Some of my past akathisia was like torture, too. At its worst, I didn't even want to stand, let alone walk or pace. I wouldn't even say that my legs were such an issue, at my worst with akathisia. I was often in bed rocking back and forth from my hip area. Sometimes it got so bad that I even screamed out, a bit. At its worst, the beastly condition was most affecting my brain in that I was so tortured, mentally, from it. I don't even recall my legs, themselves, experiencing any odd feelings. If they did, it was far secondary to my mental torture. During a lot of that time, I was clearly stable, mentally, and yet the anguish was similar in a slight way to a severe mixed episode. But again, I wasn't depressed or manic then. The difference was clear.

I had to go off the medications that caused my akathisia. Cogentin (benzotropine) was helpful, but I couldn't take it because of severe constipation. If you can't "go" at all, you have a different major problem, too. My beta blocker didn't help. If it did, it sure as heck didn't help much. I was taking Ativan on top of Klonopin, per my psychiatrist's direction. However, though it helped while it was strongly in my system, its helpfulness would wear off and I had to keep taking more. I remember my akathisia at its worst in the morning, especially 9 am was always the start of the worst. It took about 1 hour before my Ativan would bring relief. That cycle repeated itself daily.

I have never in my life been so miserable, when stable, as I was when I had akathisia. Perhaps my most painful type side effect yet. I have a fear that someday it will return. When it eventually faded away after going off the main culprit (a particular antipsychotic), it was so liberating. But during the process I also dealt with antipsychotic withdrawal syndrome and then benzo withdrawal. The weaning off was slow because as I went off, my moods destabilized. I thank goodness for Seroquel XR for helping me through the process. I've been akathisia free for about 2 1/2 years.