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Never in a million years would I have thought that ANYTHING could possibly be worse than my disorder of major bipolar depression and anxiety. I'd have laughed in the face of anyone who told me otherwise. Nevertheless, I was wrong. Here's how I came out alive from thee most brutal experience of my entire life. Years back, I had settled on Lamictal and Gabapentin to keep my moods in check. However, being in my young 20s, I wasn't yet equipped with the discipline to battle my mental illness via diet, lifestyle changes, and giving up my lovely alcoholic beverages. I eventually came across Suboxone, an opiate, which did wonders for my depression for about the first year I was on it. It also ended my alcoholism on the very first day. During this time, I found magnesium (via epsom salts), which helped quite a lot with my illness, so I decided to quit my Lamictal and Gabapentin, and stay on the Suboxone. Well, the depression seemed to return, but I was always trying to figure out natural ways to heal it. Fast forward another couple of years, and I decide it's time to quit the Suboxone, as it had lost most of its antidepressant effect. I use Kratom, a natural herb, to successfully withdraw from Suboxone. However, when I quit the Kratom, I went into a manic episode with full-blown delusions, etc. My family urges me to go to the ER, to which I comply. While there, I'm given an injection of Geodon, which knocks me out for about 2 hours (I hadn't slept or eaten at all in over 2 days at that point.) I'm given a script for a full bottle of Geodon and am sent on my way. Through Geodon and the use of strong Epsom salt baths, my mania was quickly brought to a halt. My sleep, though, was affected by the opiate withdrawal (a common symptom), so I stayed on a low dose of Geodon - about 20mg per night - to help me sleep through the night without waking. Fast forward a couple of months, and I try and quit the Geodon. Horrible depression came rolling back in, so I decided that I must obviously need Geodon to keep the depression at bay. So, for the first time, I decide to try upping my dose to 40mg and see how I fare. Shortly after that dose, there was no doubt my brain was heading towards hypomanic land, but I managed to fall asleep. The next day I dose again, but start experiencing very intense anxiety/panic. I go out for a day with my wife, and drink some wine with lunch in order to calm myself down. Hey, at least I wasn't horribly depressed. I get home, and the anxiety continues, at a very high level. I end up drinking almost an entire bottle of wine to calm myself down, awaking with a decent hangover the next morning. I then try and dose Geodon again, and BAM - FULL BLOWN akathisia kicks in. For those of you who have never felt it, there's no doubt that you'd much rather have both of your legs broken. You'd rather be crucified. I'd have chopped my balls off to make it stop. As one man on a message board put it, "I was ready to sell my family into slavery to make it end." He probably wasn't joking. So I end up in the ER, pacing back and forth, where I'm given an Ativan injection. Interestingly, a young medical student in training had actually experienced this before from an injection of a different medication, so he understood my pain. I remember telling him, "If someone showed me a door to hell on my left, I'd walk through it on the off chance that perhaps hell is more tolerable than akathisia!" It took probably a full hour to feel any relief, and I decided to fall asleep at the hospital to speak with a psychiatrist the next day. After all, I obviously needed some sort of replacement medication. I wake up the next morning, and am actually feeling fine, with no akathisia. Until they served breakfast. Upon eating some pancakes with syrup, POW - full-blown akathisia returns. I am literally in tears, pacing back and forth frantically, desperate for help. With the nurse seeing that I'm in severe turmoil, she sympathizes greatly. I ask to try Cogentin for relief, to which she agrees. She also prescribes Zyprexa as a replacement medication. I fill the scripts and head home. And I take the Zyprexa as prescribed, starting with 5mg. HOLY SHIT, SWEET MOTHER OF GOD. Akathisia returns with a vengeance, EVEN WORSE than before! I awake at about 4 a.m., my heart POUNDING, and I immediately start pacing. I end up outside, walking ALL day long, completely unable to sit still. My nerves are on fire. My legs are killing me from all of the walking. I hold out as long as I can, before cracking open another bottle of wine and guzzling glass after glass. It was the only saving grace I had. Suicide was CONSTANTLY on my mind, for every single second. I decided that, if I do it, I would slit my throat with a serrated blade. It seemed to be the quickest and easiest way out. The next day, I have no choice to return to the ER. Still pacing the entire time, I'm praying constantly for any amount of mercy from above. A doctor finally arrives, and asks if I'm feeling manic. I tell him not at all, just horrid akathisia. He goes and talks to the on-staff psychiatrist. What I heard pissed me the hell off. I overheard him talking to the psychiatrist on staff, saying something along the lines of, "These people come in, with their disorder flaring up, and they say "Oooohh, it's not the disorder, it's a side effect of the medication!"" Basically, he believes I'm full of shit before even seeing me. He takes his sweet-ass time, making me pace for probably an entire hour before coming in to see me. His advice? Go home and double your dose of Cogentin. The medication that did absolutely nothing. I begged to try something else, such as Propranolol, with no luck. At this point, I knew I was fucked, and would have to do anything to survive this. First step was finding out what foods I could tolerate. I began a diet of nothing but eggs, an easily digestable food. It seemed that anything heavy, especially carb-based foods, would bring on sweats and akathisia. So I had to figure out just how much of which foods I could handle without these sweats being triggered. My akathisia started to dimish at this time with my super-strict eggs only diet, but I was now also battling