Cetkat Posted October 4, 2006 Share Posted October 4, 2006 I've been on Abilify for about a week now. Started at 5 mg, then moved to 10 mg after my headache (side effect) went away a couple of days ago (with pdoc approval). I experienced some akathisia from the very beginning, but today, it became alot worse. So much so that I called my pdoc and we've decided to move the dose back down to 5 mg and skip a day to get it out of my system. She knew that I'd probably have some akathisia, and told me to use more Xanax to counter it. However, since the Abilify acts as both a depressant and stimulant for me (makes me super sleepy for a few hours, feel pretty good for a little after that, then I get the akathisia), the Xanax worked with the Abilify to knock me out all over again. So, I'm basically only functional for a few hours during the day and then again when the akathisia starts to wear off. When I spoke to her today about this, she said that we would just have to stay at 5 mg until the akathisia went away and then go back up to avoid it. She said it was just a transitory reaction that would just go away after awhile. Reading the boards though, it doesn't really seem like this is the case...since most people ended up stopping or staying at a lower dose to avoid this problem - but maybe I'm wrong. I would just stay at the 5 mg; but it's the 10 mg that actually does anything for my depression - which I'm desperate to get under control. What do you all think? Has anyone had it go away without adding medication? And if it can, does anyone know the likelihood of that happening? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 7, 2006 Author Share Posted October 7, 2006 I'm guessing the answer is no... lol I decided to call and get a sooner appointment with my pdoc to discuss this and come up with a better plan. The akathisia seems to get worse the more I take the med, rather than dwindle with the dose decrease. I'm going to cut down to 2.5 mg and see if that helps; otherwise I'll just drop it until my appointment Tues. I know that there's some beta-blockers that are supposed to help so I'll ask about them. Otherwise, I don't see the point in taking something in which the only tolerable dose is too small to do any good. I'll also ask her if she's actually had a patient lose the side effect or just read about it somewhere.. If nobody's had that happen here I doubt she's seen it in person... unless it was just a fluke. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
null0trooper Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 I'm guessing the answer is no... lol From what little I've read on the subject, akathisia gets worse not better with time. With the older APs the resulting "tardive dyskinesia" carries a risk of being permanent. Xanax is not usually considered a realistic treatment for it - the benzos appear to be helpful with RLS instead. (NOT that I can see much agrreement on what is RLS vs. akathisia vs EPS, so it's not surprising your doctor would want to try Xanax.) Propranolol (Psychiatry Online) does have a good record for relieving akathisia. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ammity Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 i'm totally sorry to tell you right off the bat that my attention span at this moment is terrible so i didnt read the whole posts, but instead i skimmed them. i just wanted to add that you might have good luck with using Cogentin/Benztropine. it has helped me when i had akethesia on Geodon, and it has helped me when i got restless leg syndrome from lamictal. i love it, and i dont get any side effects. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
merryfolk Posted October 7, 2006 Share Posted October 7, 2006 The akathisia I experienced soon went away after reducing the dose to 5mg which I only stayed on for 4/5 days. I'm back up to 10mg again and there is no sign of it. Maybe it mmight be worth taking something to relieve it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Loon-A-TiK Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 in my experience, inderal (propananol, a beta blocker) has gotten rid of my EPS. i went from not being able to use the bathroom by myself because my leg muscles gave way and not being able to eat from a bowl on the floor because i kept missing my mouth to being normal again. for me, it was a wonder and enabled me to keep taking seroquel. i eventually took 800mg of seroquel and was totally fine with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mrsloony Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 Maybe its just not the right drug for you. evryone reacts so differently. i had such bad akathesia on geodon - got worse till it was manic! i've never had this on any other med and i've been on the med go round for a good 15 + years and tried just about everthing. sometimes something in one just doesn't sit right and another would be fine. good luck - i hope you feel better soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted October 8, 2006 Share Posted October 8, 2006 I had pretty bad akathisia and restless legs on 5mgs of Zyprexa, over time it vanished and I am now on 10mgs with no problems whatsoever. Blackbird x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Xanax is not usually considered a realistic treatment for it - the benzos appear to be helpful with RLS instead. (NOT that I can see much agrreement on what is RLS vs. akathisia vs EPS, so it's not surprising your doctor would want to try Xanax.) Propranolol (Psychiatry Online) does have a good record for relieving akathisia. I see your point with the Xanax... especially since I've been taking it anyway. She just assumed that it would help. It did slightly the first time, but then it just made me tired and akathistic instead of one or the other. I have heard of using the Propranolol. Thanks for the link.. I'll print that out and take it to my pdoc tomorrow. (I moved up my appointment because of all this) I don't think she'll want to prescribe it though, since it lowers blood pressure.. We had that general talk - without naming meds - with Lithium and the tremors it gave me. From what little I've read on the subject, akathisia gets worse not better with time. With the older APs the resulting "tardive dyskinesia" carries a risk of being permanent. That seems to be my take on it as well (unfortunately). I ended up having to go off of it all together because even at 2.5 mg it was still