Primary progressive myoclonus of aging.
 

Hello, I am having myoclonic seizures, mostly positive (jerking of left arm, left side of body) and sometimes negative (sudden collapse to the floor). They started in April and are escalating. I even get myoclonic seizures of my eustachian tube which produces rapid clicking! Occasionally I wake up at night having seizures in my abdomen.

I am seeing a specialist in epilepsy on the 30th of January.

Writing this is more difficult that usual because my hands jump occasionally.

I have been prescribed 1500 mg of Depakote, since December 19, but it hasn't made any difference.

In the past three years I have had two one-hour sleep deprived EEGs and one overnight sleep study with EEG monitoring, all of which showed nothing unusual with brain activity.

So good to find this forum.

Hugs, ElaineD

Hello ElaineD: I'm sorry you're experiencing these symptoms. I don't have anything as severe as you describe. But I have this constant sort-of "nervous" feeling throughout my body 24 / 7. The thing is I don't have anything to be nervous about. So although it feels like nervousness, I presume it must be something else. I also have what I typically describe as a restless-leg-syndrome sort of feeling also throughout my whole body 24 / 7. I haven't sought treatment for any of it, however. I also experience myoclonic jerks during the night occasionally. I also have been diagnosed as having Meniere's Disease. So I have some stuff going on that I presume is probably related to that as well (dizziness & balance issues.)

I did mention all of this to a psychiatrist I see a couple of times a year at present. He offered to write me a prescription for Neurontin. However I declined. I was on Cymbalta for a year or so back a couple of years ago now. While I was on it, I started to develop some jerkiness in my hand & arm movements. However, once I got off of the medication, that gradually went away.

Anyway, best of luck with your upcoming appointment. I hope it yields some beneficial results for you. Please keep us posted. :hug: :)

Dear Skeesyks,

Thanks so much for your post. I have taken Cymbalta since 2010, 60mg/day.

I take it because it is on label for several types of pain, specifically osteoarthritis and Peripheral Neuropathy, both of which I have. And I have Immune Disorders which cause inflammation which causes depression, so I take it for depression as well.

I checked, and a 'rare' side effect of Cymbalta is myoclonus! It is possible that this has built up over time.

I will discuss this with the epilepsy specialist that I am seeing on January 30.

I would have to withdraw slowly from Cymbalta, of course, but I can do that.

Again, thanks for your help.

Hugs, ElaineD

I was on Cymbalta for perhaps a year or so (memory fails me... as usual.) :rolleyes: I was on the maximum recommended dosage... 120 mg / day. It was, for me, the best of the antidepressants I ever took. Plus it also helped with some of my chronic physical problems as well. I went off of it when I had to change health insurance plans & the out-of-pocket cost skyrocketed. :eek:

When I made the decision to go off of the Cymbalta (actually by that time I had switched over to the generic) I went in to see my psychiatrist in order to get a withdrawl schedule. (In the past, when I'd gone off of antidepressants, I just took myself off.) Anyway, my pdoc suggested a withdrawl schedule that took me from the maximum recommended dosage down to zero over the course of two weeks.

I had read horror stories, on PsychCentral where I am also a member, about trouble members had experienced withdrawing from Cymbalta. :eek: So going off of it over the course of 2 weeks seemed very fast. But since that was what my pdoc was recommending, & I had not had any significant difficulties taking myself off of other antidepressants in the past, I decided to go with it. And I really don't recall experiencing any particular problems. :)

:Heart: :hug::hug::hug: :Heart::Grin-Nod: