what do u call it if the restlessness isnt caused by the antipsychotic?

[crywolf2010]

we r all familiar with the term "akathisia" meaning restlessness. but if its not caused by the antipsychotic what do you call it? restless leg syndrome? i ask this coz it all started with seroquel but since then ive changed antipsychotics 3 times! and its STILL there. could u still call it akathisia? i believe that seroquel has given me permanent akathisia. what do you guys think? i stopped the seroquel 4 years ago!

[crywolf2010]

so is it only called akathisia when an antipsychotic is causing it?

[Guest Guest_001]

The Seroquel caused akathisia ?

You tried some other APs and you still have 'akathisia' ?

Perhaps they all caused 'akathisia' ?

You might want to explore 'EPS'(Extrapyramidal symptoms), and tardive dyskinesia.

Perhaps the restlessness you experience is caused by your 'underlying disease', or other meds ?

[netsavy006]

On a 1 to 10 how bad does the restlessness get. Have you ever been off of an AP long enough to determine if you still have symptoms even off of them?

Also, try to stay away from stimulating agents like caffeine because they could make the restlessness worse.

[crywolf2010]

on seroquel it was like a 5. when i went from seroquel to abilify it was like a 10. abilify made the akathisia worse. like so unbearable i couldnt sleep. i didnt feel comfortable standing, lying sitting! then i changed to zyprexa. one week later the akathisia was reduced. still there but not as bad as when i was on abilify. apparently from ive read on the internet its a very common thing with abilify. so then i changed from zyprexa to clozapine coz i thought the zyprexa was causing akathisia as well. well clozapine from what ive read doesnt cause TD or EPS but u got to get the blood work done. so on the clozapine the akathisia was the same as it was on seroquel but not as bad as when i was on abilify. so i was on clozapine for 2 years and it was stopped coz i kept gaining massive amounts of weight on it. plus i would drool bucket loads when i sleep. when i woke up in the morning my pillow my clothes my sheets would be covered in saliva! so after the clozapine was stopped i tried an old ap called clopixol. yep guess what? akathisia still there. no better no worse just the same as it has been for the last 4 years! so after trying clopixol pdoc changed me to another old AP flupenthixol which is working wonders at the moment. no side effects! so basically if you forget the abilify the akathisia has stayed the same no matter what AP ive been on! here is the list of drugs ive tried for the akathisia: cogentin, artane, biperiden, valium, ativan, clonazepam, frisium, xanax, inderal, metoprolol and madopar. so basically ALL the benzos, a lot of parkinson drugs and some beta blockers. NONE have reduced or stopped the akathisia. also just wanted to say APs are the only drugs ive been taking.

so unless seroquel, abilify, zyprexa, clozapine, clopixol, flupenthixol ALL caused akathisia which i highly doubt. something is goin on here and i want it to stop!

[netsavy006]

I know that amantadine can be taken for EPS and akathisia symptoms. Have you tried that?

[crywolf2010]

I know that amantadine can be taken for EPS and akathisia symptoms. Have you tried that?

nope but if i did how long does it take to work?

[Aurochs]

Was there any period in the past four years when you were not on an antipsychotic? If there wasn't, you can't really say that the akathisia isn't caused by an AP. You could simply be very sensitive to them.

RLS is a different disorder. Rather than a psychological need to move, it involves unpleasant sensation in the arms or legs that is relieved by movement. It can, however, be caused by antipsychotics. Drug-induced RLS usually clears up when the offending drug is withdrawn.

[crywolf2010]

Was there any period in the past four years when you were not on an antipsychotic? If there wasn't, you can't really say that the akathisia isn't caused by an AP. You could simply be very sensitive to them.

RLS is a different disorder. Rather than a psychological need to move, it involves unpleasant sensation in the arms or legs that is relieved by movement. It can, however, be caused by antipsychotics. Drug-induced RLS usually clears up when the offending drug is withdrawn.

no ive always been on some kind of antipsychotic coz i have schizophrenia if i didnt take an antipsychotic i would end up having a relapse and back in the psych ward. so does that mean i got akathisia 6 times in a row!?!?!?