with suicidal depression, (multiple crying spells daily), on top of everything else, now that I was unmedicated. Many times, I had completely commited and devoted myself to suicide, even writing a letter in one instance saying goodbye. But, for whatever reason, at the VERY last minute before going off to do the deed, either God/guardian angels/or ancestral spirits - who knows what was doing this - would do something each and every time, to offer me relief before the next episode. There were times of literally complete remission for a few whole days, only to have the suicidal depression and akathisia return. All of this time, I was sleeping, on average, only 2 hours per night. Sometimes 1, sometimes no sleep at all. It was hell. I decided to fast, using my juicer, which lasted about 6 days, along with intense prayer each day for answers to my issues. During that time, I noticed something very interesting. One day I juiced a bunch of veggies, and added in 3 whole apples. I felt my blood sugar skyrocket, and then crash. I went into extreme sweats, anxiety, etc, along with ravenous hunger. I stuck it out, even though I was dying to eat. Even plain veggie juice along was causing crashes as well. Breaking my fast, I eventually added in highly steamed vegetables, which I could tolerate in small amounts without triggering these sweats. However, any more that about 4-5 pieces of broccoli would send me over the edge. Since I have also been battling adrenal fatigue, I decide to give vitamin C a try via Ester-C brand, as it was helping a lot in the past. I couldn't, however, handle any more than about 150 mg or so without extreme anxiety/overstimulation kicking in. One night, after feeling like horrible shit all day with suicidal ideation, out of anger I say screw this, and decide to grab some pistachios, which I had an intense craving for for some reason. To my surprise, the pistachios send me into no sweats whatsoever. So I then buy some almonds - same result...zero sweats, zero akathisia. I begin eating them everyday. For whatever reason, the mixed nuts boosted my adrenal health just enough to once again handle vitamin C. This is where things got interesting. I decide to pound my body with megadosing, taking about 30,000 - 40,000 mg that first day. Your limit of vitamin C absorption is determined by a loosening of the stools, indicating you've had enough. I experienced no loosening of stools whatsoever, even with 40,000 mg per day. My sleep began to improve, as did my mood by some amount. One night, I'm eating the typical steamed veggies that my wife prepared. But, she had also cooked plantains, a heavy carb source. A small amount of mashed plantain was accidentally mixed in with my veggies, and I started eating it. I let out an "uh-oh, here we go" after ingesting some, but interestingly, I experienced no sweats or akathisia. So I decide to eat some more, to no ill effect. To my surprise, the vitamin C had upped my threshold for handling carbs! I also add in betaine HCL, a supplement used for increasing stomach acid, in order to aid digestion. Definitely seemed to help things along. The next day, I eat an entire half of a plantain, and feel fine. I come home that night, and devour two whole bowls of rice and beans, and even have a baked potato before bed. The next day, I start to feel anxiety, but ignore it and keep up with the carbs. By the third day, full-blown akathisia had returned, to my devastation, brought on by too many carbs. So, I returned to my simple diet of nothing but eggs, nuts, and heavily steamed veggies for a few days, which even those were sending me into sweats. I resumed vitamin C megadosing, and within a few days the sweats once again disappeared. I was able to handle carbs once again, gladly, but knew that I had to limit them to a responsible level. I start researching hypoglycemia/insulin resistance issues, and the symptoms of these disorders were very interesting, as many of them were remarkably close - well, actually, pretty much IDENTICAL, to symptoms of akathisia. Extreme restlessness (unable to sit still), crying spells, extreme anxiety, hot/cold sweats, suicidal ideation, overwhelming feelings of doom/dread, intense fear, muscle twitches, feelings of "going crazy" etc. These symptoms are mostly due to having far too much insulin in the blood. This had me thinking: is it possible that akathisia is actually a case of EXTREME insulin resistance, a not-uncommon side effect of antipsychotics? I can't be sure, but it seemed to make sense to me. Another possibility is that the unlucky souls who experience akathisia are those who had poor adrenal function prior to using the medication, as I had. As long as I had the vitamin C on board, I was able to continue eating healthy carbs each day, as long as I didn't take it too far! I was experiencing an increase in energy with the carb increase, but my suicidal depression remained. So, out of desperation, I contact my former psychiatrist, and luckily she agreed to start me back on Lamictal prior to my first appointment. I was terrified the Lamictal would aggravate my akathisia, so I began on only 12.5 mg. No ill effects, and I actually felt an ever-so-slight boost from it. The next day, I'm up to 25, feeling more of a slight boost, with no aggravation of akathisia! By the time a week went by on 25mg, I was handling pretty much any amount of carbs I wanted with no akathisia whatsoever. I kept up with the vitamin C during this time as well, at about 10,000 mg per day, and I still do today. I'm now up to 100 mg, at the 3 week mark, and can even handle tea without any akathisia symptoms! Too much caffeine can bring back sweats via adrenal crashes, but that can be counteracted with very strong epsom footbaths or magnesium supplementation. The Lamictal has seemingly cured all of my akathisia issues! Looking at the bright side, the akathisia has brought about a complete revamp in my diet, which is now super healthy, and I stick to it religiously, eating veggies every day, good carbs, and no sugar. A special thanks to God, and whoever else was looking out for me. I dearly hope that this can help anyone suffering from this BRUTAL, HORRID, ASS-KICKING side effect of AAPs. Cheers to good health, Jay.

