I think I have akathisia right now, but never TD or dystonia (thankfully). What about you?

[Blue_Bird]

I’ve had Akathisia, TD, and RLS at different points but never dystonia

Akathisia on a few antipsychotics. On one it was quite severe and highly distressing.

Dystonia on one 1st generation antipsychotic. It stopped when my dose was reduced by half, but since the smaller dose didn't work sufficiently at curbing my mania, it was soon after replaced.

[Nola0250]

I have had akesthesia from Latuda. My pdoc wanted me to just take it right before bed with a sleeping pill that would keep me asleep until the akesthesia wore off. Didn’t work. Now we are tapering the dose. So far I am still waking up but only slightly restless

[Wild Coyote]

Hey Blue!

Akasthisia, RLS and dystonia., No TD.
I'd had the RLS and the dystonia without any meds.

I hope you find relief soon.

I've had akathisia from a few different antipsychotics. Not fun.

[bpcyclist]

I have had all but TD. I now also have Periodic Limb Movement Disorder, which is a real pain in the backside to try to sleep with. Basically, my left ankle jerks and kicks involuntarily every 45 seconds or so while I am trying to sleep. I believe in me it is antipsychotic-related.

[Grad0507]

My husband has bipolar and restless leg syndrome

[HALLIEBETH87]

Ive had ocular Dystonia and akathesia! Miserable !!

[Rick7892]

I have bipolar and Periodic Limb Disorder unrelated to medications. I once was diagnosed with Restless Legs, but it was probably Periodic Limb disorder.

[Sunflower123]

I’ve had RLS and akathisia. The RLS was miserable.

It's very interesting to see how many people get these nasty side effects -- yet doctors rarely seem to mention the risk for developing these symptoms on antipsychotics and the like.

I know that many of us need antipsychotics for various reasons, but still, I feel like more care could be put toward the patients who are prescribed these classes of drugs.

I only know about akathisia because of this forum. NONE of my pdocs ever mentioned what akathisia is or that you can get it from antipsychotics etc..

[~Christina]

I think a few Pdoc’s probably don’t say “hey this can cause you to want to climb out of your skin and pace a million miles “ because a person is very much in need of a medication and they don’t want to I dunno “spook anyone” ? but when that person calls with akathesia type side effects.... They need to react ... right ... away...

Maybe I’m wrong but standard from my Pdoc and any IP Pdocs I ever had was Inderal if no relief in 24/48 hours then add Cogentin right away if no relief then it’s time to decrease dose of current med(s) and see if that helps in 3/5 days but if someone is not finding relief then that Medication has to go ASAP

I got it with Abilify so ... , Inderal , Cogentin , decrease dose , no relief I stepped down off it and I “ think” I went back onto Seroquil ?? All of the above took place in 10-12 days.

I know lots of people that have gone to the ER because they just couldn’t handle it anymore. Akathesia is something ER Doctors see far to often and they almost always give a person a weeks worth and told to see Pdoc asap. Maybe that would be an option if you just can’t get help from your Pdoc?

[BeyondtheRainbow]

They can also use gabapentin if for some reason propanolol or cogentin can't be used. I actually combined a manic episode with akathesia and landed IP and couldn't have propranolol (maybe my MAOI? I can't remember). I also can't remember if I had cogentin but I think I did. But I did definitely have gabapentin which they said was the 2nd line of defense. The problem was I needed so much (and in combination with more AP for the mania) that I was really sedated. However I was able to lower the gabapentin fairly soon and the akathesia went away. In that case it wasn't from my psych meds but from something given during anesthesia.

Never, ever combine mania and akathesia. I wound up with 1:1 in the hospital for a couple days because I was so agitated and the aide was supposed to help me stay calm with crafts and "can you help us sort these markers?" and the like. I know I made my fellow patients want to hide when I was coming.

[luvyrself]

I had akathesia (intense restlessness) from Latuda, also it gave me panic attacks.
Antipsychotics gave my friend tremors (tardive dyskinesia)which can become permanent if you don’t change meds.

[CindyNotSindy]

Yesssss 😖. It was awful. I felt like I wanted to just crawl out of my skin and leave my body. It was so uncomfortable, I honestly thought I was going crazy. I tried to tough it out because I thought it was just my imagination but ended up calling my psychiatrist who told me to stop the Abilify I had recently started. Symptoms resolved about two days later.

My heart goes out to anyone who is experiencing this!

[Misfit Toy]

I had TD with Abilify at 10 mg. My pdoc lowered it to 5 mg and the TD stopped. Abilify stopped my chronic migraines, so I didn't want to come completely off of it.

[Moose72]

I've had akathisia several times. Its maddening! I was on the bed curled up in a ball rocking back and forth unable to stop moving. Pacing in circles over and over before and after that. Its horrible!

[Coolbreeze74]

I've had akathisia a couple times and from latuda. It was awful! I hope you find relief soon...

[Moose72]

Welcome to Psych Central's forums @Coolbreeze74 ! I'm sorry you suffered from akathisia, too.

[Coolbreeze74]

Thanks moose! Yeah the akathisia was horrible.

[Moose72]

Welcome to the Psych Central bulletin boards, @CindyNotSindy !

Originally Posted by CindyNotSindy

Yesssss 😖. It was awful. I felt like I wanted to just crawl out of my skin and leave my body. It was so uncomfortable, I honestly thought I was going crazy. I tried to tough it out because I thought it was just my imagination but ended up calling my psychiatrist who told me to stop the Abilify I had recently started. Symptoms resolved about two days later.

My heart goes out to anyone who is experiencing this!

[yellow_fleurs]

I might have experienced akathisia. Certainly I had all of the symptoms, it's just for some reason my psychiatrist wasn't calling it that and was considering it more part of a mixed episode when I took lexapro. The recent psychiatry resident I saw described it as like akathisia when discussing my history though. Having to sit still made me want to jump out of my skin, and was almost painful. I recall speed walking around the airport instead of sitting still at one point. So uncomfortable.

[bizi]

I have restless legs after taking the zyprexa last night
hate it!
bizi