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Dealing with akathisia after benzos

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probablyanxious

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Recently I have read amino acid chelated magnesium could be beneficial for relieving akathisia. Could anyone recommend a reputable brand for akathisia symptoms, specifically after jumping from benzos? I’ve been getting aka about one hour after laying down to sleep and dozing off lightly. It is painful, disruptive, and persistent. It seems to be concentrated in my legs, feet, lower abdomen, and shoulders. Gabapentin seems to help after I take like 600mgs over the course of a couple hours, after already taking 600-900 mg throughout the day. But given the dependency fears and disrupted sleep, not ideal. Any other recommendations dealing with akathisia that won’t kindle me?
 
probablyanxious said:
Recently I have read amino acid chelated magnesium could be beneficial for relieving akathisia. Could anyone recommend a reputable brand for akathisia symptoms, specifically after jumping from benzos? I’ve been getting aka about one hour after laying down to sleep and dozing off lightly. It is painful, disruptive, and persistent. It seems to be concentrated in my legs, feet, lower abdomen, and shoulders. Gabapentin seems to help after I take like 600mgs over the course of a couple hours, after already taking 600-900 mg throughout the day. But given the dependency fears and disrupted sleep, not ideal. Any other recommendations dealing with akathisia that won’t kindle me?
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You need to slow taper and go through it and get rid of the gabapentin you'll just prolong the suffering even you get temporary relief.
 
fuckabout89 said:
You need to slow taper and go through it and get rid of the gabapentin you'll just prolong the suffering even you get temporary relief.
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Even though gabapentin does not affect the gaba receptors? Does it nevertheless prevent healing? I believe your judgment. This paper suggested it would help:

www.genesispub.org

Restoration of GABAA Receptor Function after Benzodiazepine Use: A Meta-Analysis

Restoration of GABAA Receptor Function after Benzodiazepine Use: A Meta-Analysis
www.genesispub.org www.genesispub.org

though many of these academics are hacks.
 
jose ribas da silva said:
Depending on the person, if you take magnesium, your brain might try to compensate for the decrease in signaling by increasing glutamate, which is exactly what’s fucking you up right now
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Okay. Thank you for sharing that info. I’m glad I asked these forums.

So my taper was a psychiatrist led one, and though it was a 14 month taper, it was erratic and I didn’t seek independent information until the damage was done. I jumped from clonazepam almost 6 weeks ago, and so I really don’t like the idea of reinstating, but I probably could accept that I need to. I took benzos for 14 out of the last 20 years, and my high dose was 3mg a day for a good few years.

My anxiety and depression from it are lessening I believe. The anxiety can still be high at times, and I expect another “wave” to hit me with suicidal depression and such. My sleep is what is affected the most as of this moment, as I haven’t been able to sleep well except maybe 1 night. This akathisia is probably the most painful symptom I have now. It’s not absolutely terrible every night, but it is present every night and sucks. Last night was definitely extreme for example.
 
Man, some things are kind of strange in this situation. If you’re 6 weeks clean from benzos, you’re not really at risk anymore, it might suck, but akathisia after 6 weeks? I wouldn’t attribute that to benzo withdrawal. If you’ve made it through 6 weeks, I’d only go back to benzos if it’s completely unbearable, taking something like 0.2 mg maximum and tapering down to zero again.
 
jose ribas da silva said:
Man, some things are kind of strange in this situation. If you’re 6 weeks clean from benzos, you’re not really at risk anymore, it might suck, but akathisia after 6 weeks? I wouldn’t attribute that to benzo withdrawal. If you’ve made it through 6 weeks, I’d only go back to benzos if it’s completely unbearable, taking something like 0.2 mg maximum and tapering down to zero again.
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What do you mean strange? Is this unheard of? Perhaps you are right that it is not benzos. I made the less than scientific connection because of the timing of cessation and the symptoms, my length of time on them, and how I felt during acute. I believe I’m in PAWS/BIND territory at this point. I’m open to akathisia not being a result of stopping clonazepam, but I don’t know what else it would be other than gabapentin. I don’t smoke weed or take other psych meds anymore.

My last dose in the taper was 0.5mg. I didn’t choose to jump per se. The local pharmacy unexpectedly shipped me my refill and it got lost in the UPS warehouse. I only realized when I had one 0.5 pill left so I took half one day and half the next day. Then I decided if I’m going to go through withdrawal, then I am done.
 
Dude, the 3 mg you were using was a pretty high dose, and you used it for a long time. Jumping from 0.5 mg straight to zero after that isn't really a taper, 0.5 mg is still a high dose. The ideal approach would have been going from 0.5 to 0.4, 0.3, 0.2, down to 0.1 mg, and then zero. Clonazepam has a very long half-life, so the best way is to stay on a dose for a few days before dropping down a step. For the final drop from 0.1 mg to zero, a lot of people dilute it in water to come down from 0.05 mg, or alternate by taking 0.1 mg one day, nothing the next, 0.1 mg, and so on. Your symptoms could definitely be from the benzo if they started right after the taper, that'd be a high probability. But having them start only now, after 6 weeks? The causal link starts getting weaker.
 
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