Just an update based on my posts earlier during this year. I ultimately wound up remaining on the oral antipsychotic (Latuda 20mg) which I started taking after completing my 2nd probation term in this decade in January 2018 stemming from a January 2015 motor vehicle offense which ultimately slammed me with a 3rd degree felony (after already acquiring a misdemeanor for resisting arrest on foot in June 2012) related to having schizoaffective disorder and experiencing manic episodes and hallucinations. I was previously diagnosed with Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features after the 1st incident I was involved in back in June 2012. My main issue the entire time I was serving both probation terms was that I was always court ordered by a judge to continue taking the antipsychotics by injection and to continue my psychological treatment. My primary concerns with the antipsychotic medication was always having intolerable akathisia (inability to sit still), tremendous amounts of weight gain (My height is 5'8 with a small to medium frame and my weight maxed out in January 2018 at almost 310lb after being around 155lb until after June 2012, severe gynecomastia (recently won Risperdal / Invega class-action lawsuit), anxiety, depression, and disorganized speech (currently seeing a speech pathologist to suppress language disorder). Following the completion of my 2nd probation term, I was initially placed on Latuda 40mg taken with food at night and then tested out Fanapt 6mg. I was still experiencing most of the side-effects and was still outright desperate to eliminate all of the symptoms I just mentioned. By the beginning of March 2018, I did ultimately try consulting with my psychiatrist about switching to a mood-stabilizer as monotherapy acting in place of an antipsychotic and accepted the risk that if I actually suffer from schizoaffective disorder and it wasn't Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features that I would probably relapse and hallucinate again and I was even in agreement to keep a bottle of antipsychotics as a PRN and to just eat them like crazy if anything happened. I discussed everything with him (I never considered him to be a control freak) and he said that he would eventually be willing to try my suggestion but asked me if I had any other idea in mind that involved remaining on an antipsychotic for slightly longer. I suggested to him that I'd be willing to try taking the Latuda at 20mg instead of 40mg before switching to a completely different class of drugs. In retrospect, I'm not even completely certain if any of the oral antipsychotics including the higher dosage of Latuda or Fanapt were even that badly tolerated.. Now, I'm not condemning an entire class of drugs because I now support some of the low-dose oral antipsychotics for myself but I ultimately think that my former overall disgust and intolerance for the antipsychotics was because I was only ever taking them when I was either locked up in county jail and the overall quality of the drugs was really bad and primarily because the only time I was ever actually taking them was when I was taking court-ordered injections. That basically explains why my experience with the mental health system always sucked up to that point. I'm not trying to speak to highly of myself here but my psychiatrist has always said that he considers me to be one of his higher functioning patients, therefore the reason why he thinks I was always so vocal about all the underlying side effects from the injections and was more sensitive to them than the majority of his patients, even at 260, 280 or 310 pounds, my weight was never really a factor for me in terms of reacting to the meds with less sensitivity. It simply didn't matter what injection he would put me on. I was on so many of them including Invega, Aristada, and Invega and they always caused more damage than they did anything positive for me. I always felt like the compromises I had to make to not hallucinate and remain out of legal trouble were simply too much to take. The slow-release form of the injections was always too intense for me but I was honestly being completely forthright when I admitted that I didn't want another episode involving the boys in blue to occur ever again. At the time of my last post, my dosage was already reduced to 20mg and I was still complaining on a regular basis about everything I was still feeling but it wasn't until the end of March when the restless / walking on hot sand feeling finally began to subside. My overall appetite decreased enough to where I lost over 50 pounds by the beginning of the summer (since then the weight loss has stopped at around 260lb unfortunately but I have remained generally stable in terms of my weight). I won a class-action lawsuit against Risperdal / Invega in February and my weight became low enough where my plastic surgeon agreed to perform male-breast reduction surgery on me after denying me previously because I became so overweight / obese after I was released from county jail and the results were very successful without needing revision surgery thus far. My speech disorder did improve a little but unfortunately wasn't completely going away by the end of the summer. I still felt like I had something like aphasia where I couldn't think of common words or name common objects and the words wouldn't return to my mind until 10 or 20 minutes after the conversation took place. The speech pathologist I eventually saw for this referred me to the audiology department at my local hospital for Central Auditory Processing Testing and it was revealed that I do in fact have a language decoding disorder (my intuition was right all along) which is certainly aggravated by having schizoaffective disorder and maybe even still by the medication. I only become somewhat anxiety-ridden and become depressed right after I take the medication with some food, therefore I normally take it right before I go to sleep. By the time I wake up, I am no longer experiencing the anxiety and paranoia but I never become psychotic. Still, the most important thing is that I'm no longer experiencing any of that indescribable akathisia and thank god the weight gain reversed before I hit 350 and I no longer have to walk around with female-like breasts anymore. This is easily the most balanced I've felt since I developed the mental illness in the beginning of this decade. I'm not a morbidly obese zombie with female-like breasts pacing all day and night with akathisia but I'm also not hallucinating and running away from the local police department during a welfare check or speeding from the state troopers on major highways either. The delusions are still there at certain times except mild enough where I just laugh them off most of the time and don't believe the majority my own deception.

