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Akathisia means FRYING your Dopamine receptors which can be irreversible if it leads to Tardive DISKENISIA or other extrapyramidal issues. Akathisia can occur with SSRIs but damage to serotonin receptors are reversible.
How is a channel about a medical condition that doesnt directly impact me, becoming my favourite channel? ...Lauren's empathy and adroit, compassionate communication.
Can you check with your doctor whether Solian or Amisulpride 200mg causes such symptoms, also check with your doctor whether its available in US, solian is from France and available in Europe if your doctor thinks it may reduce such inconvenient side effects.
Thank you so much for doing what you do. I don’t have a schizophrenia diagnosis but I have bipolar one with psychotic features, watching your videos really helps me understand certain things.
@Dirty Joe I don't know if long-term alcoholism could cause it but my opinion is the alcohol depletes B vitamins, including B12 so I would suggest you try supplementing with a B vitamin complex and see if it helps your symptoms. Research shows that people who have psychotic symptoms are often lacking B vitamins.
I had Chronic Akathisia with both Risperidone and Haloperidol. Before I knew what Akathisia was, I panicked and cold-turkeyed off of Risperidone. BIG MISTAKE. I felt better for a few day, but then BAM! All my psychotic symptoms came back with a vengence, landing me in the ER with a horrible panic attack. I was then put back on the Risperidone, and my psychiatrist ordered propanolol... which made my blood pressure tank way too low. So then she tries a drug called benztropine, a.k.a. Cogentin. That was my miracle worker. It finally got rid of the Akathisia while I was on those meds that caused it. Akathisia was horrible for me. It was like suffering from horrible restless leg syndrome, day and night. In bed, I wanted to kick and kick my legs, to the point where I wanted to bend my knees the wrong way, which obviously, I can't do. I couldn't even sit still long enough for a brief therapy session with my therapist. I'd have to walk around her office. I pity anyone who suffers from Akathisia, and if I know someone who is, I tell them to ask their doctor about benztropine/Cogentin.
I'm also on benstropine for this its worked wonders I still figit when I'm trying to sleep but it's finally managable. I was getting panic attacks from being so restless. I'm happy you found something that helped you!
I also had Akathisia (the acute one) while on Risperidone, it was truly horrifying... Didn't knew this sensation had a name until I watched this video, this was one of the side effects I had with Risperidone 😔 So glad I ended up stopping taking it after 4 months only... I clearly remember having a massive Akathisia episode one day, I couldn't stop in a way that I started begging my parents to buy some medication that induces sleep (i.e. antihistamines) so I could be free from this agony, panic and doom state 😔
I’m so glad there’s actually a term for this. I’ve never been able to describe it -like the most anxious feeling where I can’t stay still and my skin is uncomfortable.
Holy shit! Thank you for this video I had no language to describe what I was experiencing. This helps so much and I have already messaged my psychiatrist about it.
I'm so glad people are talking about Akathesia finally. I had it years ago in the 80s in my 20s. I'm 62 now.It was unbearable. There was no name for it then
This video very much understates the extremely intense suffering frequently caused by AKATHISIA All of my friends that suffered AKATHISIA when they took the major tranquilisers say that it was torture I was tortured by AKATHISIA when I was on a major tranquilizer I became suicidal and am extremely lucky to be alive
P.s. I also BECAME mentally ill. AFTER starting a major tranquilizer. i.e I felt mentally ill & believed that I was mentally ill and was told I was mentally ill.
Akathisia traumatized me. I was in constant “flight” mode. I felt as if I exhaled almost all my breath and held it even though I was actively breathing. I paced my home and my bones felt like they were vibrating. I sobbed and gripped my hair to distract me from the panic. I rubbed my face as if there were bugs crawling on it and it was hard not to scratch. I couldn’t lay down even though I was very exhausted and it was so hard to keep my eyes closed even though I felt my mind drifting into “sleep”. I would jolt up out of nowhere with sheer dread and panic. It felt as if I was going to die. Many people who haven’t experienced the full affect of it don’t understand JUST how dreadful it is. So thank you for mentioning the sensation of “Doom”. Many people forget to explain that part.
Years ago my mother was put on Haldol because the nursing home where she lived didn't know how else to manage her. I will always be grateful to the outside psychiatrist who recognized her akathisia and took her off the Haldol. She used the phrase, "jumping out of my skin" to describe the feeling and she was miserable. She had Alzheimers and the staff at her new nursing home was able to manage her symptoms with behavior management.
Generally speaking when a patient with dementia put on an antipsychotic, the goal should be to get them off of it as quick as possible. More often than not, they are just having trouble falling asleep and their delusions come up more when they are not on a good sleep-wake cycle.
I use to have this all the time. For example, I would be walking in the streets mentally lost, terrified, hopeless, frustrated, confused, and suicidal. I felt like I was going to jump in front of a car, or I would catch some kind of horrible disease. Words cannot describe how it feels, it is the most strangest, horrifying, doom and gloom feeling I ever had. I wouldn’t even want my worse enemy to go though what I did. I literally felt like I was dying and one time I was having akathisia so bad that my jaw was twisting sideways and when I went to the hospital I would lay in bed screaming until they injected me with cogentin (benztropine).
I had acute akathesia for less than 24 hours. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t believe people can have it chronically - I was suicidal within 24 hours it was so hard to bear.
Yep. Survived on 3 different instances over my life. First time for about a year. Second time was like 6 months and I'm currently dealing with it again but starting to recover I think. She makes it sound much less bad than it actually is.
I got chronic akathisia from a benzodiazepine (Klonopin). You can get akathisia from opiates or stimulant medications. Even certain antibiotics. It’s not a “side effect”, it’s neurotoxicity, it’s potentially permanent brain injury. It’s painful movement disorders from supposedly “safe” medications. Antipsychotics cause the most brain damage. I would never take a dopamine antagonist again. One pill can permanently injure you. It only took a few pills of an SNRI (Cymbalta) to hurt me. It only took 3 weeks of Prozac. Once I got unknowingly injured by trying an SSRI (Prozac) I started thinking it was my condition worsening. They started trying me on stuff and within a couple years I was having nerve pain and had to become a young pain patient. My next mistake was thinking you could safely “treat” the pain with these same toxins. I made my akathisia into a monster trying to treat it. Find Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring & Dr. Marissa Witt-Doerring Psychiatry on RUclips or Twitter. See their work de-prescribing. See their discussions with injured patients. Find Nicole Lamberson PA and her discussions for the film “Medicating Normal” or find her story on Inner Compass Initiative. Find Altostrata and her work for Surviving Antidepressants .Org. Read Robert Whitaker’s “Anatomy of an Epidemic”. Read David Healy. Find the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and hear about the benzo injured like me. Don’t fear “seizure” and “death” fear things you have to live with like chronic akathisia or tardive dystonia or TD or all of them combined! I’ve paced for nearly 3 years, 24/7 for 30-40hrs straight. No one in their right mind would risk this injury in a patient. It’s like sleeping in the trunk of a moving car while your back is hooked to battery cables. Fun Fact: The reason you cannot come off antipsychotics isn’t because of your condition, it’s because these “medications” (toxins) changed and damaged your brain. Doctors treating patients with dopamine antagonists who aren’t actively dying should be liable for every case of akathisia.
Thank you for making this video! I just started on antipsychotics 2 weeks ago and this helped me explain what I'm experiencing to my husband. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it.
Unless you’ve been through the hell of Akathisia, stop pretending that you know what you’re talking about… It’s by far, the most excruciating, petrifying, tormenting, horrifying experience, that a person can go through. If you have not tasted that, then please keep silent.
Hi Lauren! Thank you for the name for this extremely annoying problem. I have been telling psych personnel about this for-EVER and no one has told me this has a name. It makes it difficult to get my meaning across. I describe it as similar to a Tourette's' tic. I try to put the movement off for as long as I can; but it just builds up until I move. "Move." Sounds so bland. The first time I had this was when I started a certain anti-psychotic about 17 years ago. I was lying down to sleep and started getting restless and then WHAM! I was thrashing around in the bed and terrified! I ran downstairs to the sofa and worried our roommate! I have had this for years. Not all the time. And it has gotten better; meaning less often. What always made me furious was that my husband would not wake up to comfort me even though I was also making sounds of distress. I hate it! Thanks again!
@@lucieni he has spoken about it a lot on his own channel when he was sick last year or thereabouts but I found this too, thankfully he’s much better now: ruclips.net/video/UIfllfH0k3I/видео.html
I guess that people grunt and groan because they are using a lot of control not to scream because they do not want to be gagged. I heard that akasthisia causes physical pain too. It is like taking Predizone which is a steroid. I took it for laryngitis.
I’m glad everyone had recovered . I took an ssri , not knowing what was going on for awhile . Went to the hospital and they put be on a benzo and lyrica which only masked it . Drs say it’s only high anxiety no one believes me . Trying to get off these medications will be hell . I am chronic and had it for 1 1/2 years . The pain is severe , 😅have decided to let go and be in gods hands . I wish everyone healing .
I hope everything is free from akathisia today. Even if others may not understand the absolute hell and pain of this disease, we do. And for everyone battling this, it will get better, I promise you!!!!! I was traveling on holiday in Asia when I got Cardiopulmonary. The hospital I tried to get as much money as possible from my insurance company. I have no idea what medicines I was given. But I had akathisia afterwards for about 6 month. It was hell. The worst thing I have ever experienced. And I have been through some horrible diseases in my past. I could not sleep, I could watch tv for more than 5 seconds, I couldn’t stop moving, every inch of my body feeling like millions of bugs crawling around and the worst pain I have ever experienced, just because I tried to sit still for second. I felt like I could walk around the world. I literally wanted to get out of my body. It felt like a horror movie, like alien. I’m glad I’m alive today, I didn’t think I would have made it without my family.
AHHHH I NEVER KBNEW WHAT IT WAS CALLED I HAD THIS!! Thank you so much, my doctor never told me the name of this disorder. I had this after my first episode of psychosis when I first started new medication. It made recovery ten times worse because it worsened my anxiety and affected my delusions (exactly as you said it gave me a sense of doom). It stopped when I switched medications, thank GOD! A truly terrible experience! especially since I had nothing to do so would sit around all day but be constantly wanting to move.
I experienced akathisia for a brief period if time last year while been treated for depression and psychosis, I was taking aripiprazol and I felt right as you described it. I wanted to jump out of my skin, I remember being waiting on the subway platform and I just couldn’t stop moving, I thought it was extreme anxiety, or the beginning of mania. I told my doctor immediately and he lowered the aripiprazol and problem solved! It was awful, to me it was a few days, cannot even think how it would be feel like for months
I’ve had akathisia a couple of times. The first time for a month or so. You described it very well. As a matter of fact, when I told my doctor about it, I described it as wanting to jump out of my skin. It’s absolute hell.
