting and some pushups and that's what triggered the twitches. This morning, I'm just fine.

One Sunday morning about a month ago, I had a really scary tingling experience. I tingled EVERYWHERE on my left side, from cheek to big toe. It lasted about 30 minutes and I really freaked out, but I didn't go to the ER. I tried to use what I'd learned in therapy about talking myself through the anxiety and it seemed to work. I'm convinced it was an anxiety attack. Yes, I considered the posibility of stroke but there were no other such symptoms and the tingling was confined to my skin as opposed to "deep inside" if that makes any sense. Remember that anxiety can cause all manner of physical symptoms to come and go.

Hang in there! You're not alone!!!!!