crywolf2010 Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 i have this restlessness feeling in my legs like a pulling sensation hard to describe. i feel i have to get up and move around. most of the time i dont. i cant sleep properly coz of this. i cant even watch tv. not even my favourite shows. i have paranoid schizophrenia and this all started with seroquel. seroquel was stopped coz i thought it was the culprit. so then i went to clozapine. still had it on the clozapine. switched now to zyprexa. still there! tried ALL the benzos for it. cogentin artane biperiden. nope nothing worked for this akathisia/restlessness. even tried beta blockers. still nothing worked. with the beta blockers ive tried propranolol and metoprolol. the metoprolol made me really confused but did nothing for the restless legs. same with the propranolol. there are still some other beta blockers i havent tried but my pdoc refuses to prescribe the other ones coz he said they mainly work on the heart. what do you guys think is there any way of stopping this restlessness coz i keep changing antipsychotics yet the restlessness remains! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
netsavy006 Posted August 12, 2010 Share Posted August 12, 2010 You say benzos but I failed to see Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium. I know they are one of the poorer choices, but if your suffering that badly maybe you may have to resort to that short term until the problem can be resolved for the long term. Another medication I know that can be used for restlessness and EPS is Symmetrel (Amantadine). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
crywolf2010 Posted August 12, 2010 Author Share Posted August 12, 2010 You say benzos but I failed to see Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium. I know they are one of the poorer choices, but if your suffering that badly maybe you may have to resort to that short term until the problem can be resolved for the long term. Another medication I know that can be used for restlessness and EPS is Symmetrel (Amantadine). yes ive already tried Ativan, Xanax, Klonopin, Valium. like i said before they didnt work..... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gizmo Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 Stupid question, but have you tried combos of meds... like cogentin + xanax + benedryl? As someone who gets the same feelings in her legs, I really feel for you. What does it for me is a late dose of my meds with artane, with xanax when things get really bad. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
keops Posted August 13, 2010 Share Posted August 13, 2010 it's called restless legs syndrome. the symptoms are discomfort at leg muscles (and arm muscles in severe cases) relieved by movement and worsened by relaxation. the discomfort is most prevalent when lying down. and it's most likely caused due to the dopamine supression inflicted by antipsychotics. it's not related to EPS (akathisia, tremor etc.) so anticholinergics won't help. you should ask your doctor about lowering your AP dose, or switching to an extended release med (Seroquel XR, Risperdal Consta). according to the wikipedia page - http://en.wikipedia....ss_Leg_Syndrome - the first line treatment for RLS are dopamine agonists, but you're unlikely to be prescribed those, since you're diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia. another treatment that it's said to work are iron supplements. i have RLS since i was a kid, and sometimes APs worsened it. right now, the symptoms are at a tolerable level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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