@@neslihankeles3590 It is better. I don’t really suffer from it anymore. The last time I had it was after my thyroid removal surgery several years ago. I had two surgeries two weeks apart. After the 2nd one, I experienced about 24 hours of acute akathisia which slowly resolved. My original bout was 12 years ago. In hindsight, I believe it was initiated by the ativan I was prescribed for 6 years prior. My doctor switched me to a much higher dose of xanax and put me on lexapro. After about a month or so, the acute akathisia resolved, but I still suffered tremendous anxiety, specifically morning anxiety. This went on for years and over time the bad anxiety would resolve mostly earlier and earlier during the day. I felt like the xanax was perpetrating my anxiety symptoms so about 5 years ago, I started to taper xanax. I did a very slow taper over the course of 1-1/2 years. It was a very challenging taper even though it was super slow, but I had to continue working through all of this. Still don’t know how I managed especially through the early akathisia phase. That was absolute hell. I am currently doing pretty well. I am still more sensitive to stress than normal, but generally I am good. Occasionally I will have a drink, but not too often. Are you suffering from akathisia?
A heads-up for anyone that is considering anticholinergics: they increase the risk of, or even cause, not just short term memory loss but cognitive decline and dementia. It's good to know when weighing the pros and cons of this option. Doctors may not mention it.
This is me rambling and it might not have a sense or logic behind it all, but I feel like I've always had like a weak version of akathisia, I have ADHD. Now, there is a theory that "ADHD" struggle with dopamine, and classic stimulants increase dopamine levels in the brain, hence helping to calm the uneasiness/hyperactivity associated with ADHD, instead of increasing it as some people might think, since they are "stimulants". I do not have schizophrenia nor do I know (yet) someone with that condition, and I find these videos really informative and easy to follow. Good job!
Thank you for sharing. I always look forward to your videos. I’m a psych major and I’ve learned so much from your channel. ❤️ congrats on your new baby, you’re glowing here!
One of, if not the, worst feelings I've felt in my life. I've never gotten suicidal thoughts but I had a super strong urge to jump out the window at that time. Thank God I quickly got it diagnosed and treated with Beta Blockers.
My uncle lived on the streets for decades until they put him in a mental hospital. Months later he jumped out a window and died a few weeks after from his injuries. 😥
I had this very strongly too when I first went on risperidone. It was so frustrating and put me to the point of despair and helplessness, but then they put me on anti-parkinsons medication and that helped. I wish this to no-one.
I got this after being put on Abilify years ago and it was the worst thing I've ever felt in my life it made me want to take my life. Switching meds made it stop though thank God🙏I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone.
@@kristymarie6065 I'm not on anything now but years ago was hospitalized from drug induced psychosis, and after Abilify I was given a higher dose of Lithium and that was good for me, took that for a a couple years and slowly lowered to come off and been good:))
@@flowerainbowarisa Abilify doesn't cause this side effect with everyone and this medication can really help people, without onsetting akathisia, but for me it did unfortunately so I had to switch meds
@@kristymarie6065 yeah:(( I had been clean from chemicals for a while and only smoking weed but my body/brain couldn't handle it I guess and it triggered psychosis it was an awful experience, never again.
I get akathisia quite bad, I was given a script for one of the medication you listed, I wasn't sure about taking it but now I see on this channel that it works, I'll start taking it now silly me. Thankyou so much for all the great advice and information.
i'm happy to have found you. so i've experienced this feeling of "doom", which now i've come to finally learn has a clinical name of akanisia, more and more now. i would say it started a few years ago, but only once in a while, and i'm starting to think it's because i'm on methimazole due to hyperthyroid issues, even though i'm at low doses, 2 a week at 10 mg each. every now and then i would wake up in the middle of the night, feeling anxious and couldn't fall back to sleep. at first i thought it was resltess leg syndrome, but it's not like i couldn't control it, but i would have the need to get up and move, so i go work on the computer, something to take my mind off that sensation. then it would go away in less than an hour where i could finally fall back to sleep. the latest episodes came while starting on a vacation flight, woke up and couldn't sleep, all i could do is just sit there, squirm to lessen the effects until i dosed off again. the worst came just yesterday on a flight home from the same vacation, but i could sense the feeling of doom set in while i was watching a movie. not sure if it was a combination of being in a confined environment or what, but it was the worst i've felt, and after figeting for a while, stretching, crossing and uncrossing my legs, i felt compelled to get up and walk along the aisle just to deal with the feeling. i'm going to reach out to my Dr. to see if there's anything to be done. i try to fool myself and will the feeling away, telling myself this is all mental, that it's irrational to feel this way, that all is well, no need to feel anxious, but to no avail. i would try breathing exercises, meditate, but nothing works, only squirming or fidgeting would make the feeling subside for a brief moment.coincidentally, i'm also on propranolol for heart palpatations, and if propranolol also helps with akathisia, how bad could my condition be without it?! i look forward to any responses from those with similar experiences.
I’ve experienced akathisia twice. After Quetiapine and Fluanxol depot. After the depot that hell lasted for a month, those feelings were absolutely unbearable. If you are struggling with akathisia now - know it WILL go away, you WILL feel normal again, just stay strong and let it pass because it WILL
A combination of Zoloft and too sudden discontinuation of Klonopin caused it for me. It felt like what I imagine drinking 50 cups of coffee would feel like. I felt poisoned. Gross wormy / fluttery sensation deep in the bones. Its a feeling that compels you to squirm and writhe like nausea would compel you to gag.
Very good to know! I especially appreciate the inclusion of Vitamin B6 as an option. It can be scary looking at the possibility of adding a prescribed medication to account for the side effects of another.
I get akathisia frequently from changes with my meds. Mainly my antipsychotics but even the antihistamines I’ve been using for sleep have been causing it lately. My nervous system is very sensitive. In addition to akathisia, I’ve been having severe insomnia for going on 9 months now. Akathisia literally feels like you’re being tortured.
Hello Lauren and Rob, I had drug induced Parkinson's for months after I was injected with a massive overdose of a drug called Largactil(chlorpromazine) in May 1987 34 years ago. However I have been taking the wonderful and side effects free Dolmatil(sulpiride) anti-psychotic since for example 2007 and before that even if I might develop Parkinson's that so far thank God hasn't happened. I know from experience that I will not have another psychotic episode so long as I continue to take Dolmatil twice every day and I strongly recommend this drug to you. All the best and many thanks, Peter Nolan. Ph.D.(physics). Dublin. Ireland.
I've had this and it's truly horrific. I was placed on far too high a dose of antipsychotic and had to reduce myself to relieve the symptoms. The psychiatrist didn't seem to be interested and I was forced to reduce myself.
I had depression, my psychiatrist gave me haloperidol and that made me go nuts, I just kept walking from my room to the living room, I would lie down, stand up, sit, walk some more. Man that was horrible
Akathisia is not a joke. Not exaggerating, I got akathisia from Vraylar and it led to debilitating anxiety- almost ruined my life. Propranolol stopped working. I missed work for almost an entire month. I’m off the medication now and feeling much better, with a NEW psychiatrist because the other didn’t want to take me off of it even though I was clearly suffering. If you develop akathisia, tell your doctor and don’t let them force you to stay on the medication.
I had akathisia for several months in 2010. It was horrific. I believe it came on from tolerance to prescribed Ativan. I would get these bursts of dread all the time and I could not sit still. I had to move. I would get several hours of respite after taking 2 mg of Xanax and then then it all came back. Brutal
Yep. Benzo withdrawal, especially in combination with an SSRI / SNRI or atypical antipsychotic like Abilify or Latuda can definitely cause this. It can come on between doses if you develop tolerance too, and it isn’t obvious what is causing it. The extreme insomnia from being constantly restless can cause complete loss of short term memory along with a weird symptom I can only describe as “reverse deja vu”. Things suddenly feel unfamiliar. Its really hard to naturally go 72 hours without sleep, but akathisia can do it and it is a dreadful bad trip.
"Doom" is a completely underestimated description. The only way for doctors to truly understand what akathisia is, is to simply make it a mandatory requirement to take a medication to trigger akathisia. No student is allowed to graduate until they have experienced that. Akathisia is the root cause of many people who completed their suicides. All other side effects of the medication combined are nowhere near the horrifying experience of akathisia. Also, there is no guarantee that all four classes of drugs that supposedly counter against akathisia will work. In fact, it is entirely possible that you take one of them and ended up having a huge flare up of akathisia with no medication to stop it.
Worst feeling ever!! I've had both withdrawal and acute types. The acute came from taking Phenergan and Reglan while pregnant and having HG. I experienced it several times because my doctors could never figure out what was going on. They would always admit me and I'd be in the hospital bed completely flipping out. The last time I had it, I immediately felt like I wanted to kill myself and the ride to the hospital was awful. The thoughts of suicide were overwhelming and so scary. I was administered Benadryl and finally the medical team listened to me and understood that no, it wasn't in my head and I wasn't an overemotional pregnant lady. Now those types of medicines are on my allergy list. Surprisingly, Benadryl also has this same effect on me. I am so nervous when it comes to new medications because I never ever want to experience that feeling again. I've had heart surgery, brain surgery, 3 c-sections, and cancer and the feeling of akathisia is far worse than any of that -at least to me it is.
This stuff is awful, I remember being grateful I got hurt at work cause somehow the pain was a slight distraction from how I felt like I had to sprint around but couldn't. It really does feel like some weird part of you wants to get out in some way and nothing really makes it feel better
So I have never been on any of these medications and I do not have schizoaffective disorder. However, I do have restless leg syndrome. (Mine is generally brought on by anemia. Which is good because mine stops as soon as I get my iron infusions. YaY iron.) So as you were describing this akathisia, I'm like yeah yeah, that's what it feels like to have restless leg, so while you were talking I went and did a search. Somehow I have never heard this before but there's a different name for restless leg syndrome! It's akathisia! Wow. So my family has a long list of mental and behavioral issues going way back, I strive to be very empathetic when I can, and I think I mostly succeed, but the rocking was one of the things that I could never truly get a handle on. I always want to make it stop. Like if I'm just kind enough and do the right thing maybe I can help them to slow down or stop. Obviously I have been quite wrong. I describe restless leg syndrome as being on your mark. As a runner might be the very moment before the gunshot that starts the race. And no matter how you wiggle and squirm, you can't make the feeling stop. I'm actually feeling a little bit sick as I describe it because I can feel it as I describe it. (It might be time for a top up!) Oh my God, I feel so terrible that anybody has to accept that as a regular part of their life. Even if it does get better over time or with adjustments in one's meds, there is no amount of that feeling that is acceptable to me. It's truly one of the worst feelings I have ever had. And I've had a lot of bad feelings.
