Posted by yxibow on January 31, 2007, at 23:41:39
In reply to Akathisia or RLS?, posted by halcyondaze on January 31, 2007, at 20:17:00
> Parnate has induced this terrible feeling of restlessness, which is fairly dormant during the day but becomes unbearable at around 6:00 p.m. I can't sit still, have to keep moving around or bouncing my legs up and down and even pacing around the room. My doctor added .5 mg of Cogentin and 100 mg of Vitamin B6 but it isn't helping. Is this akathisia or restless leg syndrome? Is there such a thing as medication-induced RLS? We might try Propanolol next. Has anyone successfully treated this condition using Propanolol?
I'm not sure but overstimulation with Parnate can cause restlessness. It does sort of sound like akathisia but I wasn't aware that was something associated with MAOIs. One solution is to reduce the dose of Parnate to see if that has any effect.
.5mg of Cogentin is a fairly low dose, you may need more. Do be careful with anticholinergics though and increase the dose slowly and additively so you don't get atropine toxicity (general wierd feelings and chills, blurriness, etc).As much as anticholinergics are supposed to be similar, some people respond differently. If you can still acquire the discontinued Akineton (biperiden) from remaining pharmacy stocks, I would try that. Otherwise, there is Artane and procyclidine.
Propranolol generally targets peripheral EPS, such as pseudoparkinsonism, but its always worth a try and is fairly harmless as long as you keep an eye on your pulse and don't go too low.
The monograph also suggests adding a phenothiazine, however I think that's rather harsh and seems counterintuitive. I wouldn't do that.
poster:yxibow
thread:728565
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20070125/msgs/728634.html