Jump to content

Can benzos actually cause muscle tension?


[th...]

Recommended Posts

Hi,

 

I am a healthy male athlete who has been dealing with GAD and depression, since a panic attack 18 mo ago. 

I was taking xanax .25 once per day for 3yr and switched to klonopin .25 - .5 per day for a year. Of the many symptoms I am dealing with I seem to have awful muscle tension in my neck and shoulders and have been dealing with a heavy head, head tension and pressure as well as pressure and tension in my jaws with this slight "woozy" feeling as if I had been drinking

 

Could it be that these symptoms are just related to my anxious condition or is it possible that benzos can actually exacerbate or even cause muscle tension over time?

There seems to be some literature supporting this. 

 

Dose anyone have any experience with symptoms like these?

 

I have 50 pages of medical testing with brain and body MRIS only to be told I have anxiety.

 

thanks for your responses

 

 

 

Muchlove

The daydreamer

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 3 weeks later...

Hey there

 

i'm new here too. sorry you didn't get any replies yet, and to hear about your issues.

 

i owe a few kind BBs replies to my similar situation / queries -- but too tense to sit for long and type.... but just got too tense trying to walk around house, so here it sit.

 

BUT YES!!!!!! ---- for me this has been a total nightmare!

 

my GP doesn't believe it, even tho Clz is a super strong muscle relaxer... hmmm.

 

but i believe, as you've read/experienced -  if it turns on you - then no different than insomnia, etc.

 

i hit tolerance [anxiety related tension] about a year ago, so ~ 22 mths since starting Clz. i felt instant joint pain + tension when starting, but GP wouldn't let me stay on Ativan.

 

i wrote a long intro to try to explain - here's link if you're up to reading it - http://www.benzobuddies.org/forum/index.php?topic=214556.0

 

plus i posted in w/d board as well 'on 2 benzos...' ...desperate to get off this poison.

 

otherwise, here's my summary to share w/you - seems it only happens to most BBs during w/d, but for me, it started in tolerance.

 

being updosed on clonazepam by my GP has increased the tension to the point i can barely walk indoors more then 10-15 min before my legs seize up and achilles so strained - terrifies me. other sxs snowballed, ie, knees, ankles swelling, etc.

 

so - housebound 7 mths since my GP starting updosing more than double my original dose - saying it should reduce tension. but has only worsened severely.

 

then eventually /recently - i got desperate and added in some Valium [long story - in my INTRO etc] to try to reduce tension. 

 

now it feels like it's turned on me too and both C +V are giving me double tension + i/d w/d...

 

if i could spread my doses it may help - but i never could - too sedating. so feel

trapped and desperate.

 

also, i'm not a fit/athletic person as you are. so my GP keeps blaming Fibro/ME, etc, not the benzo. keeps pushing lyrica, saying it's all neurological. 

 

well, i guess it is, but it's caused by the benzo, for me anyway.

 

i was 1st put on Baclofen 2 yrs ago and c/t by another GP, so know very well how strong 'muscle relaxers' work - when they stop working - and this feels the same.

 

please try to get off this poison asap!

 

sorry for the somewhat incoherent ramble - need to get up now. don't know if you got answers anywhere else.

 

best of luck and hope you heal soon.

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

thanks Ajusta

 

not sure if original poster gave up or got answers elsewhere, but found his post and felt need to shout out a quick reply.

 

so sorry i've not yet replied properly to your kind post sharing so many similar sxs, etc,  on my intro thread --- will do asap.

 

have been suffering badly since that time when i did last C/V swap and intro posts.

 

so stupid to be on 2 benzos -- getting weaker every day.  lost so much more muscle in past 2 wks  -- it's getting really scary.  and still can't walk any better, actually more wobbly, so V is a double-edged sword.  also, swapping out that C may be doing this too.  now double achilles pain....

 

don't know what to do... don't know which to taper... now want to just stop V, but know i can't, obvs.

 

desperate -- thinking of going back on all Clz...  but such a high dose.  but most worried the paradoxical tension will mean can't walk at all....

 

then again, it doesn't give hangover sedation during day, and don't think it made me feel as weak......  also, i think it has some pain relieving properties....

 

as much as i hate Clz -- not sure if it might be better for you and your probs, than V?  My Rheum says V is worst for FM/ME + hypermobility.  have you looked into it?  seems to work for other ME/FM folks.... just relaying his opinion, don't want you to take this as my advice. oh we're all so different.

 

but i hate Clz and what it's done to me, and hate the thought of adding so much back again, and then trying to direct taper it. nightmare.

 

my GP leaving in 2 days.  he's lovely, but admits he's helpless to advise. washed his hands of me now.  no new GP yet - all clueless at that surgery + live in small town.

 

he just keeps pushing lyrica b/c Psych told him. same Psych who told me to go to 4mg Clz... doesn't believe paradoxical, says its FM/ME.  says i'll be worse off of Clz than on it. FFS.

 

lyrica will only make me more weak, sedated. already so debilitated, how can it help?

 

plus, says right on the leaflet - 'don't mix w/benzos'. duh.

 

also, like a benzo, and so hypersensitive to other meds, it terrifies me.

 

i also have L-spine bulging/degenerative discs  [+ C-spine bulging] -- don't know if they are making things worse ie, walking  -- but couldn't make it to MRI - too weak, and can't straighten legs.  and that was 2 mths ago, before swapping in some V. 

 

much worse now. can barely keep my head up now, or my eyes open. must get up and try to hobble now for 10 min.

 

so sorry we're suffering this hell.  as you say, we're not alone, and sorry you're in so much pain too.  :hug:

 

hope you can get off that low dose safely and heal soon. x

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi Chipmunk,

 

We seem to have a lot of similar stuff.

 

I wish I had not tried to get off of the Diazepam. Wish I had just stayed on it.

 

I have lots of degenerative changes in spine including two vertebrae that have fused at top of thoracic spine and mild scoliosis.

 

Thing is nobody seems to think that is causing problems but in WD all areas where something sows in MRI are pure torture. Icould feel it before had MRI so not nocebo...

 

In last few days my hamstrings have tightened horrendously and spasticity in legs and back is much worse. Legs are getting too ‘bouncy’ And hard to control. They ate incredible painful to touch. Tried to stretch them out but won’t shift.

 

Asked GP about Tizanidine but says I need to get it prescribed by neuro for her to be able to let me have it so will talk to neuro in new year.

 

Some muscles like flutes seem to have just switched off completely. Can’t get them to engage at all. I think that happened after a I was put on Baclofen which was absolute hell.

 

I would never take Clonazepam myself.

 

The Valium worked fine for me for 20 years. Yes, had to spend much time lying down and felt like brain was being dragged down out of head if tried to sit or stand for very long but it was better than this.

 

My whole back body just gets tighter and tighter and the constant hunger, cravings and panic it is causing are horrendous.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I am a healthy male athlete who has been dealing with GAD and depression, since a panic attack 18 mo ago. 

I was taking xanax .25 once per day for 3yr and switched to klonopin .25 - .5 per day for a year. Of the many symptoms I am dealing with I seem to have awful muscle tension in my neck and shoulders and have been dealing with a heavy head, head tension and pressure as well as pressure and tension in my jaws with this slight "woozy" feeling as if I had been drinking

 

Could it be that these symptoms are just related to my anxious condition or is it possible that benzos can actually exacerbate or even cause muscle tension over time?

There seems to be some literature supporting this. 

 

Dose anyone have any experience with symptoms like these?

 

I have 50 pages of medical testing with brain and body MRIS only to be told I have anxiety.

 

thanks for your responses

 

 

 

Muchlove

The daydreamer

Hi, yes I had the horrible neck, shoulder and head tension...so bad that I felt like my head was wrapped around my neck...bizzare, it was not anxiety...Valium is a muscle relaxant and when I was tapering too fast and cutting too much it caught up with me and caused my problem...for a while I could not hold my head up at all. I had many problems and I have reinstated twice and it went away. Now I am on my third taper...going slow and steady and things are going well. It is a sx of going much faster than your Brain can handle, anyway it was for me.

 

You would have had more responses...if you would kindly place your sig, it is important for buddies to read of your med history and not seeing one...many will not answer. Best to you on your Journey to wellness. 💖 Peace and Healing.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks for the responses guys,

 

Its hard for me because I have always been very healthy and strong, anxiety have crept in on me over time and I believe I had ignored symptoms until it reached maximum threshold and potentially bringing a more subclinical condition to an outright life altering condition,,,,,

 

Against my greater knowledge I chose to give citalopram a try  15mg, and somehow it seems that this "jaw tension, pressure" thing has gotten worse, although the head pressure and woozines has been around since the panic attack and was using xanax 3yrs prior no issues until that punctuated event

 

The klonopin and or xanax is the only thing I have not eliminated from this equation and feel that it is possible that it may have "turned" on me causing these bizzare head annomolys,

 

I am looking forward to tapering off klonopin  .375 now per day (that has been my dose for months) and then taper off of the SSRI and give my body a chance to heal naturally

 

 

BTW  -  I have always used med cannabis for 15 years before bed, a few tokes, and 2 beers with dinner, never exceeded that, it was just very consistent, since anxiety has gotten worse I stopped smoking and drinking, maybe my body needs to go back, at least to the cannabis,,,,,,,LOL

 

Do you guys feel that the brain and body over time will heal and find its way, and that these symptoms will go away after I get the klonopin out of my system?  I think so,,,,,

 

Thank you all again, I want my pain to end

 

PS - is this what you mean by placing signature?

 

 

Thedaydreamer

 

.25 xanax bed time 3yrs

Smoke med cannabis before bed 15yrs

20mo ago panic attack, not the same since

50page medical workup, told GAD and depression

.375 klonopin AM 1yr

15mg Citalopram 3months ago 8-18

since attack, strange reality (derealization?), dont feel like myself

Woozy feeling, head heavyness and tension

irrational fears, getting better, hyper arousal CNS?

looking to taper off all meds, then use aminos and herbs

 

Much love

 

 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Hi,

 

I am a healthy male athlete who has been dealing with GAD and depression, since a panic attack 18 mo ago. 

I was taking xanax .25 once per day for 3yr and switched to klonopin .25 - .5 per day for a year. Of the many symptoms I am dealing with I seem to have awful muscle tension in my neck and shoulders and have been dealing with a heavy head, head tension and pressure as well as pressure and tension in my jaws with this slight "woozy" feeling as if I had been drinking

 

Could it be that these symptoms are just related to my anxious condition or is it possible that benzos can actually exacerbate or even cause muscle tension over time?

There seems to be some literature supporting this. 

 

Dose anyone have any experience with symptoms like these?

 

I have 50 pages of medical testing with brain and body MRIS only to be told I have anxiety.

 

thanks for your responses

 

 

 

Muchlove

The daydreamer

 

 

Taking them relaxes muscles but when off them muscles can tense and this is what i have that is my main symptom. Could be possible it causes it too. Read up the side effects of the drugs. If you didn't have these symptoms before the drugs then it's def the drugs.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...