And what about when your psychiatrist causes the condition by being careless? Then do you tell them? Because I certainly had no inclination to. I mean we argued so much about my severe anxiety condition to begin with that I know I'm talking to a brick wall. If anyone in this world should know that psychiatric medications need to be tapered it should certainly be a psychiatrist would you agree with me there? Yet Time After Time I've had them take me off meds with no consideration of tapering whatsoever. I mean I honestly don't recall if I've ever been tapered off of a medication. They are careless. And if it weren't for that I wouldn't have this condition. I tend to get long-winded because this has been life-altering to me. I mean to put it mildly. Okay let's hit the high points I have had severe anxiety in my entire life with blackout panic attacks. This goes back even to my very young childhood. Wondered all my life how on Earth I ended up with that if it was just something I was born with or if it was caused. Regardless I've just been that way my whole life. I don't really know what it feels like to be normal other than when I was about 23 and life completely fell apart on top of my very sheltered rear end and the doctor put me on a low dose benzodiazepine to help me sleep. Of course this was back around the year 2000 or 2005 or whatever when everybody was taking xanax. Now I'm not looking to argue with anybody so let me just say that but I did take a very low dose Xanax for over two decades and it worked very well for me. When left to do only that without psychiatrist trying to pile on a bunch of extra meds I didn't need, I did really well. There were certainly times I had to go without like changing jobs and having to wait for insurance or things like that. I did take them as needed. So you know if I was allotted two a day or three a day you know if I was having a good day and everything was going well I might not take but one or I might not have taken any but I took them as needed and I never increased the dose to something crazy or anything like that and I did fine. Until... The FDA and their bull. All the "let's scare everybody to death because some people do reckless things w drugs" campaigns. So we fast forward to a point in my life where you can hardly even find a doctor that will give them to you anymore. I mean it doesn't even seem to matter if it's a lifelong condition they just don't care. These doctors are scared to death that you're going to do something stupid and end up costing them their license that they just don't even want to prescribe it anymore. So I go to a new shrink the one before her of course didn't like the particular drugs Xanax and he liked Ativan but much like Klonopin it didn't work as well for me. So he had me try the Ativan I told him it didn't work as well I'd rather just go back to my lower dose Xanax he mentioned how about the higher dose of the Ativan and I was like I guess I mean I'm so tired of arguing with them you know? But that was a pretty dang High dose. And that was the only time in my life I ended up at a higher dose. The same psychiatrist put me on Zyprexa which is an antipsychotic drug and I do not have any psychosis. I mean I am not being ugly towards anyone who does I'm just saying I've never been diagnosed with any sort of psychosis and he didn't present it to me that way. He said something about it being like a mood enhancer or something like that. He thought it might work with my other drugs which was just an antidepressant in the benzo because they started forcing me to take the antidepressant to get the benzo of course. And I should have known better I mean by that point in my life I had dealt with psychiatrists and been frustrated about this for at least a good six or seven years maybe eight. I don't know what the hell but I took it and that was when I was the most not myself in my entire life. Nobody liked me during that time I had no personality at all. I gained a bunch of weight like literally a hundred pounds. I was depressed and just sitting around waiting to die. I don't know what it was that made me decide to get up and fight again but I did. Anyway new psychiatrist freaks out about the benzo cuz she's one of those that doesn't even prescribe it but to like a handful of people I'm told and I'm one of them. It's a very very low dose as a matter of fact it's the lowest dose that I've ever been given since the very first dose that I ever had 27 or so years ago I think. And that's fine that's her prerogative but *SHE DID NOT TAPER ME! REFUSED!!! * And that is not okay. I remember being very anxious and just feeling like I was just about to have a nervous breakdown or something but I don't think it was actually definitely akathisia until the next visit when she cut the zyprexa. And I agreed with her about it I mean I don't see any reason that I should take that I knew it was what was causing the weight gain and she was asking why I was even on it cuz I didn't have any psychosis so that's great too but again she didn't *taper it.* And here I am 2 and a half yrs later. There are groups around there's one on Facebook that's really good and what I commonly see is these people actually try to convince their doctor that this is the condition they have and the doctor refuses to acknowledge it. A lot of times they get put on other medications because they're now diagnosed with some new conditions that have to do with you know making up conditions and being in denial about needing meds and having the condition you have or something like that. I see it over and over all these people frustrated cuz their doctor didn't believe them. That's just not an argument I want to have with this woman. I can tell from you know all the struggles I've had with my horrible anxiety ever since that she's just not going to give me anything that I actually need. She basically has given me everything in the kitchen sink that has a side effect of making you sleepy. Because she seems to think that if you're sleepy or not going to be anxious. I find that absolutely absurd. If that were the case insomnia wouldn't even exist would it? So anyway you know basically she's doing all she's going to do for me and I know that. So I'm just trying to deal with what I've got I've been slowly weaning off of different things I've got it down to a bare minimum of some stuff just to keep her happy. And I'm going to continue to deal with it on my own. There is no way I'm going to go in there and try to argue with that woman about this condition. Never going to happen. There are even people who have ended up getting locked up and forcefed even more meds because they got all upset because of the akathisia in the presence of doctors. That's always been my nightmare scare every surgery I have. I literally prepared myself for days about what I was going to do to keep myself visibly calm at least when I had this last surgery. And I'm really glad I did because everything went wrong. But even as careful as I was naming all these drugs don't give me this don't give me this don't give me any sight drugs unless it's the few that I already take. I'm still messed up again. Something or another that they're giving me during the process of those surgeries is causing it to flare up really bad again. I'm two and a half years in and there are people in that group that have been dealing with it five eight 10 years and they're so scared they don't even take so much as a Benadryl anymore. This condition is horrible and people need to know about it and people need to be aware so that they can protect themselves whenever they do need to seek out psychiatric care.
Thank you for this video about Akathisia Lauren. Just one thing - I think you should let us know really just how bad it can be. I've seen a video of a lady with it, she was in floods of tears and absolutely could not stop moving. Her distress was so bad that she later took her own life. Jordan Peterson also suffered from this for quite a while until a few months ago. He said it was absolutely the most horrendous thing he had ever gone through. He only stayed alive because of the support of his family.
Haha akathisia is the reason why I ended up developing a a year long persistent headache that felt like my head was on fire, it is a very unpleasant side effects that lasts months as it did for me
The only thing I've ever experienced that was worse than akathasia induced by antipsychotics and prednisone (separate occasions) was kidney stones. Even then, they were comparable. It was like there was 100 spiders crawling all over me, I was injected with cortisol and adrenaline, drank 20 cups of coffee, and a hot poker was shoved up my ass all at once. One of the worst possible experiences a human being can have. People need to be made more aware of this possibility when given these things. I was never warned about this on any of the occasions I was given these meds and it turned out to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced. I didn't know it was the med causing it until weeks later.
I have had akethesia on a lot of times from antiemetics and some neuroleptics. I can take Seroquel. The akethesia felt like shear panic and doom. My legs constantly couldn’t stay still. I had gotten so bad, that I wanted to die and ended up in the hospital. That lasted for years. I get severe anxiety attacks, now.
The way she started this out is unbelievable and naive! 😡 Even sticking in her self-centered promoting commercial before it. Akathesia is way more than a movement disorder, and it's caused a lot more, or equally as often with SSRI's than Anti psychotics! The terrors and agitation it causes are from hell but she keeps referring it to a movement disorder. That's why so many ignorant doctors aren't getting it right either. She says she's had Akathisia how many times? Dismissing it like a common cold you can get and go on with your life time after time. I have three years of Akathisia and know many others with twice and more than that. Most of the others that went longer are now dead. I am so angry with Idiots like this. I can't say anymore!!! 😡🤬😡
Since my late teens, I've gotten this sensation from eating sweets & some pre-made sauces that have artificial sweeteners (I'm not sure if it's aspartame or saccharine or what that does it). But yeah, even people with sensitivities to the sweeteners have never said they feel what I feel when I asked them about it. They also give me headaches and nightmares and make my temper be set to such a hair trigger that I know that if I eat candy there's a very high chance of me just raging out from it. I've never heard this from anyone. I thought it was just a "me" thing... But so like... I don't think I have Schizophrenia, but I do suspect I have schizotypal personality disorder. Now that I think about it, it really could have been my antipsychotic & antidepressant meds I was given for my bipolar/etc back then that caused it. But so then, I guess the effects are permanent-ish? Because I've experienced it for years since then until recently when I started taking a suppliment that has B6 in it
My guess is that because anti psychotic drugs reduce dopamine, And ADHD stimulant drugs increase dopamine, the anti-psychotics probably cause the user to have ADHD symptoms. People with schizophrenia experiencing psychosis have too much dopamine, while people with ADHD don't get enough dopamine causing the individual to constantly seek stimulation. Better to be ADHD then be psychotic obviously 😅 But that's just my best guess, I'm as far as the east from the west with medical knowledge. I don't know if it's possible to have ADHD and schizophrenia co-morbidly but my heart goes out to anyone who does.
I think that would be ADD but what is happening is nothing like ADHD/ADD, it’s just a feeling of fear that lasts weeks and months without medications, I chose to stick through it, it lasted like 4 months I was extremely ill and couldn’t work because I couldn’t stop moving even though I wanted. Drugs can create chemical imbalances
I love your videos so much! I just found out I’ve been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder cause by PTSD from an abusive 10 yr long relationship with so much trauma involved. I’m so confused about my diagnoses. I don’t even know what it is, is it reversible? Can I recover? Have I always had these issues but the trauma and ptsd highlighted them? All I know is your videos make me not feel alone. So glad I had already been watching your videos long before I found out about my diagnosis
Personality disorders aren't curable, but the symptoms can be managed and therapy can help. People don't develop a personality disorder based on adult trauma. Personality disorders are _who you are_ rather than something you have. Most psychologists believe it is caused by childhood traumas coupled with a genetic propensity. You don't "get" a personality disorder in adulthood and they arent caused by PTSD in adulthood. It is something that develops through childhood and adolescence and is usually diagnosed in young adulthood. BTW, people are sometimes misdiagnosed so it is a good idea to get a second opinion.
@@mygirldarby actually bpd is able to go away. It's emotional dysregulation so you can learn to regulate your emotions. You're not born with it, it's a result of trauma so if you fix the trauma you can usually fix the bpd, similar to ptsd. But when it comes to mental health it's less about curing something, and more about being in remission because there's always a chance it could come back.
