3 weeks. Akathisia.

[syntis]

It's been roughly 3 weeks now since I've had any opiates.

How am I feeling? S****y. Why? I'm not sure.

When I first started withdrawing, I was taking anything and everything OTC and prescription oriented that WASN'T a narcotic to try and help myself recover. Unfortunately, I stumbled into a neuroleptic known as Gabapentin/Neurontin.

Doing a lot of research, I believe I've developed what is known as acute akathisia, which is basically RLS for your entire body, briefly described. It is characterized by insomnia, anxiety, depression, restlessness, etc. Just good akathisia, and see what it comes up with.

I can deal with the feeling during the day. I don't mind it at all. Now that I know what's caused it, I can tell everyone to STAY AWAY from gabapentin/neurontin, especially if they're look for a non-narcotic substitute that might help them feel better.

The hardest part, though, is for the past 3 weeks, I've had maybe two nights of decent sleep. Everything else is up until 5-6 am, sleep for an hour or two, horribly, then wake up. It's been very, very bad lately.

I'm still looking for any advice as far as this withdrawal symptom is concerned.  I've tried upping my dose of melatonin ( I Just took 25mg of melatonin tonight, as well as a deep sleep pill), I've tried dipenhydramine (benadryl), 25-75mg three different nights, all restlessness.

I can't figure out what to do. If this doesn't work, I'm going to go out and buy some 5-HTP (tryptophan) and see if that helps any. Otherwise, I'm just going to have to keep sweating it out day by day, until finally this anxiety goes away.

If anyone else has dealt with any form of akathisia or extreme insomnia, please, let me know what you did to get help. I can't afford a doctor. I know Lunesta/Ambien would work perfectly, but I cannot afford that right now.

I'm already an extreme insomniac to begin with; this restlessness on top of that makes it nigh impossible to even fathom getting sleep.

So please, anyone with suggestions, let me know.

Thanks.

[lil_tigress]

Hi  syntis , my heart goes out to you,its a living hell i tapered off effexor in january and did so with the aid of st johns wort and 5htp, . i seemed to become a bit hyper but for twelve weeks was okay then boom my adrenals where whilrling and my legs twiching and jumping and anxiety so bad i was put on xanex for 7 days . at first this worked but then the totl body thing set in with severe terror and inability to sleep or sit and wanting to jump out of my body accompained with rockeing back and forth and moaning.pacing jumping up and down now eight months on i still have it , the lack of sleep is a killer my doc has me on diazepam twice a day and rivitrol at night but this will only work for a while . i would advice you to do some research on 5htp as i was told this aggrevated mine also i cant even take st johns wort  any more , in fact even certain anti biotics bring it on as well as any stress. i found that out after being hospitalized for severe pneumonia , it was then that they put me on the diaxepam twice daily to help but its a horrendous disease and there are  long long list of meds that make it worse including anti emetics and migraine pills . have you lost any weight with it? i triesd everything natural and gaba was one of them but everything just made it worse and cant settle to read meditate or even focus on tv. now i have several other complaints alongside it i guess from having two hours sleep a night for months despite using these relaxing medications. be very careful i used an antihistamine last week because of a sinus infection and went nuts with it, . i also had a very bad relapse even with the diazepam after a colonoscopy and the injections they used there to "sedate " me medazzalam SP ? they gave me 30 mg  an seriouls large dose  which didnt work  and caused a very strong reaction with weeping and upset and total distress . when it first struck me in march or apriil laast year at first its was just mad energy and i used it to good effect but it quickly tutned into the most horrific terror and anxiety and legs so sore and jumping all over the place , i wanted to jump out a window. the docs refuse to admit it exists and tried to make me take lots of anti depressants but they made me suiicdal and much much worse . no one listens until they have been through it. doctors dont want to be bothered and they put every thing down to depression usually ans they get such a kick back from the pharma companies for this. i was even given lyrica for nerve pain but this set it off so badly too .

you have had it three weeks ? did it come on right away or after a period of time?if it turns up after about ten to twelve weeks post taper its classed as classed as chronic or tardive ( late onset) which is hardest to  get rid of if at all from what i have read and i have done a lot of research now.as i have been living this hell for nine months , but your doc should of put you on drugs to control it right away  like diazepam and told you to drink plenty of water and rest , my friend got this and after a week was fine again. but hers was immediate when started on anti depressants. just now i have been given anti biotics again which i am too scared to take as they can cause the agitaition and upset and sometime viollent thoughts and behaviours and lack of impulse control ( i used to punch the headboard and kick without thining and scream i couldnt be left alone and still go innto terror when i am . i really hope this is a short lived thing for you and agree detoxx your liver and take b vitamins esp biotinn b12 and b 6 as these all help support the nervous system but reseach first . google list of meds that cause akathisia it will shock you , evee stomach meds cause it. There is a nurse whosaid that her mri showed damage to the basal ganglia at the base of her brain after taking anti depressants which left her with this horrific condition. even now with all the keep calm meds i am on if i am left alone or feel scared at all i go into complete panic and distress . i am trying to taper of the diazepam at the moment so i can take it when doc pulls me off it but its a tough one. caffiene in any form sweets and most meds except opiates like solpadol bring it on for me very badly. without sleep the body doesnt heal and i think that after a good six months of this my immune system just collapsed because in feb i was bouncy happy and walked miles , now i am six stone in pain have all sorts of health problems and infections but cant take the meds to help with them for fear of what it does tome.
it has a serious financial and familly impact on your life as well . try and find a doctor who is well versed and not biased and see if together you can work out a regime though having said that i had to virtually bully my doc into giving me the meds that help keep it under control .she has only done so because she missed other health complaints and is a little afraid of repercussions i think but i cant stay on these drugs forever as they lose their effectivenes , so far i have been able to live with it on then for four and a half months now but notice very little sets it off again.