My pdoc bumped me up to Abilify 30 mg and it didn't take but a few days for the akathisia to set in like crazy! I am at a loss of what to do about it. Benzos don't help. Beta-blockers don't help. The only things that help are anticholinergics, specifically, Cogentin (benztropine), but I can't stand the side effects. I have never tried Artane (trihexyphenidyl) because my pdoc won't let me. If anyone can vouch for this being better than Cogentin, I will see if I can call my neurologist and see if he can call some in for me. I have also found that, strangely, Zomig (zolmitriptan) helps it, but I have an extremely limited supply of it. Is there ANYTHING else for akathisia? ANYTHING? I've researched and have read that 5-HT2A antagonists are apparently beneficial, but I don't have anything that's really much of a 5-HT2A antagonist except trazodone, and that doesn't do jack for me. On top of all this, my mood is still in the gutter for what that's worth, and the dysphoria associated with akathisia is making it much, much worse. Please help me! I'm pacing so much there are little trails developing in the floors around my house!

I recently went through several weeks of constant akathisia, two of them severe. I'm still going through it, but it's not constant anymore. I discovered that I get akathisia from both sertraline and trazodone and at relatively low doses. I was only removed from the sertaline initially, so my symptoms kept getting worse. At the peak I got to the point where I felt like I wanted to rip out my guts and my teeth and my whole body coursed with an electrical burning. I had to stand, I had to move until I got so sore and tired that I could only lie down, shake uncontrollably and cry uncontrollably. I can't even do a good job of describing it; there is so much of the experience that I can't find words for. I've been struggling to cope with having survived the experience. I know I'm not the only person to have ever had akathisia. What have other people experienced? How do you go back to normal life, how do you talk to friends or family about the experience? I'm also very scared because my depression has been worsening since I was taken off the medications, but if I try a new medication it could start over again. I don't know how I made it through last time, and I don't know if I could do it again.

I've been on and off antipsychotics sporadically for the last 7 years since age 22 (since 2011). I'm extremely sensitive to them and have a very high response to every one I've been on. I've gained 145lbs from an increase in appetite and metabolic changes, have severe akathisia that is utterly insane and makes me want to cut my own legs off, I developed severe gynecomastia from Risperdal and Invega respectively (Won the Risperdal lawsuit, but no surgeon will touch me because of my weight), experience anxiety (The most on Abilify), fatigue, drowsiness, impotence (On Fanapt), anhedonia (From aggravated depression on Haldol), blurred vision (On Fanapt), lack of concentration, mild tardive dyskenesia (In combination with TMJ syndrome, I think it's permanent), dry eyes (Can't secrete my own tears), nasal congestion (aggravated, because I have it anyway without taking APs) , disorganized speech (Literally developed a speech impediment from a combination of Fanapt and Topamax), GI issues, etc I've experienced almost every common recorded side effect from this category / class of drugs. The lack of control over my weight and appearance and the akathisia are the worst (that's why they're listed first and reiterated). These drugs have destroyed the relatively abysmal life I had before I developed this illness and presently cut it down to absolutely nothing. I have no life. I spend the majority of my life either going to multiple doctor's appointments for my medical issues or otherwise eating uncontrollably, and pacing back and forth and smoking cigarettes occasionally. I browse the internet with my thoughts racing. I might try to watch a TV show or play video games or play bass guitar like I used to but I can barely hold concentration or focus long enough. I want this to end, I really want out. I want to experience a fraction of life again. I was previously diagnosed Bipolar 1 With Psychotic Features before my 2nd and most recent episode. As I said, I haven't taken APs consistently for 7 years. I've gone off of them twice for pretty significant periods of time before I relapsed. I usually last about 10 or 11 months (almost a year) without symptoms and perform consistently better in life in general with everything gradually going back in my life to when before I was 22. The side effects and depression usually disappear within a week. At 5 to 8 months I'm very stable, but in just under 11 months I start feeling like I'm on top of the world, become severely manic and delusional, hallucinate, experience an episode, and get into legal trouble. The 1st time around, I resisted arrest during a welfare check called in by my parents and went to the hospital and the 2nd time I successfully eluded the cops by motor vehicle on the highway and got caught hours later and went to county jail. I understand I could be facing harsh consequences but I've never been on a heavy mood-stabilizer before. All they do is overload me with APs. After the 1st episode I stopped taking psych meds completely because of how much I despised how I felt except for Zoloft and resisted almost all treatment. I avoid SSRIs now and will this time because I think it may have been responsible for raising my mood too much before the 2nd incident took place. The key to preventing future incidents for me, I believe, is to make the hallucinations and mania more tolerable to where I won't feel the need to act on them. The delusions are a joke, I can easily handle them. I'm currently taking Latuda 20mg and I'm requesting that my psychiatrist allow me to keep 2 or 3 bottles stored in my cabinet or 1 on me at all times in case any symptoms were to occur while taking Lithium. During the last episode, I was frantically searching for antipsychotics or any appropriate psych medication but didn't have them because I threw all of my former meds away after the first episode had taken place. This time I will have them to back me up and if it turns out that I need to suffer immeasurably on Latuda 20mg or another AP for the remainder of my life then so be it but I deserve a chance on a mood stabilizer simply because of what I've gone through and what I'm experiencing on APs. Has anyone ever tried Lithium as monotherapy for schizoaffective disorder or bipolar 1 with psychotic features? I hear it still has some side effects (would like to know what all of those are) but that it's immeasurably more tolerable than antipsychotics. I realize many people use it in combination with an antipsychotic but this is not in reference to that. Is there anything better than those two that's not an AP? This post is simply to inquire about anyone's thoughts or experiences about using Lithium or Lamictal as monotherapy for schizoaffective mania. A dosage and frequency recommendation would also be appreciated from those that have taken it, although I realize that I will ultimately need my psychiatrist to determine that. I found 1 study on this subject from the early to mid 1980's here: https://watermark.silverchair.com/10-1-30.pdf?token=AQECAHi208BE49Ooan9kkhW_Ercy7Dm3ZL_9Cf3qfKAc485ysgAAAcYwggHCBgkqhkiG9w0BBwagggGzMIIBrwIBADCCAagGCSqGSIb3DQEHATAeBglghkgBZQMEAS4wEQQMAypxqSBIPHx7kbXfAgEQgIIBeTskilYIIUxtfy4i-FH7a6BQ4SrsYxqZG44q7kWx1rVJdLbZ4PMxE33_FUje8rDj4FoUYJI27hYGzv-06pCL6xPDrbVg7n-g9QzqTwoPiRxgDv2VnqzwifudoudTuskAGEKItv5TfD1_V9opXCFF7vJXJln8ij8NeNkMLUpe_n-Xbp6TtkU7rXYdPCZ9dObhTfmQ4PEHkwKfcJcOVAjXzelMWD1EPzWPxCK5zu1l1d2w8ojnqH68mbvgaDuvBxyPTY-EEdADh9N0NIUPQCWHXZKWE2gEBsG_AbWS-bkPdgjxtXcn8Y_5KljQbU2Geb_ERYYWuWFMEk6CRs7FYte_16TOiCQVlahMabKxw0BdjlqvdGaPYZTKBoBWb9Poswigg8jbF1whmlo7WWRyCLCLdbKt4xkmZCU0qmv_j5FTFzeXsq05ptOFY10M3jpUft1xV75pMsPtVJ8U7d42OYqMksXhZyrA8B5k9XNhfJGS0XgmTTSLHNOdcTY2