Personality disorders can be treated with a combination of behavioral therapy and medications, depending on your symptoms! There’s not a specific cure but there is a lot resources you can use to help you. A good place to start would be looking into DBT skills, finding a therapist who specializes in trauma, and remembering to take care of yourself and be compassionate with yourself. I wish you the best of your recovery ❤️🩹.
@@mygirldarby also this is a lot of misinformation, personality disorders can actually start in adulthood due to trauma, for example dissociative identity disorder can come later in life sometimes. If you're not a doctor I'd suggest not telling other people that their doctor is wrong.
Heh Lauren. There is a difference between feeling doomed than feeling agitated. Most people don't have anything nice to say about me. I suffered from akasthisia too. No one should go through this. I feel bad for you because I know how horrible this feels. I had suicidal thoughts because of it. No one would take me to the hospital even though my family knew that I was in distress. I had chronic akasthisia. The anxiety was too much that I wanted to be dead because no one told me that it won't end. It was untreated. No one gave a damn. It was my second pill for schizophrenia. Now I am taking medicine for epilepsy. So glad to be alive because I know that doom and anxiety doesn't have to be eternity,
I actually got akathisia after taking latuda for 4 months. It had been helping me and I was excited and then one day BOOM! I wanted to unzip my skin and jump out! I have taken a lot of meds figuring out which meds helped me and I had never experienced ANYTHING close to that feeling! If I was sitting, I wanted to stand, if standing I wanted to lie down, if lying down, I needed to get up, try to watch TV, but I can't stand it. Nothing relieved it. I called my psychiatrist the next day while I was work and she knew exactly what I was describing. She prescribed me a med that was supposed to help but it did absolutely nothing to relieve the miserable feeling. As soon as I stopped Latuda, it went away immediately. I take seroquel, lamictal, and zoloft and no akathisia.
Thankyou so much for this video. I have a sister who was diagnosed with bi-polar affective disorder within the last couple of years and has akathisia.. She is under care of the community mental health team. They aren't really very supportive regarding ways to address these awful symptoms which she suffers. Procyclidine doesn't really help and they have advised an antihistamine now. She is already on a beta blocker. Thus problem seems to affect her quality of life more than bi-polar. It is so frustrating to see her being affected by these symptoms. Sometimes she feels like stopping the antipsychotic meds (aripiprazole) which would be awful as she's already had 2 episodes of acute psychosis. It's really difficult to get any constructive advice or support.
I was diagnosed with RLS when I was a kid and certain meds throw akathisia on top of that. I don't know how to describe the feeling to people who haven't experienced it. Its like a million tiny spiders under your skin and if you don't move the affected part(s) of your body they all start pinching you. I've heard Benadryl can help, but Benadryl is actually my biggest trigger for akathisia along with pretty much any drugstore medication labeled for nighttime use or sleep aids. I was put on Saphris once and it was 100x worse than any akathisia I had felt before. I never want to feel that feeling ever again in my life.... I take klonopin and flexeril before bedtime and those are really the only two that have helped me so far.
When I was a preteen in the 90's during the D.A.R.E. scare in school when they were telling kids and parents that ADHD medication was cocaine for kids, my doctor wound up being one of the ones who got nervous and stopped seeing me along with all her other young ADHD patients, lol, this resulted in my new doctor falsely diagnosing me with bipolar, when what I really have is autism, ADHD, and tourettism. They put me on antipsychotics and you can only guess the bad reaction I had, since my specific conditions make me dopamine deficient already. I developed terrible akathisia, way worse than I ever had normally, and it was endless.. It just WOULD NOT GO AWAY... Even after stopping the meds it persisted for years and was resistant to treatment. The only thing that made it stop is methadone. Now I have to take an opioid for the rest of my life.
One antipsychotic (I won’t say which one bc I don’t want to scare anyone out of trying it) gave me such severe akathisia that I couldn’t sleep for more than a few hours at a time, and couldn’t stop pacing. I have low blood pressure so I couldn’t tolerate propanol (which I know is helpful for a lot of people). On a positive note, I’ve found out that more sedating antipsychotics work really well. So if you tend to get akathisia from antipsychotics, try out one of the more sedating ones to see if you feel calmer and less agitated.
I got acute akathisia after starting Saphris. It got to the point of suicidal thoughts. My doctor took me off Saphris and tried a variety of other medications but the akathisia continued to worsen. She took me off all psych meds temporarily and prescribed propranolol which worked beautifully. I still take propranolol. After an extended break from psych meds, I am now prescribed sertraline and the lowest dose of quetiapine. I am doing very very well on my current medications.
If you have ever experienced this. You would you know. I have experienced it around 4 or 5 times in my life (no more then an hour or so each time) I’ve likely never experienced anything else as unpleasant or unbearable. I would describe it as an intense physical ‘Whole body’ Anxiety, including but not limited to sensations and emotions of panic, terror and even paranoia. Basically the practically continuous state of Fight and Flight / experienced at the same time. Deep and slow breathing and mindfulness techniques provides some basic relief, until typically the sensations / symptoms and associated panic begin to pass within around 45 to 90 minutes.
Why don’t you guys talk more about withdrawal Akathisia? We can’t just stop a medication and poof it’s gone. Coming off more meds too fast makes it worse. The Benzo is what got me here. “As needed” as well. Change my medication and it will go away? The outlook for Akathisia is good?
Oh, my goodness! I wonder if this is what I had when I was on V-vanse? Man, that made me absolutely miserable for three years. It was just as you described, an intense feeling of doom, wanting to jump out of my chair and run off down the street. I tried to tell my doctor about it (my GP was prescribing) and she just shrugged it off and kept on with the prescription. It was horrible.
I got akathisia from an SSRI- Luvox. I felt the need to either tense all my muscles or stretch them all the time. Terrible restlessness. It made me want to run into a wall and made me suicidal. Luckily it went away after stopping the medication
TW Self medicating. . . I used opiates to self medicate off and on for years. Every time I would quit taking them, akathisia was one of the nightmare withdrawl symptoms. The worst, in my opinion. Every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire, I couldn't sleep for days due to restless legs. Its horrific.
I had akathesia and it was the worst thing I've ever felt. I hate people keep leading with "movement disorder" or "feeling to move" she must have had a light form. The absolute worst thing about akathesia is the pure terror for no reason at all. They will try to say it's agitation from the need to move and be uncomfortable but it's not at all. It's a terror like no other that doesn't stop. Imagine sitting a room waiting for your execution and you know it's going to happen and the fear builds and builds. It's like that but it never stops. This needs to be reclassified. I've heard not everyone gets the terror but this woman here experience must have been really light. And to say she had it a few times? I don't think she really knows what that experience is like. She's talking about too much coffee? Akathesia for me and most the community I've talked to..... It's worse than anyone thinks.
I’ve had this, it’s horrible, I could never feel settled, I’d feel an inner energy in my chest and thighs, I’d have to move all the time. I absolutely hated it.
I sway because I find it relaxing and self-soothing. I started this after my daughter was born and I used to rock her a lot. I don’t have schizophrenia, but have some anxiety and depression. However, I do notice that bite down on one of my teeth a lot to alleviate some of the discomfort in the tooth. The dentist can’t find anything wrong with the tooth. I’m not sure if there is a medication that can help with this (or it’s possible that I just need a root canal). Thank you so much for another great and informative video! I can imagine that the feeling of wanting to jump out of one’s skin must be a horrendous feeling. Thank you for providing so many great ideas of what might be able to help people with this situation happening. I also wonder if CBD oil might be able to help people as well? God bless you all!! 🙏
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Akathisia means FRYING your Dopamine receptors which can be irreversible if it leads to Tardive DISKENISIA or other extrapyramidal issues.
Akathisia can occur with SSRIs but damage to serotonin receptors are reversible.
Now recently, has akathisia been gone, has it been okay?
How is a channel about a medical condition that doesnt directly impact me, becoming my favourite channel?
...Lauren's empathy and adroit, compassionate communication.
Can you check with your doctor whether Solian or Amisulpride 200mg causes such symptoms, also check with your doctor whether its available in US, solian is from France and available in Europe if your doctor thinks it may reduce such inconvenient side effects.
Same!
Thank you so much for doing what you do. I don’t have a schizophrenia diagnosis but I have bipolar one with psychotic features, watching your videos really helps me understand certain things.
I also have bipolar 1.
@Dirty Joe Bipolar psychosis and schizophrenia psychosis are the same, they just occur at different times. I've have bipolar psychosis one time.
@Dirty Joe I don't know if long-term alcoholism could cause it but my opinion is the alcohol depletes B vitamins, including B12 so I would suggest you try supplementing with a B vitamin complex and see if it helps your symptoms. Research shows that people who have psychotic symptoms are often lacking B vitamins.
Same girly, in this together ❤
@Dirty Joe don’t do it keep taking the medicine please otherwise you could have another episode
I had Chronic Akathisia with both Risperidone and Haloperidol. Before I knew what Akathisia was, I panicked and cold-turkeyed off of Risperidone. BIG MISTAKE. I felt better for a few day, but then BAM! All my psychotic symptoms came back with a vengence, landing me in the ER with a horrible panic attack. I was then put back on the Risperidone, and my psychiatrist ordered propanolol... which made my blood pressure tank way too low. So then she tries a drug called benztropine, a.k.a. Cogentin. That was my miracle worker. It finally got rid of the Akathisia while I was on those meds that caused it. Akathisia was horrible for me. It was like suffering from horrible restless leg syndrome, day and night. In bed, I wanted to kick and kick my legs, to the point where I wanted to bend my knees the wrong way, which obviously, I can't do. I couldn't even sit still long enough for a brief therapy session with my therapist. I'd have to walk around her office. I pity anyone who suffers from Akathisia, and if I know someone who is, I tell them to ask their doctor about benztropine/Cogentin.
Technically you are just masking the symptom, it's still assaulting your brain
@@nihil8436 Yeah, I don't take any meds that give me akathisia anymore. So I'm not on Cogentin anymore, either! 👍
I'm also on benstropine for this its worked wonders I still figit when I'm trying to sleep but it's finally managable. I was getting panic attacks from being so restless. I'm happy you found something that helped you!
Benztropine was a life saver for me too!
I also had Akathisia (the acute one) while on Risperidone, it was truly horrifying... Didn't knew this sensation had a name until I watched this video, this was one of the side effects I had with Risperidone 😔
So glad I ended up stopping taking it after 4 months only... I clearly remember having a massive Akathisia episode one day, I couldn't stop in a way that I started begging my parents to buy some medication that induces sleep (i.e. antihistamines) so I could be free from this agony, panic and doom state 😔
I’m so glad there’s actually a term for this. I’ve never been able to describe it -like the most anxious feeling where I can’t stay still and my skin is uncomfortable.