keep in touch and be careful what you try , i wouldnt wish this on anyone except maybe the pharma companies who made the drugs and the p.docs who prescribe without care or explaination just so they coud see what damage they are doing to peoples lives and famillies.

stay strong if you can and if its early days maybe a two or three week course of stronger diazepam wouold help sort you out for good. i certaintly hope so .

big giant hugs and hope to you

lil_tigress

[true12345200212]

Hope the symptoms have resided, I had very skary 2 weeks of akathasia with adminstration of compazine. I was feeling much better after the two weeks. Many doctors had the stupid and ignorant argument of the half-life being 12 hours so we should feel better by 2-3 days at most, not true, nothing i hate than arrogant but ignorant doctors.

sasi

[peaceofmind888]

I reported previously that Benadryl or Unisom had been helpful in alleviating akathisia.  Benadryl had been recommended to me by my psychiatrist.  When I discovered that Unisom had the same active ingredient, and I was also suffering from insomnia, I took Unisom (one maximum strength pill) every night for three months.

Suddenly I developed dystonia to the extent that I was having trouble articulating my words.  I subsequently read on the web that antihistamines (of which Unisom is one) can precipitate dystonia.  I took 10 mg. of Ambien last night to allow sleep, and the dystonia has already improved dramatically after only the one day off Unisom.  I do not plan to take Ambien continually, as it is addictive.

I am currently taking 10 mg. of Navane and 4 mg. of Trilafon at bedtime.  

[peaceofmind888]

The following has been helpful to me:

1 - yoga

2 - Benadryl or Unisom

3 - little or no caffeine

4 - no tricyclic anti-depressants

I take currently 16 mg. of Navane and 4 mg. of Trilafon.  And I have no akathisia, after suffering with it for a long time.

[ang08899]

I too had ONE dose of IV compazine and went through acute akathisia. What a nightmare!!!

Let me tell you the most important thing I did learn in all my internet research. Compazine processes out of your body via your liver. SO, whatever you can do to give your liver a boost is the best answer. I'm still having mild symptoms of anxiety and restlessness, insomnia but NOTHING like the total crazy terror and restlessness/insomnia that I WAS experiencing. I think it went away fairly quickly for me (one week) because once I learned about this I stopped all the meds I was taking trying to alleviate the akathisia. This gave my liver a chance to start flushing and cleansing my body of that awful compazine.

The least amount of toxins you come in contact with the better your liver will function. That means, no drugs (if you can), no supplements of any kind, eat healthy foods not processed stuff, fresh vegs and fruits and LOTS of clean water (pref not tap but a natural spring water like Evian or Arrowhead spring water). It can even help to soak in a bath, salt bath even better. This is a good mild way to detox your body. Mild exercise to get stuff moving and flowing properly in your body and to help release the anxiety. Get fresh air too. Even avoiding things like perfumes and air fresheners can help,, all those things have to be processed by your liver.

So, know it will go away in time. Get some mild exercise (I found vigorous exercise only made the symptoms worse.) and put only clean, healthy stuff in your body.

If you can't sleep much, enjoy what you can get and then once you're awake take it easy. Do something relaxing/distracting like reading, knitting, playing a musical instrument, play a game with someone, anything that allows you to relax and think about the task at hand.

I don't know what else to say. I'm sure there will be a lot of people suffering akathisia reading this in the future and I truly hope you found this info useful. I plan on creating a website devoted to akathisia in the near future. There's simply NOT enough info out there for people going through this and it's VERY scary to go through it alone with not much info or hope to cling to.

If anyone reads this that's been through akathisia and is now feeling better please do others a service and take a moment to post and tell how you got over it and how long it took.

My prayers are with YOU ALL.

[avisg]

This  is a very old thread I would make a new one so it doesnt  end up getting lost .Welcome to the forum

[needcalm]

How are you doing now? I have experienced the same exact thing you describe. I had one IV dose of COMPAZINE one time in the ER 17 days ago. I cannot sleep more than 1 hour at a time. The inner agitation is more than I can deal with. Bendryl makes it worse. Klonopin is no help at all. I'm at my wits end and scouring the internet for any information on when this hell will end.

[italia125]

i totally feel you man i got the same problem right now. it is the WORST.