Drug-induced (withdrawal) restless leg or akathisia????

[PeterfromHungary]

Hi Everyone,

My name is Peter and I am Hungarian living in the UK.
I will try to make my story as short as possible.
I have been on antidepressant called Mirtazapine for about two months due to severe anxiety and night panic attacks.
I have felt much better and most of my anxiety symptoms has disappeared...
I have a history of night time leg movements...my mother used to wake me up in the middle of the night to stop kicking in the bed, but I have never experienced any symptoms of RLS.
After two months I have decided to come off the Mirtazapine and I have not asked or contacted my GP for any advice....I probably should have done it.
So I came off it in about 5-6 days instead of 2-3 weeks.
I was fine in the first 3 days of withdrawal but then I started to feel this discomfort sensation in my legs and I had to stretch them to get some relief...on the 6th day I have decided to go back to my GP as it has got worse.
She told me to go back on the mirtazapine and see what happens.
On the same day I started on the pills again and the following morning this crazy sensation was gone.It lasted for two weeks and then it came back, but it was not that bad as before.
I went to see my GP again and she told me to come off the pills again but this time do it properly in two weeks.
I have done as she advised and it has been almost 3 months and I am having this buzzing feeling in both of my legs and sometimes in my arms too.
The buzzing would not me the problem, it is quite annoying though, but when it turns into this itchy, achy feeling then it s really bad.
The buzzing feeling is there almost 24/7 and getting this discomfort feeling almost every day.
I do not have to move my legs or stand up and walk like most of you who are suffering from RLS.
I can sleep fine so I have no night terrors of RLS so far...I had two or three occasion when I woke up at night with this discomfort feeling.
So I am not sure if I have RLS or akathisia.
It did not get worse in the last three months but did not get better either...
I had blood test done everything came back normal.
The only thing I can think of is probably dopamine imbalance in my brain.

I there anyone has experienced this before?

I just want to get back to normal again!!!!!!!!!!!

DO NOT COME OFF ANY ANTIDEPRESSANT COLD TURKEY!!!

[Julie359]

To be honest this doesn't sound by what you have wrote to be Akathesia, as Akathesia involves an inner restlessness that causes the sufferer to constantly feel the urge to move.  It is bound together with an anxious state which can be mild to severe and is a common cause of people attempting suicide due to the never ending torturous state they are in.  A vast majority of sufferers experience this when they are first introduced to anti-psychotic drugs or when an increase in the drug is taken, although some doc's misdiagnose this as a worsening of their symptoms and so increase the dose when in truth they should be withdrawing the drug, as this is the only treatment to stop this condition.  Anti-depressant's can cause this condition as well but it is rarer.  

Propanalol or Inderal is a Beta-blocker and is very effective at reducing the buzzing feeling in your legs along with any other nerve related symptoms you are experiencing.  If you are feeling any anxiety this drug will stop or ease it as well. Your GP though will decide if this drug is right for you as if you have a history of low blood-pressure or other Circulatory disorders it may not be suitable.

[Paxiled]

Just to point out, two weeks is still a very short time to come off an antidepressant.  The taper should be one suited to how you feel, not some general schedule laid out in a book.  Some people can do this quickly, some need to do it slowly.  Now, I have no idea if your leg movements are withdrawal or something else, but the other symptoms you describe do sound like withdrawal.  The fact everything went away when you went back on the med suggests this to be so.  So it still might be the case that you still went off it too quickly, for you.

[ILADVOCATE]

If you have been off that anti-depressent (as well any other medication that could cause akathesia) you should see a neurologist who is a movement disorders specialist to be evaluated for the potential of tardive dyskinesia (google "Patient Education Tardive Dykinesia", note it says "some of these medications can be medically neccessary). That can cause a wide variety of abnormal movements including akathesia. The medication you are taking can rarely cause it but its within clinical potential (go to the medication website). Of course if you are taking another medication that can cause akathesia then that's different and your psychiatrist could treat that with a side effect pill but abnormal movements that persist after a person goes off medication are of concern but a neurologist would understand this best.