This was maybe the worst experience of my life. I never want to go through that again.
Hi how long did you suffer?
@@СагдианаСагдиана-ш6з around 8 months to a year.
Is there treatment? Is it cureable?
@@Fntstk4I had to stop the medication in order for it to go away.
@tekeeshaodom2769 what kind of medication were you on for this side effect to surface?
Holy shit! Thank you for this video I had no language to describe what I was experiencing. This helps so much and I have already messaged my psychiatrist about it.
I'm so glad people are talking about Akathesia finally. I had it years ago in the 80s in my 20s. I'm 62 now.It was unbearable. There was no name for it then
This video very much understates the extremely intense suffering frequently caused by AKATHISIA
All of my friends that suffered AKATHISIA when they took the major tranquilisers say that it was torture
I was tortured by AKATHISIA when I was on a major tranquilizer
I became suicidal and am extremely lucky to be alive
P.s. I also BECAME mentally ill.
AFTER starting a major tranquilizer.
i.e I felt mentally ill & believed that I was mentally ill and was told I was mentally ill.
Akathisia traumatized me. I was in constant “flight” mode. I felt as if I exhaled almost all my breath and held it even though I was actively breathing. I paced my home and my bones felt like they were vibrating. I sobbed and gripped my hair to distract me from the panic. I rubbed my face as if there were bugs crawling on it and it was hard not to scratch. I couldn’t lay down even though I was very exhausted and it was so hard to keep my eyes closed even though I felt my mind drifting into “sleep”. I would jolt up out of nowhere with sheer dread and panic. It felt as if I was going to die. Many people who haven’t experienced the full affect of it don’t understand JUST how dreadful it is. So thank you for mentioning the sensation of “Doom”. Many people forget to explain that part.
How did it go away?
How did you go to sleep?
Years ago my mother was put on Haldol because the nursing home where she lived didn't know how else to manage her. I will always be grateful to the outside psychiatrist who recognized her akathisia and took her off the Haldol. She used the phrase, "jumping out of my skin" to describe the feeling and she was miserable. She had Alzheimers and the staff at her new nursing home was able to manage her symptoms with behavior management.
Generally speaking when a patient with dementia put on an antipsychotic, the goal should be to get them off of it as quick as possible. More often than not, they are just having trouble falling asleep and their delusions come up more when they are not on a good sleep-wake cycle.
Your approach to your disease is wonderful for those who have been judged wrongly by other people. You are a blessing.🙏🏻😩
I use to have this all the time. For example, I would be walking in the streets mentally lost, terrified, hopeless, frustrated, confused, and suicidal. I felt like I was going to jump in front of a car, or I would catch some kind of horrible disease. Words cannot describe how it feels, it is the most strangest, horrifying, doom and gloom feeling I ever had. I wouldn’t even want my worse enemy to go though what I did. I literally felt like I was dying and one time I was having akathisia so bad that my jaw was twisting sideways and when I went to the hospital I would lay in bed screaming until they injected me with cogentin (benztropine).
Did your Akathesia gone?
@@СагдианаСагдиана-ш6з it’s not gone completely but my medication still causes it.
I had acute akathesia for less than 24 hours. It’s the worst thing I’ve ever experienced. I can’t believe people can have it chronically - I was suicidal within 24 hours it was so hard to bear.
I survived 2 years 24/7. Dunno how I did it.
Yep. Survived on 3 different instances over my life. First time for about a year. Second time was like 6 months and I'm currently dealing with it again but starting to recover I think. She makes it sound much less bad than it actually is.
How long did it take before it came back?
I got chronic akathisia from a benzodiazepine (Klonopin). You can get akathisia from opiates or stimulant medications. Even certain antibiotics. It’s not a “side effect”, it’s neurotoxicity, it’s potentially permanent brain injury. It’s painful movement disorders from supposedly “safe” medications. Antipsychotics cause the most brain damage. I would never take a dopamine antagonist again. One pill can permanently injure you. It only took a few pills of an SNRI (Cymbalta) to hurt me. It only took 3 weeks of Prozac. Once I got unknowingly injured by trying an SSRI (Prozac) I started thinking it was my condition worsening. They started trying me on stuff and within a couple years I was having nerve pain and had to become a young pain patient. My next mistake was thinking you could safely “treat” the pain with these same toxins. I made my akathisia into a monster trying to treat it.
Find Dr. Josef Witt-Doerring & Dr. Marissa Witt-Doerring Psychiatry on RUclips or Twitter. See their work de-prescribing. See their discussions with injured patients. Find Nicole Lamberson PA and her discussions for the film “Medicating Normal” or find her story on Inner Compass Initiative. Find Altostrata and her work for Surviving Antidepressants .Org.
Read Robert Whitaker’s “Anatomy of an Epidemic”. Read David Healy. Find the Benzodiazepine Information Coalition and hear about the benzo injured like me. Don’t fear “seizure” and “death” fear things you have to live with like chronic akathisia or tardive dystonia or TD or all of them combined! I’ve paced for nearly 3 years, 24/7 for 30-40hrs straight. No one in their right mind would risk this injury in a patient. It’s like sleeping in the trunk of a moving car while your back is hooked to battery cables.
Fun Fact: The reason you cannot come off antipsychotics isn’t because of your condition, it’s because these “medications” (toxins) changed and damaged your brain. Doctors treating patients with dopamine antagonists who aren’t actively dying should be liable for every case of akathisia.
100%
Thanks!
Thank you for making this video! I just started on antipsychotics 2 weeks ago and this helped me explain what I'm experiencing to my husband. It's hard to explain to someone who hasn't experienced it.
Unless you’ve been through the hell of Akathisia, stop pretending that you know what you’re talking about…
It’s by far, the most excruciating, petrifying, tormenting, horrifying experience, that a person can go through. If you have not tasted that, then please keep silent.
Hi Lauren!
Thank you for the name for this extremely annoying problem. I have been telling psych personnel about this for-EVER and no one has told me this has a name. It makes it difficult to get my meaning across.
I describe it as similar to a Tourette's' tic. I try to put the movement off for as long as I can; but it just builds up until I move.
"Move." Sounds so bland. The first time I had this was when I started a certain anti-psychotic about 17 years ago. I was lying down to sleep and started getting restless and then WHAM! I was thrashing around in the bed and terrified! I ran downstairs to the sofa and worried our roommate! I have had this for years. Not all the time. And it has gotten better; meaning less often. What always made me furious was that my husband would not wake up to comfort me even though I was also making sounds of distress.
I hate it!
Thanks again!
Jordan Peterson’s account of his bout with Akathisia was truly terrifying.
Can you link this? I love Jordan Peterson and everything he has to say!
@@lucieni he has spoken about it a lot on his own channel when he was sick last year or thereabouts but I found this too, thankfully he’s much better now: ruclips.net/video/UIfllfH0k3I/видео.html
@@shaneharrington3655 Just watched it, much appreciated!
Can you link Jordan Peterson’s account? I’d love to watch.
@@yelenarotar2307 hey I linked a video here in the comments already. His own account should be easy to find too 👍🏻
Experiencing Akathisia was a nightmare. I really wanted to destroy my legs because my legs were making me go crazy. It’s just horrible.
I guess that people grunt and groan because they are using a lot of control not to scream because they do not want to be gagged. I heard that akasthisia causes physical pain too. It is like taking Predizone which is a steroid. I took it for laryngitis.
People who never had it will never understand until they get it. Then they will be sorry for not understanding
I’m glad everyone had recovered . I took an ssri , not knowing what was going on for awhile . Went to the hospital and they put be on a benzo and lyrica which only masked it . Drs say it’s only high anxiety no one believes me . Trying to get off these medications will be hell . I am chronic and had it for 1 1/2 years . The pain is severe , 😅have decided to let go and be in gods hands . I wish everyone healing .
I hope everything is free from akathisia today. Even if others may not understand the absolute hell and pain of this disease, we do. And for everyone battling this, it will get better, I promise you!!!!! I was traveling on holiday in Asia when I got Cardiopulmonary. The hospital I tried to get as much money as possible from my insurance company. I have no idea what medicines I was given. But I had akathisia afterwards for about 6 month. It was hell. The worst thing I have ever experienced. And I have been through some horrible diseases in my past. I could not sleep, I could watch tv for more than 5 seconds, I couldn’t stop moving, every inch of my body feeling like millions of bugs crawling around and the worst pain I have ever experienced, just because I tried to sit still for second. I felt like I could walk around the world. I literally wanted to get out of my body. It felt like a horror movie, like alien. I’m glad I’m alive today, I didn’t think I would have made it without my family.
AHHHH I NEVER KBNEW WHAT IT WAS CALLED I HAD THIS!! Thank you so much, my doctor never told me the name of this disorder. I had this after my first episode of psychosis when I first started new medication. It made recovery ten times worse because it worsened my anxiety and affected my delusions (exactly as you said it gave me a sense of doom). It stopped when I switched medications, thank GOD! A truly terrible experience! especially since I had nothing to do so would sit around all day but be constantly wanting to move.
How long did you take medications that caused Akathesia?
I experienced akathisia for a brief period if time last year while been treated for depression and psychosis, I was taking aripiprazol and I felt right as you described it. I wanted to jump out of my skin, I remember being waiting on the subway platform and I just couldn’t stop moving, I thought it was extreme anxiety, or the beginning of mania. I told my doctor immediately and he lowered the aripiprazol and problem solved! It was awful, to me it was a few days, cannot even think how it would be feel like for months
I’ve had akathisia a couple of times. The first time for a month or so. You described it very well. As a matter of fact, when I told my doctor about it, I described it as wanting to jump out of my skin. It’s absolute hell.
It is now better? What have you Done?
@@neslihankeles3590 It is better. I don’t really suffer from it anymore. The last time I had it was after my thyroid removal surgery several years ago. I had two surgeries two weeks apart. After the 2nd one, I experienced about 24 hours of acute akathisia which slowly resolved. My original bout was 12 years ago. In hindsight, I believe it was initiated by the ativan I was prescribed for 6 years prior. My doctor switched me to a much higher dose of xanax and put me on lexapro. After about a month or so, the acute akathisia resolved, but I still suffered tremendous anxiety, specifically morning anxiety. This went on for years and over time the bad anxiety would resolve mostly earlier and earlier during the day. I felt like the xanax was perpetrating my anxiety symptoms so about 5 years ago, I started to taper xanax. I did a very slow taper over the course of 1-1/2 years. It was a very challenging taper even though it was super slow, but I had to continue working through all of this. Still don’t know how I managed especially through the early akathisia phase. That was absolute hell. I am currently doing pretty well. I am still more sensitive to stress than normal, but generally I am good. Occasionally I will have a drink, but not too often.
Are you suffering from akathisia?
A heads-up for anyone that is considering anticholinergics: they increase the risk of, or even cause, not just short term memory loss but cognitive decline and dementia. It's good to know when weighing the pros and cons of this option. Doctors may not mention it.
This is me rambling and it might not have a sense or logic behind it all, but I feel like I've always had like a weak version of akathisia, I have ADHD. Now, there is a theory that "ADHD" struggle with dopamine, and classic stimulants increase dopamine levels in the brain, hence helping to calm the uneasiness/hyperactivity associated with ADHD, instead of increasing it as some people might think, since they are "stimulants".
I do not have schizophrenia nor do I know (yet) someone with that condition, and I find these videos really informative and easy to follow. Good job!
Thank you for sharing. I always look forward to your videos. I’m a psych major and I’ve learned so much from your channel. ❤️ congrats on your new baby, you’re glowing here!
One of, if not the, worst feelings I've felt in my life. I've never gotten suicidal thoughts but I had a super strong urge to jump out the window at that time. Thank God I quickly got it diagnosed and treated with Beta Blockers.
My uncle lived on the streets for decades until they put him in a mental hospital. Months later he jumped out a window and died a few weeks after from his injuries. 😥
You take beta Blocker all the Time since now?
@@neslihankeles3590 No my doctor immediately stopped that drug for me and changed it to something else.
@@Crescent-Adam you take now something against akathsie? I am sad becuse I Have this.
@@neslihankeles3590 No. When I got Akathesia I immediately stopped the drug that caused it and switched to another drug that didn't cause it.
I had aka for 3 yrs from ssri. It isn't even the worst thing drugs can do. Drinking too much coffee? This girl hasn't a clue
Thank you so much for the important content you create! Also love this dress you're wearing!
Thanks you. I’m a student and this information is very helpful!
I had this very strongly too when I first went on risperidone. It was so frustrating and put me to the point of despair and helplessness, but then they put me on anti-parkinsons medication and that helped. I wish this to no-one.
I got this after being put on Abilify years ago and it was the worst thing I've ever felt in my life it made me want to take my life. Switching meds made it stop though thank God🙏I wouldn't wish this feeling on anyone.
Why do you say that? I wanna know cause my brother also takes Abilify as his medication.
@@kristymarie6065 I'm not on anything now but years ago was hospitalized from drug induced psychosis, and after Abilify I was given a higher dose of Lithium and that was good for me, took that for a a couple years and slowly lowered to come off and been good:))
@@flowerainbowarisa Abilify doesn't cause this side effect with everyone and this medication can really help people, without onsetting akathisia, but for me it did unfortunately so I had to switch meds
@@RebeccaAlis oh it's like that. Thanks for your explanation
@@kristymarie6065 yeah:(( I had been clean from chemicals for a while and only smoking weed but my body/brain couldn't handle it I guess and it triggered psychosis it was an awful experience, never again.
I've heard that the Soviets during the Communist era used various drugs on prisoners then withdrew them to cause
akathisia; a method of torture.
Thank you for providing us with the words to describe what we are experiencing. Really, thank you!
I watch both you and Anthony! It was so cool seeing you on the video
If only every doctor prescribing these horrid drugs experienced akathisia themselves for 5 minutes.
Another great upload my friend
Thanks for the education 🙏
I am glad that I have no idea what this is like.
Even listening to people describing it makes me uncomfortable.
I get akathisia quite bad, I was given a script for one of the medication you listed, I wasn't sure about taking it but now I see on this channel that it works, I'll start taking it now silly me. Thankyou so much for all the great advice and information.
Doom is my favorite word. Thanks for being honest
i'm happy to have found you. so i've experienced this feeling of "doom", which now i've come to finally learn has a clinical name of akanisia, more and more now. i would say it started a few years ago, but only once in a while, and i'm starting to think it's because i'm on methimazole due to hyperthyroid issues, even though i'm at low doses, 2 a week at 10 mg each. every now and then i would wake up in the middle of the night, feeling anxious and couldn't fall back to sleep. at first i thought it was resltess leg syndrome, but it's not like i couldn't control it, but i would have the need to get up and move, so i go work on the computer, something to take my mind off that sensation. then it would go away in less than an hour where i could finally fall back to sleep. the latest episodes came while starting on a vacation flight, woke up and couldn't sleep, all i could do is just sit there, squirm to lessen the effects until i dosed off again. the worst came just yesterday on a flight home from the same vacation, but i could sense the feeling of doom set in while i was watching a movie. not sure if it was a combination of being in a confined environment or what, but it was the worst i've felt, and after figeting for a while, stretching, crossing and uncrossing my legs, i felt compelled to get up and walk along the aisle just to deal with the feeling. i'm going to reach out to my Dr. to see if there's anything to be done. i try to fool myself and will the feeling away, telling myself this is all mental, that it's irrational to feel this way, that all is well, no need to feel anxious, but to no avail. i would try breathing exercises, meditate, but nothing works, only squirming or fidgeting would make the feeling subside for a brief moment.coincidentally, i'm also on propranolol for heart palpatations, and if propranolol also helps with akathisia, how bad could my condition be without it?! i look forward to any responses from those with similar experiences.
Thank you for all these videos.
I have troubles you are helpful thank you
I’ve experienced akathisia twice. After Quetiapine and Fluanxol depot. After the depot that hell lasted for a month, those feelings were absolutely unbearable.
If you are struggling with akathisia now - know it WILL go away, you WILL feel normal again, just stay strong and let it pass because it WILL
Please give me hope, i have something like this
How long were you on these & how long did youhave akathesia
It doesnt always
Your videos are so helpful, thank you
# schizoaffective disorder
A combination of Zoloft and too sudden discontinuation of Klonopin caused it for me. It felt like what I imagine drinking 50 cups of coffee would feel like. I felt poisoned. Gross wormy / fluttery sensation deep in the bones. Its a feeling that compels you to squirm and writhe like nausea would compel you to gag.
Withdrawals from Ambien and Xanax big time will cause it to.
Feel the same WD from zoloft.
Very good to know! I especially appreciate the inclusion of Vitamin B6 as an option. It can be scary looking at the possibility of adding a prescribed medication to account for the side effects of another.
I get akathisia frequently from changes with my meds. Mainly my antipsychotics but even the antihistamines I’ve been using for sleep have been causing it lately. My nervous system is very sensitive. In addition to akathisia, I’ve been having severe insomnia for going on 9 months now. Akathisia literally feels like you’re being tortured.
Be careful with antihistamines since they are also anticholinergic and can lead to dementia.
This is very, very Good!!! Thank you!!!
Hello Lauren and Rob,
I had drug induced Parkinson's for months after I was injected with a massive overdose of a drug called Largactil(chlorpromazine) in May 1987 34 years ago. However I have been taking the wonderful and side effects free Dolmatil(sulpiride) anti-psychotic since for example 2007 and before that even if I might develop Parkinson's that so far thank God hasn't happened. I know from experience that I will not have another psychotic episode so long as I continue to take Dolmatil twice every day and I strongly recommend this drug to you.
All the best and many thanks,
Peter Nolan. Ph.D.(physics). Dublin. Ireland.
You are truly amazing!
I've had this and it's truly horrific.
I was placed on far too high a dose of antipsychotic and had to reduce myself to relieve the symptoms.
The psychiatrist didn't seem to be interested and I was forced to reduce myself.
@peiper James Will do, much appreciated!
I had depression, my psychiatrist gave me haloperidol and that made me go nuts, I just kept walking from my room to the living room, I would lie down, stand up, sit, walk some more. Man that was horrible
Akathisia is not a joke. Not exaggerating, I got akathisia from Vraylar and it led to debilitating anxiety- almost ruined my life. Propranolol stopped working. I missed work for almost an entire month. I’m off the medication now and feeling much better, with a NEW psychiatrist because the other didn’t want to take me off of it even though I was clearly suffering. If you develop akathisia, tell your doctor and don’t let them force you to stay on the medication.
Sometimes stopping a medication can also cause akathisia.
Im having this right now and it started when i yook new meds
I had akathisia for several months in 2010. It was horrific. I believe it came on from tolerance to prescribed Ativan. I would get these bursts of dread all the time and I could not sit still. I had to move. I would get several hours of respite after taking 2 mg of Xanax and then then it all came back. Brutal
Yep. Benzo withdrawal, especially in combination with an SSRI / SNRI or atypical antipsychotic like Abilify or Latuda can definitely cause this. It can come on between doses if you develop tolerance too, and it isn’t obvious what is causing it. The extreme insomnia from being constantly restless can cause complete loss of short term memory along with a weird symptom I can only describe as “reverse deja vu”. Things suddenly feel unfamiliar. Its really hard to naturally go 72 hours without sleep, but akathisia can do it and it is a dreadful bad trip.
"Doom" is a completely underestimated description. The only way for doctors to truly understand what akathisia is, is to simply make it a mandatory requirement to take a medication to trigger akathisia. No student is allowed to graduate until they have experienced that. Akathisia is the root cause of many people who completed their suicides. All other side effects of the medication combined are nowhere near the horrifying experience of akathisia. Also, there is no guarantee that all four classes of drugs that supposedly counter against akathisia will work. In fact, it is entirely possible that you take one of them and ended up having a huge flare up of akathisia with no medication to stop it.
Worst feeling ever!! I've had both withdrawal and acute types. The acute came from taking Phenergan and Reglan while pregnant and having HG. I experienced it several times because my doctors could never figure out what was going on. They would always admit me and I'd be in the hospital bed completely flipping out. The last time I had it, I immediately felt like I wanted to kill myself and the ride to the hospital was awful. The thoughts of suicide were overwhelming and so scary. I was administered Benadryl and finally the medical team listened to me and understood that no, it wasn't in my head and I wasn't an overemotional pregnant lady. Now those types of medicines are on my allergy list. Surprisingly, Benadryl also has this same effect on me. I am so nervous when it comes to new medications because I never ever want to experience that feeling again. I've had heart surgery, brain surgery, 3 c-sections, and cancer and the feeling of akathisia is far worse than any of that -at least to me it is.
How long did you take medications that caused Akathesia please tell me?
that nail polish is great with your skin tone
This stuff is awful, I remember being grateful I got hurt at work cause somehow the pain was a slight distraction from how I felt like I had to sprint around but couldn't. It really does feel like some weird part of you wants to get out in some way and nothing really makes it feel better
It's the worst! I take propranlol to try and combat it as much as possible. Thanks for sharing your experiences :)
So I have never been on any of these medications and I do not have schizoaffective disorder. However, I do have restless leg syndrome. (Mine is generally brought on by anemia. Which is good because mine stops as soon as I get my iron infusions. YaY iron.)
So as you were describing this akathisia, I'm like yeah yeah, that's what it feels like to have restless leg, so while you were talking I went and did a search. Somehow I have never heard this before but there's a different name for restless leg syndrome! It's akathisia! Wow.
So my family has a long list of mental and behavioral issues going way back, I strive to be very empathetic when I can, and I think I mostly succeed, but the rocking was one of the things that I could never truly get a handle on. I always want to make it stop. Like if I'm just kind enough and do the right thing maybe I can help them to slow down or stop. Obviously I have been quite wrong.
I describe restless leg syndrome as being on your mark. As a runner might be the very moment before the gunshot that starts the race. And no matter how you wiggle and squirm, you can't make the feeling stop. I'm actually feeling a little bit sick as I describe it because I can feel it as I describe it.
(It might be time for a top up!)
Oh my God, I feel so terrible that anybody has to accept that as a regular part of their life. Even if it does get better over time or with adjustments in one's meds, there is no amount of that feeling that is acceptable to me. It's truly one of the worst feelings I have ever had. And I've had a lot of bad feelings.
I was diagnosed with Paranoid schizofrenia and I can not accepted it I used to be happy u.u
And what about when your psychiatrist causes the condition by being careless? Then do you tell them? Because I certainly had no inclination to. I mean we argued so much about my severe anxiety condition to begin with that I know I'm talking to a brick wall.
If anyone in this world should know that psychiatric medications need to be tapered it should certainly be a psychiatrist would you agree with me there? Yet Time After Time I've had them take me off meds with no consideration of tapering whatsoever. I mean I honestly don't recall if I've ever been tapered off of a medication. They are careless. And if it weren't for that I wouldn't have this condition.
I tend to get long-winded because this has been life-altering to me. I mean to put it mildly.
Okay let's hit the high points I have had severe anxiety in my entire life with blackout panic attacks. This goes back even to my very young childhood. Wondered all my life how on Earth I ended up with that if it was just something I was born with or if it was caused. Regardless I've just been that way my whole life. I don't really know what it feels like to be normal other than when I was about 23 and life completely fell apart on top of my very sheltered rear end and the doctor put me on a low dose benzodiazepine to help me sleep. Of course this was back around the year 2000 or 2005 or whatever when everybody was taking xanax. Now I'm not looking to argue with anybody so let me just say that but I did take a very low dose Xanax for over two decades and it worked very well for me. When left to do only that without psychiatrist trying to pile on a bunch of extra meds I didn't need, I did really well. There were certainly times I had to go without like changing jobs and having to wait for insurance or things like that. I did take them as needed. So you know if I was allotted two a day or three a day you know if I was having a good day and everything was going well I might not take but one or I might not have taken any but I took them as needed and I never increased the dose to something crazy or anything like that and I did fine. Until...
The FDA and their bull. All the "let's scare everybody to death because some people do reckless things w drugs" campaigns. So we fast forward to a point in my life where you can hardly even find a doctor that will give them to you anymore. I mean it doesn't even seem to matter if it's a lifelong condition they just don't care. These doctors are scared to death that you're going to do something stupid and end up costing them their license that they just don't even want to prescribe it anymore.
So I go to a new shrink the one before her of course didn't like the particular drugs Xanax and he liked Ativan but much like Klonopin it didn't work as well for me. So he had me try the Ativan I told him it didn't work as well I'd rather just go back to my lower dose Xanax he mentioned how about the higher dose of the Ativan and I was like I guess I mean I'm so tired of arguing with them you know? But that was a pretty dang High dose. And that was the only time in my life I ended up at a higher dose. The same psychiatrist put me on Zyprexa which is an antipsychotic drug and I do not have any psychosis. I mean I am not being ugly towards anyone who does I'm just saying I've never been diagnosed with any sort of psychosis and he didn't present it to me that way. He said something about it being like a mood enhancer or something like that. He thought it might work with my other drugs which was just an antidepressant in the benzo because they started forcing me to take the antidepressant to get the benzo of course. And I should have known better I mean by that point in my life I had dealt with psychiatrists and been frustrated about this for at least a good six or seven years maybe eight. I don't know what the hell but I took it and that was when I was the most not myself in my entire life. Nobody liked me during that time I had no personality at all. I gained a bunch of weight like literally a hundred pounds. I was depressed and just sitting around waiting to die. I don't know what it was that made me decide to get up and fight again but I did.
Anyway new psychiatrist freaks out about the benzo cuz she's one of those that doesn't even prescribe it but to like a handful of people I'm told and I'm one of them. It's a very very low dose as a matter of fact it's the lowest dose that I've ever been given since the very first dose that I ever had 27 or so years ago I think. And that's fine that's her prerogative but *SHE DID NOT TAPER ME! REFUSED!!! *
And that is not okay. I remember being very anxious and just feeling like I was just about to have a nervous breakdown or something but I don't think it was actually definitely akathisia until the next visit when she cut the zyprexa. And I agreed with her about it I mean I don't see any reason that I should take that I knew it was what was causing the weight gain and she was asking why I was even on it cuz I didn't have any psychosis so that's great too but again she didn't *taper it.*
And here I am 2 and a half yrs later. There are groups around there's one on Facebook that's really good and what I commonly see is these people actually try to convince their doctor that this is the condition they have and the doctor refuses to acknowledge it. A lot of times they get put on other medications because they're now diagnosed with some new conditions that have to do with you know making up conditions and being in denial about needing meds and having the condition you have or something like that. I see it over and over all these people frustrated cuz their doctor didn't believe them. That's just not an argument I want to have with this woman. I can tell from you know all the struggles I've had with my horrible anxiety ever since that she's just not going to give me anything that I actually need. She basically has given me everything in the kitchen sink that has a side effect of making you sleepy. Because she seems to think that if you're sleepy or not going to be anxious. I find that absolutely absurd. If that were the case insomnia wouldn't even exist would it? So anyway you know basically she's doing all she's going to do for me and I know that. So I'm just trying to deal with what I've got I've been slowly weaning off of different things I've got it down to a bare minimum of some stuff just to keep her happy. And I'm going to continue to deal with it on my own. There is no way I'm going to go in there and try to argue with that woman about this condition. Never going to happen. There are even people who have ended up getting locked up and forcefed even more meds because they got all upset because of the akathisia in the presence of doctors. That's always been my nightmare scare every surgery I have. I literally prepared myself for days about what I was going to do to keep myself visibly calm at least when I had this last surgery. And I'm really glad I did because everything went wrong. But even as careful as I was naming all these drugs don't give me this don't give me this don't give me any sight drugs unless it's the few that I already take. I'm still messed up again.
Something or another that they're giving me during the process of those surgeries is causing it to flare up really bad again. I'm two and a half years in and there are people in that group that have been dealing with it five eight 10 years and they're so scared they don't even take so much as a Benadryl anymore.
This condition is horrible and people need to know about it and people need to be aware so that they can protect themselves whenever they do need to seek out psychiatric care.
THIS!!! nobody ever talks about this
What an amazing woman 💕
Thank you for this video about Akathisia Lauren. Just one thing - I think you should let us know really just how bad it can be. I've seen a video of a lady with it, she was in floods of tears and absolutely could not stop moving. Her distress was so bad that she later took her own life. Jordan Peterson also suffered from this for quite a while until a few months ago. He said it was absolutely the most horrendous thing he had ever gone through. He only stayed alive because of the support of his family.
I am one of these people and have decided to do the same !
@@jacquelinemarquis6782I hope you’re still with us Jacqueline
It’s been 3 years for me and still trying to taper off last drug
Haha akathisia is the reason why I ended up developing a a year long persistent headache that felt like my head was on fire, it is a very unpleasant side effects that lasts months as it did for me
The only thing I've ever experienced that was worse than akathasia induced by antipsychotics and prednisone (separate occasions) was kidney stones. Even then, they were comparable. It was like there was 100 spiders crawling all over me, I was injected with cortisol and adrenaline, drank 20 cups of coffee, and a hot poker was shoved up my ass all at once. One of the worst possible experiences a human being can have. People need to be made more aware of this possibility when given these things. I was never warned about this on any of the occasions I was given these meds and it turned out to be one of the worst things I've ever experienced. I didn't know it was the med causing it until weeks later.
Tell us about your Akathesia please
Thank you for everything
cogentin helped me with this!!! abilify gives me akathisia
I have had akethesia on a lot of times from antiemetics and some neuroleptics. I can take Seroquel. The akethesia felt like shear panic and doom. My legs constantly couldn’t stay still. I had gotten so bad, that I wanted to die and ended up in the hospital. That lasted for years. I get severe anxiety attacks, now.
The way she started this out is unbelievable and naive! 😡 Even sticking in her self-centered promoting commercial before it. Akathesia is way more than a movement disorder, and it's caused a lot more, or equally as often with SSRI's than Anti psychotics! The terrors and agitation it causes are from hell but she keeps referring it to a movement disorder. That's why so many ignorant doctors aren't getting it right either. She says she's had Akathisia how many times? Dismissing it like a common cold you can get and go on with your life time after time. I have three years of Akathisia and know many others with twice and more than that. Most of the others that went longer are now dead. I am so angry with Idiots like this. I can't say anymore!!! 😡🤬😡
Since my late teens, I've gotten this sensation from eating sweets & some pre-made sauces that have artificial sweeteners (I'm not sure if it's aspartame or saccharine or what that does it). But yeah, even people with sensitivities to the sweeteners have never said they feel what I feel when I asked them about it. They also give me headaches and nightmares and make my temper be set to such a hair trigger that I know that if I eat candy there's a very high chance of me just raging out from it. I've never heard this from anyone. I thought it was just a "me" thing...
But so like... I don't think I have Schizophrenia, but I do suspect I have schizotypal personality disorder. Now that I think about it, it really could have been my antipsychotic & antidepressant meds I was given for my bipolar/etc back then that caused it. But so then, I guess the effects are permanent-ish? Because I've experienced it for years since then until recently when I started taking a suppliment that has B6 in it
I have been suffering with akathesia for 5 years....
The word HORRIBLE is not how I would describe your doom.. Did you get it from antipsycotic drugs?
I wonder how different this is from ADHD restlessness because this description sounds pretty similar - super interesting
My guess is that because anti psychotic drugs reduce dopamine,
And ADHD stimulant drugs increase dopamine, the anti-psychotics probably cause the user to have ADHD symptoms.
People with schizophrenia experiencing psychosis have too much dopamine,
while people with ADHD don't get enough dopamine causing the individual to constantly seek stimulation.
Better to be ADHD then be psychotic obviously 😅
But that's just my best guess, I'm as far as the east from the west with medical knowledge.
I don't know if it's possible to have ADHD and schizophrenia co-morbidly but my heart goes out to anyone who does.
i think, for me, a key feature that distinguishes it is a feeling of intense, non-physical pain.
I think that would be ADD but what is happening is nothing like ADHD/ADD, it’s just a feeling of fear that lasts weeks and months without medications, I chose to stick through it, it lasted like 4 months I was extremely ill and couldn’t work because I couldn’t stop moving even though I wanted. Drugs can create chemical imbalances
I love your videos so much! I just found out I’ve been diagnosed with borderline personality disorder cause by PTSD from an abusive 10 yr long relationship with so much trauma involved. I’m so confused about my diagnoses. I don’t even know what it is, is it reversible? Can I recover? Have I always had these issues but the trauma and ptsd highlighted them? All I know is your videos make me not feel alone. So glad I had already been watching your videos long before I found out about my diagnosis
Personality disorders aren't curable, but the symptoms can be managed and therapy can help. People don't develop a personality disorder based on adult trauma. Personality disorders are _who you are_ rather than something you have. Most psychologists believe it is caused by childhood traumas coupled with a genetic propensity. You don't "get" a personality disorder in adulthood and they arent caused by PTSD in adulthood. It is something that develops through childhood and adolescence and is usually diagnosed in young adulthood. BTW, people are sometimes misdiagnosed so it is a good idea to get a second opinion.
@@mygirldarby actually bpd is able to go away. It's emotional dysregulation so you can learn to regulate your emotions. You're not born with it, it's a result of trauma so if you fix the trauma you can usually fix the bpd, similar to ptsd. But when it comes to mental health it's less about curing something, and more about being in remission because there's always a chance it could come back.
Personality disorders can be treated with a combination of behavioral therapy and medications, depending on your symptoms! There’s not a specific cure but there is a lot resources you can use to help you. A good place to start would be looking into DBT skills, finding a therapist who specializes in trauma, and remembering to take care of yourself and be compassionate with yourself. I wish you the best of your recovery ❤️🩹.
@@mygirldarby also this is a lot of misinformation, personality disorders can actually start in adulthood due to trauma, for example dissociative identity disorder can come later in life sometimes. If you're not a doctor I'd suggest not telling other people that their doctor is wrong.
I have BPD. Check out cognitive therapy specially for this. I can't think of the name of it! argh!
Heh Lauren. There is a difference between feeling doomed than feeling agitated. Most people don't have anything nice to say about me. I suffered from akasthisia too. No one should go through this. I feel bad for you because I know how horrible this feels. I had suicidal thoughts because of it. No one would take me to the hospital even though my family knew that I was in distress. I had chronic akasthisia. The anxiety was too much that I wanted to be dead because no one told me that it won't end. It was untreated. No one gave a damn. It was my second pill for schizophrenia. Now I am taking medicine for epilepsy. So glad to be alive because I know that doom and anxiety doesn't have to be eternity,
How long did you take medications that caused Akathesia?
How did it stop?
I actually got akathisia after taking latuda for 4 months. It had been helping me and I was excited and then one day BOOM! I wanted to unzip my skin and jump out! I have taken a lot of meds figuring out which meds helped me and I had never experienced ANYTHING close to that feeling! If I was sitting, I wanted to stand, if standing I wanted to lie down, if lying down, I needed to get up, try to watch TV, but I can't stand it. Nothing relieved it. I called my psychiatrist the next day while I was work and she knew exactly what I was describing. She prescribed me a med that was supposed to help but it did absolutely nothing to relieve the miserable feeling. As soon as I stopped Latuda, it went away immediately. I take seroquel, lamictal, and zoloft and no akathisia.
benadryl helps a lot if nothing else works, but it makes you gain a bit of weight after a while
Thankyou so much for this video. I have a sister who was diagnosed with bi-polar affective disorder within the last couple of years and has akathisia.. She is under care of the community mental health team. They aren't really very supportive regarding ways to address these awful symptoms which she suffers. Procyclidine doesn't really help and they have advised an antihistamine now. She is already on a beta blocker. Thus problem seems to affect her quality of life more than bi-polar. It is so frustrating to see her being affected by these symptoms. Sometimes she feels like stopping the antipsychotic meds (aripiprazole) which would be awful as she's already had 2 episodes of acute psychosis. It's really difficult to get any constructive advice or support.
I was diagnosed with RLS when I was a kid and certain meds throw akathisia on top of that. I don't know how to describe the feeling to people who haven't experienced it. Its like a million tiny spiders under your skin and if you don't move the affected part(s) of your body they all start pinching you.
I've heard Benadryl can help, but Benadryl is actually my biggest trigger for akathisia along with pretty much any drugstore medication labeled for nighttime use or sleep aids. I was put on Saphris once and it was 100x worse than any akathisia I had felt before. I never want to feel that feeling ever again in my life....
I take klonopin and flexeril before bedtime and those are really the only two that have helped me so far.
Did your Akathesia gone?
When I was a preteen in the 90's during the D.A.R.E. scare in school when they were telling kids and parents that ADHD medication was cocaine for kids, my doctor wound up being one of the ones who got nervous and stopped seeing me along with all her other young ADHD patients, lol, this resulted in my new doctor falsely diagnosing me with bipolar, when what I really have is autism, ADHD, and tourettism. They put me on antipsychotics and you can only guess the bad reaction I had, since my specific conditions make me dopamine deficient already. I developed terrible akathisia, way worse than I ever had normally, and it was endless.. It just WOULD NOT GO AWAY... Even after stopping the meds it persisted for years and was resistant to treatment. The only thing that made it stop is methadone. Now I have to take an opioid for the rest of my life.
I got akathisia really bad while withdrawing off heroin last year I legit couldn't sleep for 2 days 😓
One antipsychotic (I won’t say which one bc I don’t want to scare anyone out of trying it) gave me such severe akathisia that I couldn’t sleep for more than a few hours at a time, and couldn’t stop pacing. I have low blood pressure so I couldn’t tolerate propanol (which I know is helpful for a lot of people). On a positive note, I’ve found out that more sedating antipsychotics work really well. So if you tend to get akathisia from antipsychotics, try out one of the more sedating ones to see if you feel calmer and less agitated.
I got acute akathisia after starting Saphris. It got to the point of suicidal thoughts. My doctor took me off Saphris and tried a variety of other medications but the akathisia continued to worsen. She took me off all psych meds temporarily and prescribed propranolol which worked beautifully. I still take propranolol. After an extended break from psych meds, I am now prescribed sertraline and the lowest dose of quetiapine. I am doing very very well on my current medications.
If you have ever experienced this. You would you know.
I have experienced it around 4 or 5 times in my life (no more then an hour or so each time)
I’ve likely never experienced anything else as unpleasant or unbearable.
I would describe it as an intense physical ‘Whole body’ Anxiety, including but not limited to sensations and emotions of panic, terror and even paranoia.
Basically the practically continuous state of Fight and Flight / experienced at the same time.
Deep and slow breathing and mindfulness techniques provides some basic relief, until typically the sensations / symptoms and associated panic begin to pass within around 45 to 90 minutes.
Aside from akathisia, i also experience drug induced Parkinsonism from abilify which is also challenging for me. Thanks for this video!
me too
How many hours are you able to sleep?
Why don’t you guys talk more about withdrawal Akathisia? We can’t just stop a medication and poof it’s gone. Coming off more meds too fast makes it worse. The Benzo is what got me here. “As needed” as well. Change my medication and it will go away? The outlook for Akathisia is good?
Oh, my goodness! I wonder if this is what I had when I was on V-vanse? Man, that made me absolutely miserable for three years. It was just as you described, an intense feeling of doom, wanting to jump out of my chair and run off down the street. I tried to tell my doctor about it (my GP was prescribing) and she just shrugged it off and kept on with the prescription. It was horrible.
same here with adderall! I have to take it though for school or else I cannot focus at all
@@kateschultz2801 My sons also had ADHD tics . Blessings to y ou
I got akathisia from an SSRI- Luvox. I felt the need to either tense all my muscles or stretch them all the time. Terrible restlessness. It made me want to run into a wall and made me suicidal. Luckily it went away after stopping the medication
TW Self medicating.
.
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I used opiates to self medicate off and on for years. Every time I would quit taking them, akathisia was one of the nightmare withdrawl symptoms. The worst, in my opinion. Every nerve in my body felt like it was on fire, I couldn't sleep for days due to restless legs. Its horrific.
I had akathesia and it was the worst thing I've ever felt. I hate people keep leading with "movement disorder" or "feeling to move" she must have had a light form. The absolute worst thing about akathesia is the pure terror for no reason at all. They will try to say it's agitation from the need to move and be uncomfortable but it's not at all. It's a terror like no other that doesn't stop. Imagine sitting a room waiting for your execution and you know it's going to happen and the fear builds and builds. It's like that but it never stops. This needs to be reclassified. I've heard not everyone gets the terror but this woman here experience must have been really light. And to say she had it a few times? I don't think she really knows what that experience is like. She's talking about too much coffee? Akathesia for me and most the community I've talked to..... It's worse than anyone thinks.
If you just have the need move or feel like you can't sit still and that's it my god you are lucky
I’ve had this, it’s horrible, I could never feel settled, I’d feel an inner energy in my chest and thighs, I’d have to move all the time. I absolutely hated it.
It is now bettet?
I sway because I find it relaxing and self-soothing. I started this after my daughter was born and I used to rock her a lot. I don’t have schizophrenia, but have some anxiety and depression. However, I do notice that bite down on one of my teeth a lot to alleviate some of the discomfort in the tooth. The dentist can’t find anything wrong with the tooth. I’m not sure if there is a medication that can help with this (or it’s possible that I just need a root canal). Thank you so much for another great and informative video! I can imagine that the feeling of wanting to jump out of one’s skin must be a horrendous feeling. Thank you for providing so many great ideas of what might be able to help people with this situation happening. I also wonder if CBD oil might be able to help people as well? God bless you all!! 🙏
I've experienced this from opioid withdrawals and after taking seroquel to try and sleep. It's hellish, truly
Since I stopped taking Clonazepam and Ativan, I’ve only been able to sleep every other night.
I feel like I’ve experienced something like this when stopped some medicine, withdraws from antidepressants and pain medicine