Akathisia and Restlessness from Benzos

[NB79]

Today i got a name for a suffering i was having, i am not alone suffering this and that helps a bit.
10 years ago, i cold turkey a high dose of clonazepam i was taking for years.
The suffering was terrible, i haven't recovered, nobody believes me,
they say -the drug on your system couldn't have lasted this long.

But then i learned that this can damage your nerves or brain.

I constantly in a feel of terror, which is not spiritual, like someone described it -is a chemical terror-
I feel restless all the time constantly, and can-t relax,
The symptoms that caught more my attention are however that when you are suffering this
Movement can alleviate a bit the symptoms making you feel a bit better, i usually shake my leg when i am sitting
or walk in circles around the house.

I don't rest, when i can't go no more i fall asleep, some nights i don-t sleep, i can't do it and feel better thinking about God and watching some videos
being alone and in the quiet of the night play some games.

It is said that is the worst symptom a drug can cause, some described it as hell on earth and the worse torture.

I couldn't have survived this long without God, lots of people think of offing themselves, having hope faith and strength helps a lot.

​

 

[tree]

Akathisia - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

Spoiler

Akathisia (IPA: /æ.kə.ˈθɪ.si.ə/) is a movement disorder[5] characterized by a subjective feeling of inner restlessness accompanied by mental distress and an inability to sit still.[6][4] Usually, the legs are most prominently affected.[2] Those affected may fidget, rock back and forth, or pace,[7] while some may just have an uneasy feeling in their body.[2] The most severe cases may result in aggression, violence, and/or suicidal thoughts.[2] Akathisia is also associated with threatening behaviour and physical aggression that is greatest in patients with mild akathisia, and diminishing with increasing severity of akathisia.[8]

Antipsychotic medication, particularly the first generation antipsychotics, are a leading cause.[4][7] Other agents commonly responsible for this side-effect may also include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, metoclopramide, and reserpine, though any medication listing agitation as a side effect may trigger it.[2][9] It may also occur upon stopping antipsychotics.[2] The underlying mechanism is believed to involve dopamine.[2] Diagnosis is based on the symptoms.[2] It differs from restless leg syndrome in that akathisia is not associated with sleeping. However, despite a lack of historical association between restless leg syndrome and akathisia, this does not guarantee that the two conditions do not share symptoms in individual cases.[2]

Treatment may include switching to an antipsychotic with a lower risk of the condition, if the akathisia was caused by an antipsychotic.[2] The antidepressant mirtazapine has demonstrated benefit,[5] as well as diphenhydramine, trazodone, benzatropine, cyproheptadine, and beta blockers, particularly propranolol.[2][4][10]

The term was first used by Czech neuropsychiatrist Ladislav Haškovec, who described the phenomenon in 1901 long before the discovery of antipsychotics, with drug-induced akathisia first being described in 1960.[1] It is from Greek a-, meaning "not", and καθίζειν kathízein, meaning "to sit", or in other words an "inability to sit".[2]

Classification​

Akathisia is usually grouped as a medication-induced movement disorder but is also seen to be a neuropsychiatric concern as it can be experienced purely subjectively with no apparent movement abnormalities.[2] Akathisia is generally associated with antipsychotics but it was already described in Parkinson's disease, and other neuropsychiatric disorders.[5] It also presents with the use of non-psychiatric medications, including calcium channel blockers, antibiotics, anti-nausea and anti-vertigo drugs.[5]

Signs and symptoms​

Symptoms of akathisia are often described in vague terms such as feeling nervous, uneasy, tense, twitchy, restless, and an inability to relax.[1] Reported symptoms also include insomnia, a sense of discomfort, motor restlessness, marked anxiety, and panic.[11] Symptoms have also been said to resemble symptoms of neuropathic pain that are similar to fibromyalgia and restless legs syndrome.[12] When due to psychiatric drugs, the symptoms are side effects that usually disappear quickly and remarkably when the medication is reduced or stopped. However, tardive akathisia which has a late onset, may go on long after the medication is discontinued, for months and sometimes years.[13]

 

[jsilver256]

Wow, that is awful... I am so sorry.

 

[Fino]

Oh no.

I've gone through this. The suffering is indescribable.

First of all, as you may know, stopping benzos cold turkey from a high dose could have killed you. Second of all, I would take medication if I were you. I used Seroquel to sleep. There are also medications for the Akathisia.

