Is this akathisia?

Or however you spell it. So I have been on abilifye shot for a while now but all of a sudden I feel driven by a motor. It is torture. I have to move walk whatever. Sitting is so uncomfortable. I'm so restless and so like grrrrrrrrrrrrr. It's making me nuts! Could it just happen all of a sudden? Thx for any info

That sounds like akathesia. Do you have a PRN? Sometimes that will help and sometimes it takes a combo for the akathesia (usually gabapentin and propanolol or gabapentin and cogentin).

sorry.It's horrible to experience.

I would LOVE to be wrong here, but *YES* that sure sounds like the big A. When it's bad, I feel like "I'm gonna jump outta my skin!" (Yes, that's exactly what I told my pdoc, when it first started in on me) He immediately started trying all sorts of stuff, starting with switching me to various alternative antipsychotics.... the sooner you address it, the better, as the longer it continues, the greater the chance of it being permanent.

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Permanent! !!??? Good lord I couldn't take it. So I called my pdoc emergency number and he told me nothing I can do go drink water no med for this. Was his words wow this guy sometimes. I have no prn yikes it's torture

Fear not, though.... Sounds like you're catching it right in the beginning, so chances are real good at stopping that beast in it's tracks >^..^<

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I was given benadryl. It makes me hyper but if it doesn't do that to you it's OTC.....

I've had it badly a few times and was hospitalized once when adding tons of meds did nothing. It's so common my hospital has a protocol for it.

Your dr. is being a jerk.

Cogentin and Indural can be helpful in deal with this hellish problem.. Your Pdoc sounds like a cruel assshat.

Try exercise.... cardio usually is best ..It can help burn off some of this and hot showers ... I have also slammed a couple shots of NyQuil..

I am so sorry you are going through all this hell

try taking benadryl in the interim til you can see your doctor

What the hell is wrong with your pdoc?

You need a new pdoc if he genuinely believes there is nothing you can do about akathisia.

I feel for you, I got akathesia with Abilify. My pdoc gave me Cogentin and it worked fast. Maybe try Benadryl. You need Cogentin or something similar. Hang in there.

That is odd your pdoc thinks nothing can be prescribed for akathesia. It's cruel to prescribe a med with that side effect while thinking there was no med to stop it.

It's the worst side effect I've ever experienced. I could not sit down for more than five minutes. I was a dummy and toughed it out for a week. I saw my pdoc the following week and he said "why the hell did you not call me"?! I left with an rx for Cogentin and after taking it, I cursed myself for not calling him earlier lol

I am sorry you are going through this. This is not fair to you.

Akathisia is awful. I get it with Latuda, so I take the Latuda right at bedtime, and that way I don't experience the akathisia that happens a couple hours after taking it. By morning, it's gone, thankfully. I'm glad I'm tapering off of the Latuda and I'll be off it soon so I don't have to eat such a big snack at bedtime anymore.

Jacky, I did a Google search and read that a pdoc told his patient to take 50 mg Benadryl for akathesia. That should be safe, I think? I have never given med suggestions like this but I think you should consider Benadryl. Maybe the other members will weigh in their opinion.

Can you get to a store?

I just Googled it again to double check. A lot of posts for Benadryl for Akathesia

I take Gabapentin, Requip, and Amantadine for akathesia, and restless leg syndrome. If your pdoc won't prescribe something talk to your Md. Or.......get a new pdoc. Something absolutely can be done about it. I had it really bad when I started taking Saphris. It was unbearable , and was making me depressed. I hope you find relief.

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Jacky, how are you doing? Oh man when I had that akathesia for a week while adjusting to Abilify, I was also very sedated. So basically I wanted to just crash and sleep but it was torture trying to sit more than a minute or two. I was lurching around like a zombie in my house for a week. It's funny in retrospect but terrible.

A rare side effect of Abilify is double vision. Most people don't experience that side effect. Guess who did? Me. I had double vision for six months. I was worried. I asked my pdoc if it would go away and he honestly said he didn't know for sure. Fortunately, it did. I was taking Lithium too and I had a lot of side effects. I was in such bad shape from a mixed episode with psychosis. It lasted six months and those two drugs along with Lamictal and Xanax finally stabilized me. That was the worst time in my illness. My pdoc saved my life. We tried so many meds and I was in a bad place for a long time. I was terrified. I would do it again, those meds, if I ever got that sick again and that was the only thing that worked. I also gained 40 lbs on Lithium but I was so psychotic and unstable I didn't even realize it until I stabilized.

Antipsychotics are strange drugs. I'm comfortable with my Geodon and no side effects. I hope I'll never need to try a different AP again.

Abilify works great for a lot of people. Once that akathesia goes away it maybe the golden ticket for you. Hang in there. Thinking of you.

So sorry to hear you have this. It is pure hell. I had it recently in hospital after an acuphase injection (antipsychotic) to calm me down. a day later I was given a med, sorry don't recall the name, but it stopped it within hours. Your pdoc is wrong, there is help available. I hope you find it soon.

How are you doing? I got that with Latuda and while I weaned off of it my doctor prescribed Proprananol. IT WAS HORRENDOUS!!!!

I had akathesia and double vision when I tried Abilify too. I took only 2.5 mg for maybe a week at most and had double vision for a month. I was too sick to be scared. I also toppled over without warning several times and bruised myself badly. It was my first AP and just the beginning of my battle to tolerate one normally. The akathesia was bad but I've had it much worse, requiring hospitalization. That was from some drug given during surgery. We guessed which one but surgery is always scary after that.

Are you feeling any better?

Jacky, you know I love you. If there would be anything I could do to rid you of that thing that sounds like anesthesia, I would do it.
Never surrender. Never.

Sorry guys been pacing too much to read omg. So I showed up uninvited to his office and all of a sudden he took me serious!! Go figure. He came me proponol and klona pin. He finally saw me and my heart rate and was like oh ok lol
He hates to be called on emergency number and I hate that about him. I guess we will be going down on abilifye shot so I'm hoping there is a happy ending to this story
Thx for all the help I can always count on pc!!!!'

I am so glad you went to the dr and that he helped you. I hope that the shot can be worked out for you. Are there different doses on the shots? I hope you are feeling better. I remember what an amazing relief it was in the the hospital when they got a loading dose of meds to stop the akathesia.

I took the meds fell asleep and woke up wanting to pace but I think I'm making progress. I guess there is a lower shot dosage just not ideal as to keeping it all under control bUT we have no choice. Thx so much rainbow! WooI u must have had it bad if you were in hospital for it but give another week I can see how that could happen. Literal torture

I just didn't respond to any treatment. I was on something like 900 mg Seroquel,10mg Zyprexa, 50 mg hydroxyzine every 4 hours, klonopin every 4 hours, valium, and maybe something else and I couldn't be still. I wound up on 1:1 in the hospital just to keep me from pacing all the time. Then I took benadryl which turns out to agitate me so it got even worse. I walked so much I completely wore out a new pair of slippers in just a few days. It was not pleasant. Nothing has ever felt as good as that loading dose and the nap I got from it.