Well, my son had another attack of what we think is akathisia yesterday. It started around 1 he says. I picked him up at about 6:15, so it had been going on for some time. I bought some benadryl - reluctantly, because he'd abused it so badly before - and gave him 50 mg at about 6:45. When we got home at about 7:15 he also took an NAC capsule. A little after 8 he took 25 mg of Zyprexa.

At about 8:30 he announced that the akathisia was gone. He looked far calmer than he had, and he said the voices had stopped. (They had been tormenting him something awful during the fit of what we're thinking is akathisia.)

So what helped? The benadryl, the NAC, or the Zyprexa?

It seems unlikely it was the Zyprexa, because it's never had this effect before. Every other time he's continued to suffer until he's fallen asleep even though he always gets the Zyprexa at 8. And it's usually very difficult for him to settle down to sleep when he's suffering this way. Last night he had no such difficulty.

That leaves the benadryl or the NAC. He's attributing it to the NAC. We've agreed that next time it hits, he's taking the NAC only and seeing if it helps.

I'm also buying some vitamin B6 today, because I've seen recommendations for that to use for akathisia.