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Head is so sensitive, driving me nuts

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Posted 11/5/2009 8:46 AM (GMT 0)
I was upped to 60 mg Prozac about 2 weeks ago--don't know if that has any bearing on anything..but my head is really bothering me. Every sound or movement--I'm sensitive to. It's hard to do anything. I live w/my parents and my dad at least, is loud all the time. I'm not nervous just sensitive and everything makes me jump---it's debilitating.
My head is full kind of, my ears too, which is chronic. ENT says my nose is always red and stuffy, if that makes any difference.

This particular sensitivity started a few days ago maybe...
I've been having some weird problems before and got an EEG, and MRI done and were normal. But it feels like something is up and I can't stand it.

Also, symptoms that have been w/me for a long time are muscle spasms and jerks, and shakiness. My psych says those may be caused by Prozac, but I've never felt this w/Prozac in the 17 yrs I've been on it. I'll be starting .5 mg of Abilify in a week or so at night.

I haven't told my psych about this sensitivity thing b/c it started after I saw her last. It kinda goes down my neck too. I can't really explain what the sensitive-like feelings are like...its kinda like when you have a flu and everything is very sensitive and overwhelming but it goes away when the flu stops, unlike this. The sensation is really hard to describe. I just wanna rip my head off.

Post Edited (phixgrrrl) : 11/5/2009 1:49:20 AM (GMT-7)

Posted 11/5/2009 11:53 AM (GMT 0)
Hi...from what I have learned from going through a similar experience, any change in dosage on an SSRI can cause strange 'head sensations'...upping, lowering or sometimes when the dosage you are on has run its course and isn't working anymore.

I have just weaned off lexapro and even while lowering the dosage over the course of months, I had an exaggerated startle reflex, noise sensitivity, brain zaps and what I can only describe as head rushes.  Also mild tremors, especially my fingers.

My mom went off Paxil to Zoloft and experienced what you describe also...especially the muscle jerking.  We thought she had Parkinson's.

If your symptoms are from your increase, they will probably go away, once your body adjusts.

Donna

Posted 11/5/2009 1:47 PM (GMT 0)
Great advice from Donna :) You might even just been in a super heightened state of anxiety as well. . . Last year when I hit rock bottom, the slightest noise from either a door shutting, loud music, TV, etc. had me jumping out of my skin with my heart pounding. If you work with your doc/pdoc with meds and work on your therapy stuff like CBT, Relaxation/Breathing exercises, it will help so much.

I've been there and I feel for you. Please just take it easy on yourself and the best of luck!
Posted 11/5/2009 2:13 PM (GMT 0)
I agree with both of the members above, I think part of it is from the med increase, but like Sam said I think also in your case its because you are in such a high state of anxiety and having a hard time getting it under control. I agree you really need to start working on the CBT program to help lessen these anxious feelings. Good luck!
Posted 11/6/2009 12:51 AM (GMT 0)
Thanks. I'm feeling these sensations in my back and stomach. I've always had stomach spasms sometimes when I lay down...the doc didn't seem concerned when i told him (many many years ago); but feels like those are worse. I'm even trying to do a graphic contest for my portfolio but I cannot work with this.
I'm over-tired from sleeping 5 hrs/night for the past 3 nights but I don't think sleep will cure all this. I don't think I had symptoms like this when i first went on Prozac...I'm sure there was something (I do remember dry cotton mouth)... I just remember weird things b4 I started taking anything (which was 17 yrs ago)--like electricity running thru me and hyperventilation. I don't know what the hell this is.
Posted 11/6/2009 2:08 PM (GMT 0)
Phixgrrrl,

You have anxiety and the anxiety is causing all these strange symptoms in you. I think once you and your doctor can get this under control you will start feeling better. Try not to overthink everything, and take each day as it comes. Good luck!

Gail*Nanners*
Posted 11/6/2009 7:57 PM (GMT 0)

=Over the years all the meds Ive taken i thought made me extra sensitive to noise, light, smells etc- but when I look at the big picture, its the anxiety (and in my case Fibro) that makes me ultra sensitive.

Maz XX

Posted 11/9/2009 4:29 AM (GMT 0)
Mazfire - It's reassuring to read that. I'm new here, visiting from Lyme because I think I need this, too. Lately my mind takes me places no rational person would go. My response to difficult situations has become problematic. I knead the possibilities into a tangled ball of hellish scenarios, each an exaggerated extension of the worst possible outcome. And like Phixx my head and ears are full, and odd sensations plague my body. I'm light and sound sensitive. Sometimes I'd swear my brain is itchy. I know I'm full of bacteria that can cause all sorts of symptoms; I'm taking meds for that and recovery is a very long road away. In the meantime, somehow I need to get a better handle on my cognition so I quit torturing myself. Sounds easy to say, not so easy to accomplish. Nanners, if you have any suggestions about how to stop overthinking things, I'd love to know what they are. When I get stuck in one of these loops I expend a great deal of energy trying to distract myself onto some other line of thought, and then as soon as I relax I'll realize I've popped right back into the unhealthy obsessing.

Rose
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