Speech in general has always been a little bit of an issue for me. I did see a speech pathologist in the past but I was about 12 and didn't care much to benefit from it then. Just for the record, I have always noticed that my speech is much sharper when I'm not taking antipsychotic medications. Strangely enough, I seem to speak the most clearly right before I have a relapse and I am becoming manic. Almost every antipsychotic I have taken has had a negative reaction on my speech but never as much as the most recent, Fanapt. I was recently switched from Latuda 20mg to Fanapt 6mg (once daily) to suppress akathisia. At first everything seemed fine and the akathisia which was a longtime battle of mine was tapering down just slightly on the Fanapt. Then a few weeks settle in and I start feeling like I've been hit by an 18-wheeler upon waking up and just overall sedated and "spaced out". I am forgetting things, mostly short-term memory loss. A few days ago I went into a retail pharmacy to buy a few specific things, walked inside the sliding doors and completely forgot what I walked inside for a few second, although I did ultimately remember a few minutes later. Not just this but I also seem to have developed blurred vision and can absolutely not drive or operate a vehicle on this medication. Additionally my speech is completely shot and disorganized almost half the time. My speech patterns at times are almost like someone who is borderline cognitively impaired yet my IQ is in the 101-109 range (I am average). I'm forgetting words that once came easily to me and have to scan my brain hard for them, sometimes for over 10 minutes. Usually I know what I want to say but it either doesn't come out right or I just can't get it out in words. It's extremely frustrating and it's causing depression and I've threatened suicide to family and friends yet backed off that is how bad its become. I just want my ability to speak normally to be returned to me. I am coming off the Fanapt but would like to be given some suggestions as to what steps I should take to rehabilitate my speech and what medications are not disabling for someone's speech or what medications could counteract disorganized speech. My current psychiatrist is unsympathetic and doesn't care. And my initial question is can Fanapt cause a speech impediment?

I have bad akathisia right now, driving me to suicide thoughts. If you don't know akathisia it is an intense restlessness both physical and mental. Every cell is screaming do something! DO SOMETHING! You twitch, pace, smoke cigarette after cigarette. You do not sleep. Your thoughts run wild. You see the only solution as ending your life. I'm typing this as an alternative to pacing, crying, banging head against wall. It is a fairly common side effect to neuroleptics and a less common side effect to other psychiatric drugs. I got it from 9 days of 20mg fluoxetine, then they switched to 5mg Citalopram (a crazy low dose) and I still have it. I have cut this today to 2.5mg after advice from the Surviving Antidepressants board. Also on 2mg diazepam (a tiny dose) and 60mg propanalol. Today is the worst it has been. It's one saving grace is it tends to ease now and again. There is no real treatment, in fact doctors tend to assume it is a worsening of your condition and up the dose of your meds, so you can't really get help from the medical community. I went on the anti depressants for a mild case of anxiety. I am now extremely ill Anyone else suffer this hell?

