8 replies to this topic

[Dinvestor]

Hi:

Among other issues...anxiety, PD, migraines, vision issues,...I deal every night with terrible akathisia. Was reading Wikipedia and it mentioned this:

It was discovered that akathisia involves increased levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which is associated with mechanisms that regulate aggression, alertness, and arousal.^[4] Though no further research has been done yet, it may also be involved with disruptedNMDA channels in the brain, which have both synergistic and regulatory effects on norepinephrine.

Looking for a solution to this and have had some good suggestions previously. Just wondering if any of you have found a pharma or nutri or stack that helped alleviate this? Looks like something that regulates norepinephrine and/or effects NMDA in some way.

Thanks for the help.

D

[Galaxyshock]

I've had some wierd akathisia and restlessness at night-time during the past few weeks. Just taking Ginseng has worked for me and I've been able to fall asleep. Ginseng binds to several receptors including NMDA and GABA, and modulates dopamine activity. I know I've been promoting it quite a lot here but it's been quite a cure-all for various issues to me. Well, not really a cure but something that never fails to at least help. Worth a try especially if you have some laying around.

[nowayout]

Clonidine is often prescribed for opioid withdrawal induced akathisia. It suppresses excessive norepiniphrine production. Wiki for more details.

Pregabalin or gabapentin may help with the akathisia plus the anxiety and migraines.

Benzodiazepines are also prescribed for akathisia.

Edited by nowayout, 26 June 2013 - 11:59 AM.

[BLimitless]

Harmala alkaloids sort it out IME. They act as an NMDA antagonist.
Much cleaner on the system than most drugs. They put your body into balance and do not present withdrawal effects. Great anxiolytic as well, and anti-depressant. They hit a spectrum of receptors incl. NMDA and dopamine d2 amongst others, AChE inhibition too and primarily MAO-A inhibitor (very powerful) and MAO-B at higher doses, reversible on all counts. Excellent for the kind of things you are talking about OP, I just thought I would throw this out there.


Really consider magnesium and balancing your mineral levels in general. Manganese, magnesium, folic acid intake, etc. I had akathisia before and these things sorted it out. In this case the akathisia was AP induced however.

Edited by BLimitless, 03 July 2013 - 11:05 PM.

[brainslugged]

An alpha-2 agonist may be useful. Something like Clonidineor Guanfacine. Clonidineis easier to find online. ADC has it, https://www.alldaych...lt/?q=Clonidine (I don't know if I would trust them with visa card, and obviously, giving anyone your routing number and stuff is a bad idea, but I think ADC is pretty dependable as far as product quality goes)

[Tom_]

What does PD stand for in this case? Personality disorder? Parkinsons?

[Dinvestor]

PD: panic disorder

[Tom_]

Night time Akathisia is difficult to diagnose.

If you conclude its anxiety related then I suggest Pregabalin as its likely to be the most effective for the night time problems, decrease sleep latency and arousals without undue disruption of architecture AND help you overcome anxiety problems in the day without causing sedation (in most cases). Melatonin at 3-6mg is likely to be equally effective at night but not in the day and would be a second line recommendation. If the other two are inappropriate for what ever reason then I would recommend clonidine or guanficine. Pregabalin is much more effective than gabapentin. Its also useful for Migraine. My guess is its an anxiety disorder. CBT principles will help you figure out why you become more anxious at night and then change your behavior and mindfulness can reduce your anxiety.

If its restless leg syndrome, taking into account the fact you are suffering from multiple anxiety problems (panic attack in particular) iron supplementation might go a long way to help. This along with, folate, TFTs, LFTs, fasting glucose, magnesium and urea should be tested to rule out most of the major medical causes. Sleep apnea is the only other reasonable possibility - I'm assuming you aren't middle aged, having a BMI much over 30 or been accused or snoring or gasping while you're asleep? A shit ton of meds can cause these symptoms, including antidepressants, antihistamines. Poor sleep caused by restless leg syndrome and the related periodic limb movement disorder could be causing or worsening other symptoms if in deed you have this rather than it being an anxiety disorder. Treatment should be with dopaminegic agonists (pramipexole NOT L-dopa) or Gabapentin (pregabalin may be more effective but the research isn't there yet).

[Dinvestor]

Hey Tom:

Thanks for your reply. No, I'm in my 50's with low BMI. The akathisia comes on, usually in the evening as my body is trying to wind down. Once it passes, I then usually sleep pretty well.

My case is pretty unique as I've been battling late stage Lyme Disease for over 17 years. Most of the standard symptoms like fibromyalgia, chronic fatique, fevers, flu-like, etc. have resolved after many years of treatment (I was 90% bed ridden for two years).

Anyway, the remaining symptoms, that have been brutal to try to resolve, are the neurologic (anxiety, migraine, panic, etc) which is where I put the akathisia. These have remained, although some of the 'stacks' I've tried have reduced them a bit...but nothing has had sustained relief. A lot of late stage 'lymies' deal with the neuro stuff and it always seems to be a challenge for practitioners to help.

D