causing problems.. almost as much as when I was taking 10 mg. Like it was building up over time regardless of the dose for the most part. i'm totally sorry to tell you right off the bat that my attention span at this moment is terrible so i didnt read the whole posts, but instead i skimmed them. i just wanted to add that you might have good luck with using Cogentin/Benztropine. it has helped me when i had akethesia on Geodon, and it has helped me when i got restless leg syndrome from lamictal. i love it, and i dont get any side effects. Thanks for the tip, and don't worry about not being able to read everything. With the akethesia I couldn't even sit and focus on the TV for more than 10 mins - let alone read anything without alot of effort. I'll bring up the Cogentin with my pdoc tomorrow. I'd really hate to give up on something that's working even a little because of the side effects. in my experience, inderal (propananol, a beta blocker) has gotten rid of my EPS. i went from not being able to use the bathroom by myself because my leg muscles gave way and not being able to eat from a bowl on the floor because i kept missing my mouth to being normal again. for me, it was a wonder and enabled me to keep taking seroquel. i eventually took 800mg of seroquel and was totally fine with it. With or without continuing the Propranolol? Did it stabilize once you reached the higher dose? Maybe its just not the right drug for you. evryone reacts so differently. i had such bad akathesia on geodon - got worse till it was manic! i've never had this on any other med and i've been on the med go round for a good 15 + years and tried just about everthing. sometimes something in one just doesn't sit right and another would be fine. good luck - i hope you feel better soon. Thanks, I appreciate it. I have taken Seroquel before without too much difficulty - just the extreme sleepiness. Of course, I was taking it for sleep at the time..lol But no akathesia with that at the lower doses.. but no improvement with the depression either. Maybe it just wasn't high enough? I had pretty bad akathisia and restless legs on 5mgs of Zyprexa, over time it vanished and I am now on 10mgs with no problems whatsoever. Blackbird x What did you do to handle it while you had it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 I was already on propranolol so they couldn't prescribe anything for me. They just let me suffer! Thank god it went away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 I was already on propranolol so they couldn't prescribe anything for me. They just let me suffer! Thank god it went away. Yikes! How much Propranolol were you on & how much time did it take for the akathisia to go away? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
celestia Posted October 10, 2006 Share Posted October 10, 2006 From what little I've read on the subject, akathisia gets worse not better with time. With the older APs the resulting "tardive dyskinesia" carries a risk of being permanent.Null, this is just downright fucking depressing. And I'm a depressive! Akathisia and RLS are THE FUCKING WORST s/e's ever. For me at least. My benzo tolerance does nothing for RLS or AKathisia unless I quadruple my does of Klonopin and I'm already on 4 mgs a day (down from 6, titrating off the evil benzos.) Propanolol OTOH is innocuos to me, I've taken it for migraine prophelaxis years ago, maybe I can kill 2 birds with one stone by giving in a try. Anyway, sorry to t/jack sort of, I don't take APs or AAPs just Effexor. Good luck, Cet...if it's ANY consolation, a lot of us suffer with this and it just sucks. Trading off some horrible s/e just to be relieved of depression is a bitch. Best, S9 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Akathisia and RLS are THE FUCKING WORST s/e's ever. For me at least. My benzo tolerance does nothing for RLS or AKathisia unless I quadruple my does of Klonopin and I'm already on 4 mgs a day (down from 6, titrating off the evil benzos.) Propanolol OTOH is innocuos to me, I've taken it for migraine prophelaxis years ago, maybe I can kill 2 birds with one stone by giving in a try. Good luck S9. I hope it works for you. The Benzos just don't cut it - Xanax or Klonopin. I tried the latter from my roomie's collection after a mention from my pdoc... nothing. During my akathisia search I read stuff about how this is alot of the crap that leads to med driven suicide. Not sure of the validity of that, but I can certainly believe it. I'd take the depression over akathisia any day! Anyway, sorry to t/jack sort of, I don't take APs or AAPs just Effexor. Good luck, Cet...if it's ANY consolation, a lot of us suffer with this and it just sucks. Trading off some horrible s/e just to be relieved of depression is a bitch. It's all good.. thanks for your support! Your imput's welcomed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cetkat Posted October 10, 2006 Author Share Posted October 10, 2006 Well... I went to my pdoc today. She still believes that the akathisia is temporary and would go away. She wanted to up the dose to 15 mg and add the Propranolol for a week to see if that helped. However, she didn't have any of the propranolol in stock.. (she thought that she had had some patients give her some) so we're switching to another AAP instead since I don't have any prescription coverage right now. So, I'm starting Zyprexa tonight and really hoping it doesn't do the same thing to me. I'm worried that it might since it's an AAP too, but we'll see. Hopefully the formula is different enough that it will just be sedating like my pdoc said. I'm finally feeling 'normal' again & really don't want to go through all this again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blackbird Posted October 11, 2006 Share Posted October 11, 2006 The akathisia went away after 2-3 weeks of restless legs from hell. I was on 80mgs of inderal/propranolol good luck! blackbird x Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bianca Posted November 21, 2006 Share Posted November 21, 2006 Akastasi should go away over time, that is most of the time. Propanolol is very cheap. I just got a 60 tab for 1 month supply for $6. Insurance covered $6. So a total of $12-14 thats all. Pretty cheap if you ask me. You get the generic of course. Wow your akastasi must be really bad to be on a high dose of prop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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