Because of my extremely negative reactions to almost all the AP injections down the list, my probation officer and my psych are allowing me to switch to an oral medication for my last month on probation before I graduate. They know it's not even a risk if I didn't take it (which I'm going to) because it usually takes me many months to a year for me to become symptomatic and have a relapse. I'm not one of those type of people who relapse in less than a week or even a month. So this Tuesday, I have an appointment with my psych to discuss my options with the oral medications. According to my psych and what I know, I'm very responsive to low doses of anti-psychotics, almost becoming completely rational in a few hours of taking Zyprexa 2.5mg or Abilify 2mg. However, I'm also very sensitive at the same time and experience severe amounts of Akathisia that last all day from the moment I wake up to when I go to sleep. I could pace back and forth all day if there were no interruptions. I feel like I want to jump through a ceiling or run through a glass door to alleviate the constant need to be moving. We have tried everything from Cogentin, Artane, Propanolol, Clonazepam, Benadryl, and now Gabapentin 600mg 3x per day and all it's doing is helping with my anxiety and stabilizing my mood but not relieving the Akathisia. The counteractive drugs simply don't work for me. Never did. They're to weak compared to the agent that's causing the Akathisia. I saw a commercial over the summer that claims that Fanapt has a lower Akathisia risk than other atypical anti-psychotics but I'm not entirely sure. It seems that Fanapt has to be taken twice a day and is recommended at at least 6mg after the 1mg starting dose. I want something that can remain low. I've also read that Seroquel, at the higher doses, like 400mg to 800mg can treat schizophrenia with less of the Parkinson like side effects. I've discussed this with my psych and he says he wants to keep Seroquel as a last resort because of its low efficacy. He may not be realizing that I don't have the average type of schizoaffective disorder (if that exists). He's fearing that my claims of the extremely low-dose oral meds while I was in jail is not a true account. So. conclusively, what is the best option for a schizoaffective patient who's highest priority is ridding the Akathisia while still taking the medication consistently? I don't care about the 100% efficacy or having some symptoms. I just want the ******** akathisia gone. I also have other side effects from this crap they've been sticking in my arm for the last 15 months such as Weight Gain, Gynecomastia (just won a huge lawsuit against Janssen Pharmaceuticals for Invega), Sedation, Fatigue, Depression, Anxiety, Panic Attacks, Anhedonia, Throat Swelling, Involuntary Eye Movements, and Suicidal Ideation. Just to name a good amount of them. Please help me as my appointment takes place later this week and I want more knowledge going into it. Thanks

Ive tried Paxil which almost immediately made me want to sleep. Ive also tried Clonazepam primarily for akathisia from Abilify which had the same effect at first but after I gained a tolerance just wore me down a little so I take that around bedtime. I'm getting major anxiety and panic from being on an low-dose atypical antipsychotic and from my 1 1/2 year bid in jail, which ended 2 years ago, from a psychotic episode (having flashbacks of inmates, guards, and harsh environment). Additionally, I'm completely restless, suffering from somewhat intense akathisia, and have racing thoughts. Nonetheless, I want something I can take in the beginning of the day that doesn't make me crawl onto the sofa and doze off. I want something that is calming yet not sedating. Something that will gradually turn me into a mental superhero. The only one I've heard of so far is Buspirone.

I'm starting to experience akathisia from my latest medication change: moving from Seroquel to Perphenazine. It appears as though I have a predisposition to this side effect, and the following meds have caused it to appear also: Risperal Invega Geodon Abilify My question is what antipsychotic meds (typicals included) out there have a low risk of akathisia that aren't the ones stated above and also aren't Clozapine and Zyprexa? I've had a hard time finding an easily interpretable comparison sheet! D: I did read that Fanapt has a relatively low risk, but its efficacy came into question when I spoke with my pdoc about it. Thanks for any responses!

How can those of you who have been on Rexulti or Abilify the experience of akathisia? I think I am experiencing it as I cannot sit down not even for a minute without getting up and going to the other side of the room to get a cup and then walk around my house, as it almost feels uncomfortable to sit still unless I take my as prescribed xanax dose and valium together. Ambien helps with the restlessness at night obviously because it works well for my insomnia. If you've been on other atypical anti-psychotics I would love to hear about if you have experienced or are having akathisia and please tell me more about how this symptom makes you feel and how it affects your lives. Because I feel like it is affecting my ability to do anything for a sustained period of time. Should also mention that I didn't have my ADHD medication for the last 2 weeks so might have been a small factor in the equation. Anyhow 1 any experiences with akathisia 2 how did you deal with it or treat it 3 how long did it last for? did it stop when you discontinued the drug? etcetera. 4 how you would best describe it and how it felt for you, what it made you feel like you had to do or that you did or do? 5 what medication and what dosages were you on? Had you recently changed medications or dosages? etcetera Thanks everyone!!! Can't wait to see the post and read other's experiences as well as sharing mine!

