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Intense internal agitation

Lucinda

Senior Member
Messages
118
Location
UK
Can anyone help me identify this symptom I am suffering?

I cannot sleep because an old symptom has returned.

It is a strange symptom that is hard for me to describe but I will try:

I am experiencing intense internal agitation/restlessness.

The feeling is most centred in my chest and is different from anxiety.

It comes with a sensation that my chest is burning up from the inside.

I have an intense need to stretch my chest at all times, day and night. If I stop stretching for any reason my chest boils over and I feel like peeling my skin off.

I do get heart palpitations with it but they are not more extreme than what I often feel.

The agitation only stops after my body is totally worn out. I then get a brief window where I crash and can’t move from bed, then it returns.

I cannot sleep when I have it. I have barely slept for a week now and my ME is getting worse.

I do get a fake energy whilst I have it. I am exhausted but the agitation makes me want to move and exercise and it eases a little if I do exercise but then I crash even worse.

I have no appetite when experiencing this symptom so I am losing weight.

When attempting to sleep with this symptom my body struggles with lying still, and so my body starts jerking and twitching involuntarily. This feels like little electric jolts.

This all probably makes me sound crazy but I’m not. I had this symptom for years before being put on clonazepam. Dr Myhill said it was glutamate excitoxicity - caused by too little GABA too much glutamate. This was based on Dr Chaney’s research into ME patients with this problem and his theory that what was going on was similar to what epilepsy patients experience.

However this time my clonazepam is not helping me. Propranolol doesn’t touch the symptom it just eases the tachycardia and palpitations a bit. The only other thing that helps a little is a supplement called N-acetyl-glucosamine.

Does anyone know what this symptom is and what to do about it?
 
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Booble

Senior Member
Messages
1,397
Have you considered it adrenal related? Sounds like you might be getting a lot of adrenaline surges?
(I'm feeling a little like how you describe as well right now.)
 

pattismith

Senior Member
Messages
3,931
I’ve looked it up. It is possible. But the only med that could possibly cause it is the one I have been using to treat it (clonazepam)
you are right but ...

https://www.hindawi.com/journals/bn/1993/591615/
Four episodes of atypical or paradoxical benzodiazepine-induced akathisia in three patients are reported and analyzed. All four episodes of akathisia were atypical because they were caused by clonazepam, clorazepate, or lorazepam. In one patient neither thiothixene nor lorazepam caused akathisia, but clonazepam and clorazepate did. In another patient both lorazepam and fluoxetine caused akathisia. It is also noted that all three patients had a history of traumatic brain injury and seizure disorder. The data support the hypothesis that atypical benzodiazepine-induced akathisia exists. Its mechanism may be different from neuroleptic-induced akathisia, but may still involve serotonergic systems or the forced normalization phenomenon.
 

Judee

Psalm 46:1-3
Messages
4,461
Location
Great Lakes
Lactic acid and/or ammonia buildup? I think we have too much of those in our system.

Where I get the fire burning sensation mostly is in my neck and shoulders (coat hanger region) but also in small measure in my whole upper torso.

A doctor in this VIDEO talks about lactic acid being a part of that coat hanger pain because of dysautonomia. He said the head and neck muscles are chronically activated but when there is dysautonomia then these muscles are not getting enough oxygenated blood.

With chest muscles we're constantly breathing so I think they are always activated as well. So similar to how someone with POTs or orthostatic issues has to keep moving when upright, I wonder if that's why you keep feeling like you need to stretch. Your brain may be signaling to get more oxygen to that area.

???
 
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L'engle

moogle
Messages
3,200
Location
Canada
I've had this feeling from some supplements, notably l-theanine and K2 of the MK-7 variety. It's a weird sensation and not pleasant. I would guess something to do with glutamate as well.

Maybe consider trying b6, taurine or magnesium glycinate ?