[netsavy006]

I know that amantadine can be taken for EPS and akathisia symptoms. Have you tried that?

nope but if i did how long does it take to work?

Dosage for Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Reactions

Adult

The usual dose of SYMMETREL is 100 mg twice a day. Occasionally, patients whose responses are not optimal with SYMMETREL at 200 mg daily may benefit from an increase up to 300 mg daily in divided doses.

Source: Rxlist.com for Amantadine

[tommy000]

I know that amantadine can be taken for EPS and akathisia symptoms. Have you tried that?

nope but if i did how long does it take to work?

Dosage for Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Reactions

Adult

The usual dose of SYMMETREL is 100 mg twice a day. Occasionally, patients whose responses are not optimal with SYMMETREL at 200 mg daily may benefit from an increase up to 300 mg daily in divided doses.

Source: Rxlist.com for Amantadine

if the restlessness is NOT caused by the antipsychotic will the symmetrel still work?!??

[domovoi]

1. akathisia is not necessarily caused by neuroleptics.

2. i think amantadine will still work on any extrapyramidal symptom, whether caused by neuroleptics or not. it's essentially an anti-Parkinsonian drug. that said, i don't know whether akathisia is a Parkinsonian symptom.

3. if you can't stop neuroleptics to find out if they are the cause, do you remember this BEFORE you started taking them?

[SashaSue]

Was there any period in the past four years when you were not on an antipsychotic? If there wasn't, you can't really say that the akathisia isn't caused by an AP. You could simply be very sensitive to them.

RLS is a different disorder. Rather than a psychological need to move, it involves unpleasant sensation in the arms or legs that is relieved by movement. It can, however, be caused by antipsychotics. Drug-induced RLS usually clears up when the offending drug is withdrawn.

This is an ancient thread upon which I've somehow or other stumbled, but in my experience, akathisia isn't at all a psychological need to move. It's more like a very physical inability to stay still without just wanting to die.

[AnneMarie]

Was there any period in the past four years when you were not on an antipsychotic? If there wasn't, you can't really say that the akathisia isn't caused by an AP. You could simply be very sensitive to them.

RLS is a different disorder. Rather than a psychological need to move, it involves unpleasant sensation in the arms or legs that is relieved by movement. It can, however, be caused by antipsychotics. Drug-induced RLS usually clears up when the offending drug is withdrawn.

This is an ancient thread upon which I've somehow or other stumbled, but in my experience, akathisia isn't at all a psychological need to move. It's more like a very physical inability to stay still without just wanting to die.

True that.

As far as I know, akathesia is considered a physical reaction, not a psychological one. It's the experience of weird pain, not a thought process. Besides, if it were psychological, therapy would be a treatment for it. Instead, meds are used to counter the sensation or the offending medication is discontinued. These physical solutions wouldn't work so well if the problem were psychological.

While I'm harping, defining akathesia as "inner wrestlessness" is bizarre. The definition has always struck me as one created by a person with no tangible experience of what they are discribing.

[netsavy006]

I know that amantadine can be taken for EPS and akathisia symptoms. Have you tried that?

nope but if i did how long does it take to work?

Dosage for Drug-Induced Extrapyramidal Reactions

Adult

The usual dose of SYMMETREL is 100 mg twice a day. Occasionally, patients whose responses are not optimal with SYMMETREL at 200 mg daily may benefit from an increase up to 300 mg daily in divided doses.

Source: Rxlist.com for Amantadine

if the restlessness is NOT caused by the antipsychotic will the symmetrel still work?!??

I don't know. I just know that it's another option for akathisia and eps side effects.

[Aurochs]

From what I've heard of peoples' experiences of akathesia, that sounds like a really good description. It's not exactly an easy thing to distill into a few words, and I've probably taken the most common description a little too literally. My apologies.