I was on Latuda 20 mgs for awhile and it seemed to be alright. I was bumped up to 40 mgs to just help with mood and the dreaded akathisia started. I want to die when it really kicks in. My Nurse Practitioner prescribed Propranolol and it worked for a week at 10 mgs twice a day, until last night I kept moving around so much I wanted to bash my head in a wall. I called her today and she upped it to 20 mgs twice a day. I see her Monday, but I am also for the weekend only taking 20 mgs again with the Latuda. Has anyone else had this experience with Latuda, and does it stop? Or am I, yet again, going to have to find another medication to rely on? Currently I am on Latuda 40 mgs, Propranolol 20 mgs, Paxil 10 mgs, Buspar 5 mgs.

My pdoc prescribed Propranolol for akathisia after unsuccessful attempts with Cogentin (fatigue), Artane (fatigue, memory issues), and Amantadine (worsened my symptoms). Right now the dose is 10-20mg up to three times daily. What is everyone's experience with Propranolol? I took it a number of years ago and don't recall it helping much, but I forget what dose I was on (probably on something too low knowing my old pdoc).

Hi everyone. I'm new here. Thought I'd introduce myself. I was diagnosed as bipolar 6 years ago. But I had a hard time with my diagnosis so I didn't stay medicated long. Went back on medication (vraylar) a couple of weeks ago. Developed terrible akathisia and finally got some benztropine for that today which has given me some relief. But the initial blow of that hasn't been encouraging. Hoping this forum will help me stay focused on why I have to be medicated.

I was on Seroquel for years and decided to change to Zyprexa hoping that the side effects would be less. Zyprexa turned out to be worse and so I changed back to seroquel and got really bad akathisia. So I changed back to Zyprexa again for a couple of months then decided to give the seroquel a try again, starting at a low dosage and increasing it slowly. When I increased the dosage to 200mg I suddenly started getting severe panic attacks and a sense of dread and anxiety that would not go away. So I changed back to Zyprexa again. This was about a month ago and the anxiety has not gone anywhere. I live with a sense of dread and panic every minute of every day. Could this be akathisia again? The last time I had it I couldn't sit still which is different now, its just a sense of inner distress that hangs with me. I don't know what to do! My doctor thinks its just normal anxiety but I really feel like the seroquel caused some kind of physiological change, its completely abnormal for me.

Hello all, I am new to this website after doing lots of research on Latuda over the past 3 weeks. For years I had been suffering with anxiety/depression and nothing seemed to work for me. My tendency became to self-medicate with alcohol and that obviously just made things worse. This all started in my early to mid twenties as I slowly became a shell of my normal vibrant and social self. Just a year ago I was diagnosed with Bipolar 2 and the direction of medications prescribed to me took quite a turn. Originally my prescriber had started me on Lamictal to "create a base" for the antidepressant medications to work. At that time I was also started on Brintellix which ended up helping my anxiety a great deal, but left me at an all time low with my depression. After adding Abilify, it seemed things were staying the same if not getting worse with my depression. I was on Lamictal 150mg, Brintellix 20mg, and Abilify 5mg prior to starting the Latuda. Just 3 weeks ago I was started on Latuda 20mg and told to taper off the Lamictal and Abilify, which I did. As directed, I took the medication with my biggest meal of the day, lunch, and I didn't really feel any effects that first week. After a week on 20mg, I was bumped up to 40mg of Latuda. That first evening on 40mg was probably the scariest I've ever had on a medication. I got home from work and could not settle down. I am usually fairly depressed when I get home from work since I don't know what to do with myself, but this was different. I was restless and somewhat scared but couldn't really identify what was going on. I ordered a pizza at 5:30pm and then felt like crawling into bed and curling up into a ball. I then started freaking out that I would fall asleep before my pizza was delivered so I got even more restless, waiting for the delivery which typically takes 30 minutes or so. At around 6:15 I actually called the pizza place because I was so eager for the pizza to be delivered, and then I called again at 6:30 because 60 minutes was now feeling like an eternity with what my body and mind were going through. The second time I called they apologized as they were having an exceptionally busy delivery night, but they still didn't know when my delivery would arrive. At that point I couldn't take it anymore so I got into bed with my cell phone and started falling asleep. At 7:00pm the pizza delivery guy called and I just told him to cancel the order, which I felt bad doing but there was no way I was going to get out of bed at that point. This was quite an episode for me to go through. I had read the side-effects of the Latuda and still didn't really think much of what could have caused the episode. The rest of the week on Latuda was fine for me and I actually began feeling a bump in my overall mood and depression on the 40mg. I did not have another episode like the first night until yesterday, although it was a little milder. Thankfully today I had an appointment with my prescriber and I could tell her about those restless episodes, which after reading about the Latuda I thought might be Akathisia, but I wasn't sure. She confirmed that it was most likely Akathisia as a side-effect and prescribed me Cogentin today so I will be starting that along with an increase in the Latuda to 60mg. I am also going to start tapering off the Brintellix as my prescriber wants to see how the Latuda works in monotherapy for me, and SSRI's can sometimes be counter-productive when it comes to Bipolar 2. Additionally I will be taking the Latuda at bedtime since it seems to make me tired. I had been taking it around 1:00pm and I had been wanting to get into bed each night around 7:00 which is way too early for me. The good news is I have slept very well on it, and it has been easier for me to get up in the mornings. I hate to eat another 350 calories before bed but we'll see how it goes. All this to say, I am really hoping that Latuda continues to have a positive effect on my depressed mood and that the Akathisia can be controlled or goes away. I hate taking another medication for a side-effect but I have never had hope for a medication like I do with Latuda, so I am going to do what it takes to see if this might be the right medication for my disorder. Anyway I just wanted to share my journey thus far. Comments or suggestions are welcome!

