Akathisia

Has anyone had bad akathisia that has gone away.  I am in a terrible place where I pace for 2 to 8 hours everyday.  It is brutal beyond belief.

 

Just looking for hope and help.

 

Thanks for responding in advance,

 

Chris

Hey Chris I almost killed myself cuz this one... I can't really talk about it but I had to reinstate. Yours might be being caused by the seroquel as it is a sx I think mine was being caused by gabapentin which I'm still on but there are meds that help with it mine was more inner soul torment not the need to walk but I ended up hooked on opiates now cuz it and back on benzo and still having issues pm me if you like

Hi Chris,

 

I can tell you about what I have experienced in the last several weeks. I started taking Ativan 1 mg tabs intermittently for help with sleep and very mild anxiety then I had a paradoxical reaction with severely increased anxiety and insomnia so my doctor told me to take it 2-3 times a day to relieve the symptoms so I did for a little over a week. I will tell you now however that I could have dealt with my anxiety and trying to get to sleep by non medicated means rather than go through this nightmare. When I first quit taking the Ativan I had such acute withdrawal symptoms and Akathisia is by far one of my personal top three worst withdrawal symptoms.

 

Not to tell you my whole story in this post but it got so bad that in the last couple of weeks I have been in the ER five times because of it and the doctors there gave me a rescue dose of Ativan while there (bad idea by the way) even if it helped somewhat short term. For me the Akathisia has far lessened since my last rescue dose since five days ago when they gave me that rescue dose. It still comes and goes a little bit but not as bad where I can't even sit still or lie down. My legs and arms still feel a parasthetic burning pain and moving around a little helps somewhat but I am thankful that for at least right now I am not uncontrollably shaking and needing to move, walk, run etc.

 

From everything I have read here and elsewhere, even after personally only being on the Ativan for such a short time and still getting acute withdrawal, I do know that all of these symptoms we experience even the most wretched of them like Akathisia, will come and go, but ultimately will fade with a lot of time, patience, hope, strength, and compassion. I find that by talking about it, writing about it, and getting reassurance from others; even if needed repeatedly, is the biggest and best help through this nonsense.

 

I sincerely hope you get some relief soon. If it helps try to turn the need to move into a positive and think about it in terms of being able to move about and get things done, whether it be errands, grocery shopping, getting out of the house, getting exercise etc. Just do whatever is the most ideal and helpful for you, and stay strong and know your not alone in this.

 

Jay