Background: I am 25. I've been clinically depressed (symptom 1) and treated for it since age 14.

I went on Accutane then and spent about 5 years on it, off an on. (So, 2 to 3 years total.) Muscle pain and fatigue are part of the side effects. Now I'm on 50 mg of Aldactone. I've been on it since September 2009.

When stressed, due to depression and meds (at least, this is what I suspected before), I felt like every muscle from my neck to my ankles seized and pounded in pain. It doesn't take much to overwhelm me sensorily. My tongue feels like it goes dead.

I have always had joint pain and for the last year or so, if I cross my legs, I feel like it's detached from my body. I lose circulation regularly, and possibly due to coffee/medications, I twitch, especially when stressed. (I'm not overweight, but it happens.)


I have been on methylphenidate (Ritalin) for several years, 10 milligrams a day. In spite of all the stimulants taken, I could probably fall asleep standing up...anywhere.

I've gone through the full cycle of Gardasil injections, which is connected to symptoms of MS, if only in a small population.

This is the thing--I've dealt with pains that felt like my calves were eating themselves (especially on Accutane), poor circulation, crappy stamina, and the psychological symptoms progressively for five years plus. It might be medication causing all this, but together, I'm worried the side effects are making me complacent about something else...like MS. Or chronic fatigue. The panic attack-like symptoms described above might be due to hyperkalemia, but even when I took a break from Aldactone, they occur.


I have anemia and take iron regularly, I take a multivitamin, I don't drink or use drugs other than what was listed above.

How did you know to ask your doctor about it, what tipped you off?

I'm scared. I'm looking online at the tests required, and those alone scares me.