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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 5 of 5. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by order and chaos on March 26, 2011, at 13:52:50
I've gotten akathisia from other atypical antipsychotics - including abilify, geodon, and risperdal. Within a few days of starting them (in hospital setting), I felt like I was going to jump out of my skin, and I couldn't stop pacing back and forth through the hallways. Cogentin didn't help at all. I thought seroquel caused less EPS than the other meds in that class, and that was my experience in the past.
Now, I've been on seroquel for a few years - at first 400-600mg of the immediate release kind, and there was no akathisia. I switched to the XR form so I would have a more even amount in my system, and it helped w/that and daytime sleepiness. So I have been on 400mg for 6 months or so (again, no akathisia), but recently my mood crashed, along w/increased anxiety/agitation, and some delusional thinking (but I caught it early so I had some insight and sought help).
Over a period of a month or so, 200mg of immediate release was added to the 400, and then I switched to 600mg XR to smooth it out again. Anyway, ever since a relative mentioned akathisia, I've been obsessing over it (I have OCD and bipolar disorder) - going back and forth between whether or not I'm anxious/activated (I tend to have more agitated/mixed depression, w/racing thoughts,etc), or if it's medication induced, since I haven't been on 600mg in 2 years. I feel like I want to jump out of my skin, and have internal tension, but I don't have to pace at all, and can sit through 2 hour lectures, though I do bite my cheeks more than usual. So now it's a self-fulling prophecy - the more I obsess over whether or not this is anxiety or akathisia, the worse the symptoms get. Is the only way to tell would be to go back down to 400mg (although even if I didn't have akathisia in the 1st place, placebo effect could make it seem better upon changing...)
Thanks! (and sorry for rambling...)
Posted by Phillipa on March 26, 2011, at 22:43:43
In reply to akathisia or anxiety? (seroquel XR), posted by order and chaos on March 26, 2011, at 13:52:50
Welcome to babble first. I know what you mean as have a chronic anxiety disorder and some OCD and I get much more anxious when thinking of side effects I think you diagnosed yourself. See what others have to say. Phillipa
Posted by obsidian on March 28, 2011, at 20:49:22
In reply to akathisia or anxiety? (seroquel XR), posted by order and chaos on March 26, 2011, at 13:52:50
I'd love to know how likely seroquel is to cause akathisia. I am so agitated right now, so I'd like to know if it's me or the med.
I only take it once a day though, at night, and a low dose of the immediate release kind.
sorry, I've no answers for you :-(
hope it gets better soon
Posted by order and chaos on March 28, 2011, at 21:46:16
In reply to Re: akathisia or anxiety? (seroquel XR) » order and chaos, posted by obsidian on March 28, 2011, at 20:49:22
I'm sorry you're agitated too - it's such a horrible feeling and so hard to explain. I think seroquel has a low risk of causing akathisia - there are exceptions of course, but there have been studies that have found that it has a lower risk of EPS in general compared to other atypical antipsychotics. I don't want to jinx myself, but I think the agitation is getting better - not completely gone though. It's so hard to tell b/c I don't know of a way to objectively diagnose it.
Hope you feel better too.
> I'd love to know how likely seroquel is to cause akathisia. I am so agitated right now, so I'd like to know if it's me or the med.
> I only take it once a day though, at night, and a low dose of the immediate release kind.
> sorry, I've no answers for you :-(
> hope it gets better soon
>
Posted by mtdewcmu on March 31, 2011, at 0:57:49
In reply to Re: akathisia or anxiety? (seroquel XR), posted by order and chaos on March 28, 2011, at 21:46:16
If you are trying to distinguish between anxiety and akathisia, it might help to try lowering the dose of Seroquel for a little while. If the anxiety/akathisia gets better, then it was probably the drug. If it's anxiety and not drug induced, then you wouldn't expect it to get better when you reduce the dose. Seroquel leaves your system pretty rapidly, so you should be able to see a change in a day or two.
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