You should talk to a doctor. I don't know how you've survived this long.

Benzos should never be prescribed and only used in a hospital setting, in my opinion. They're chemical torture.

 

[NB79]

Oh no.

I've gone through this. The suffering is indescribable.

First of all, as you may know, stopping benzos cold turkey from a high dose could have killed you. Second of all, I would take medication if I were you. I used Seroquel to sleep. There are also medications for the Akathisia.

You should talk to a doctor. I don't know how you've survived this long.

Benzos should never be prescribed and only used in a hospital setting, in my opinion. They're chemical torture.

Thank you. Today i have a doctor appoinment to see blood result things, i am going to comment this.

 

[Thinx]

This sounds awful for you. I hope they can help, you have done really well to cope but I am glad you are seeking more help now. Let us know how you get on, it will likely help others here too to know.

 

[NB79]

The blood test was good, except for cholesterol i need to eat some recommended food and maybe do exercise.
But about this i need to wait for another doctor.

 

[Fino]

The blood test was good, except for cholesterol i need to eat some recommended food and maybe do exercise.
But about this i need to wait for another doctor.

What about seeing a psychiatrist? Your symptoms are psychiatric, are they not?

 

[lovely_darlingprettybaby]

Today i got a name for a suffering i was having, i am not alone suffering this and that helps a bit.
10 years ago, i cold turkey a high dose of clonazepam i was taking for years.
The suffering was terrible, i haven't recovered, nobody believes me,
they say -the drug on your system couldn't have lasted this long.

But then i learned that this can damage your nerves or brain.

I constantly in a feel of terror, which is not spiritual, like someone described it -is a chemical terror-
I feel restless all the time constantly, and can-t relax,
The symptoms that caught more my attention are however that when you are suffering this
Movement can alleviate a bit the symptoms making you feel a bit better, i usually shake my leg when i am sitting
or walk in circles around the house.

I don't rest, when i can't go no more i fall asleep, some nights i don-t sleep, i can't do it and feel better thinking about God and watching some videos
being alone and in the quiet of the night play some games.

It is said that is the worst symptom a drug can cause, some described it as hell on earth and the worse torture.

I couldn't have survived this long without God, lots of people think of offing themselves, having hope faith and strength helps a lot.

​

I do not know but the antipsychotivs I was on did have a negative effect on me
I admit sometimes my brain is too active.
But the drugs I was on had very bad side effects including taking away all my periods and libido which did not make me feel normal and very raised prolactin.
But also a numbing affect where I could not access certain sides of myself and felt like a blob.
And seemed to make ocd symptoms worse like very uncoordinated like getting dishwater all over myself and touching my sides of my stomach and hips all the time and notice and freak out about gems there and picking at myself more like even my skin and scabs because of anxiety.
I felt so spaced out and like a blob when I was on them and very unattractive without menstruation like not even like a women even if I had difficult endo issues and painful menstruation.
I tried to pretend I felt normal without periods but did not.
It was not very good how I felt but went along with it because they told me I had to and had voices and I was used to it.
I think maybe it might have had some calming effect as well but I cannot say i felt normal like that or even like I could access different sides of my self it was like my memory went fuzzy.
And the side effects too bad

 

[NB79]

What about seeing a psychiatrist? Your symptoms are psychiatric, are they not?

Yes they want me to see the phychiatrist not another doctor, i sometimes just call all of them doctors.

 

[Au Naturel]

Never ever go off any kind of psychopharmaceutical drug cold turkey. They had to have told you this when they prescribed it. Had you told them you wanted to get off it, they would have:

A) tried to talk you out of it
B) worked out a plan to slowly ramp you down.
C) suggested an alternative drug.

If you don't honestly talk to the psychiatrist/doctor about the problems a drug is causing, they can't help. Back in my clinical depression phase, they went through three different antidepressants they thought would work better before setting on boring old Prozac. The others all had nasty side effects.

 

[Fino]

Yes, people typically spend months or even years tapering off benzos, depending on what dosage they are on. Clonazepam is considered one of the less harsh to quit because of its longer half-life so it's common to switch to that one and then taper off that if coming from something like Xanax, but Valium has an even longer half-life so you may have been switched to that then tapered off over a long period of time, experiencing significantly milder discomfort. Although I would refuse to ever take benzos again, it's also an option to go back on Benzos and then immediately begin tapering off but slowly this time. But whatever the psychiatrist thinks is best.