Bipolar medications with similar symptoms

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Hawaiijb

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First of all thank you for creating this forum for everyone. I plan on seeing a doctor but I just wanted to know if I am worrying too much about some thing I shouldn’t worry about. I take lithium and Zyprexa for my bipolar and recently I started to have some muscle twitching with a minor bout of muscle weakness. I can still stand on my toes and after checking through the other symptoms I don’t believe I have anything else. I’m 41 years old. I also notice some hypnic jerks when I fall asleep. I was reading in the forum that muscle twitching is typically not a symptom of ALS until much later. I have also been known to worry a lot about the worst happening. The symptoms have persisted for about two weeks and they are not as strong now as they were before. The twitching is typically all over my body with little tiny blips that occur a few times every hour. When should I be concerned and what other symptoms should I be looking out for just in case? Thank you in advance for your answers.
 
First thing would be to communicate with your prescribing doctor for a med review to see if there's something to be done with regards to the side effects they may be causing. Lithium causes twitching and tremor, straight up. Zyprexa seems to have a whole host of side effects too. It could be you're still in the process of finding the optimal therapeutic dose or are in need of an adjustment and it will take a while to balance side effects and mood benefits. Both affect your brain, and it is logical they would cause a variety of side effects.

I think you explained it to yourself right in your post about worrying about the worst and when twitching should be of concern. Talk to your doc about your side effects and see what advice they might have with regards to them. You're doing good, and a visit with your doc will likely reassure you.
 
Thank you for your reply. I emailed my doctor to ask her about the lithium and zyprexsa. When should I contact a neurologist about my symptoms? Is there a specific set of symptoms that would lead me to call? Or is there a specific amount of time with symptoms? I noticed that muscle twitching can be a symptom for a variety of disorders. Truth be told I probably won't be able to rest easy until I talk to the doctor. Otherwise I feel great. No other symptoms that I can tell.
 
The hallmark of ALS is clinical weakness. Clinical weakness is detected by a doctor but a person who has it will notice the inability to do something. Classic examples would be unable to button a shirt or walk on tip toe. Even then those things are usually caused by something else that is much more serious than ALS

if you are worried then you should see a doctor of course
 
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