I just recently found out that Diphenhydramine can cause akathisia. This is important to know because diphenhydramine is the active ingredient in Benadryl. Benadryl is often prescribed with antipsychotics to reduce the muscular side effects of antipsychotic meds. Also, in hospitals, some nurses and doctors push benadryl as a sleep aid. I found out partially because I took Tylenol PM which is supposed to be a pain reliever and a sleep aid. It's main ingredient for the sleep aid is diphenhydramine. After a few minuetes I suddenly had akathisia even though my antipsychotic doesn't currently cause it. A quick look up on wikipedia and other sites revealed that akathisia can be a side effect of diphenhydramine or benadryl. So if you are currrently experiencing akathisia, check to make sure you're not on diphenhydramine/benadryl. And if you are, maybe you can find a way to test to see if that's the cause. If it is the cause, you can just change to benztropine or something else.

hey, everyone i have a "bit" of a problem and was wondering if any of you have the same, or any tips to help me out. see, while i was on bupropion, i had some naaasty EPS with metoclopramide, dimenhydrinate AND bromopride. from what i can recall, before i started taking bupropion i had no problem with dimenhydrinate or metoclopramide. i hate flying so i travel by bus (a lot). i usually take some clonazepam to "pass out" while on the road but, as some of you may have experienced, if you wake up in the middle of your sleep while on clonazepam you have no problem staying awake. and if i stay awake, i get motion sick. i asked my doctor if i had any hope left to not throw my guts and brains up next time i hit the road and she said i should try this Zofran (ondansetron) thing. i read some stuff about it and it actually said the EPS incidence is low. but i'm still a little suspicious. have any of you tried it, is it good? do any of you know if Zofran should work with my conditions & meds? i have bipolar II, fibromyalgia, spinal stenosis and hypothyroidism. i take 250mg of lamictal, 100mg of topiramate, 1mg of clonazepam, 20mg of cyclobenzaprine and 125mcg of levothyroxine. oh and the occasional tramadol for the stenosis. any tips on how to avoid motion sickness and/or EPS are very much welcome thanks in advance!

How's your experience with it? Which akathisia inducing antipsychotic are you taking it with?

Do you take immediate release Propranolol or the extended release for antipsychotic induced akathisia? If you take the extended release, how many times a day do you take it? Which do you like better/which is more effective for Akathisia?

Was wondering what people take that works for akathisia induced by Latuda. I can't take Congentin because it gives me horrible blurry vision. Thank you!

Hello everyone, Was wondering what you personally take for your antipsychotic-induced akathisia? Thank you!

I may be new to CB boards but I am not new to mental health. I have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia and Bipolar disorder Type II. You could consider that I have schizoaffective disorder bipolar type 2 but my current pdoc hasn't listed me that otherwise. I am here for one thing and that is Daytime Sleepiness. Am I the only suffering from this while on an atypical antipsychotic? It is such a nuisance that when I try doing things around the house, my sensory issues also are problematic and it makes the feeling worst. Simple as other people around me could cause me to tick off, or feel much worst. Or when I am trying to use the computer, or read I can barely keep my eyes open enough to stay attentive. My days are laying next to a fan in a daze. Not entertaining at all. You are to fearful of your surroundings to binge on eating (in fact I lost 25 lbs since the onset of schizophrenia), tv entertainment, and computer usage. I had a suicidal attack from just uploading a picture on the internet. How can one keep their day fulfilled such as me? Does anyone volunteer or work part time? Is there people that manage their lives so well they can live practically a normal life and have a normal relationship? Please be insightful. I am looking to gain some knowledge. I have been bipolar since 2008 and schizophrenic since 2009 (in remission) and now remitting. I currently take 80 mg of Latuda, 1200 mg of Lithium, 1 mg of Clonazapam and 25 mg of Metaprolol There are worst side effects and I would have to say akathisia by far is the worst feeling ever. Spiders in your legs crawling over and over. Other antipsychotics I've tried: seroquel, geodon, risperdal, invega, abilify, xyprexa, clozaril. I either suffered from severe somnolence, daytime night terrors and crying spells, catonic states, akathisia, and weight gain.

Was wondering if anyone had success treating akathisia with n-acetylcysteine (NAC)

Anyone else think Akathisia gets worse during your period?