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Acute benzo and alcohol withdraw vs eps and parkinsonsism

Thanatos

Thanatos

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Just as a backstory, Ive been taking benzos for 4-5 years at high doses along with Carisoprodol and alcohol everynight for the last 4 months. I have also been diagnosed with extrapyramidal symptoms after taking loxapine for my insomnia.
I had my lamictal and clonazepam doses increases as well as being prescribed to benzotropine to fight and hopefully surpress or cure the eps; but my chronic shaking and involuntary movements have continued to manifest themselves. I am creating this thread to see if anyone has had similar experiences and information on possible treatments.

Am i just in a state of protracted withdraw with eps or do you guys think that the loxipine has produced irreversable eps/dystonia? Please help, its starting to interfere with every aspect of my personal and professional life. I am trying to taper off the alcohol, but it wouldnt be medically advisable to discontinue my clonazepam regement.

Im becoming desperate to stop this shaking and involuntary movements. Any help would be very much appreciated.
 
why are you taking loxapine for insomnia? have you tried other meds that haven't worked? it seems like a high price to pay when there are other medications that can more directly treat insomnia with less side effects.

antihistamines (a really low dose since you're on other CNS depressants) can help with extrapyramidal side effects, but seems like stopping loxapine is a better bet.

i'm not clear on the benzo/alc withdrawal pt of the story, but be careful, both can be dangerous. As you taper off the alc, the withdrawal effects should stop within a week after you stop (and if so then you'll know that's what was causing the tremor).
 
Well i was prescribed the loxapine as an adjunct therapy for my insomnia because of its sedative effects. Im already on such high doses of other cns depressants that my shrink doesnt want to add any other potententially habituating medications to my daily regement. I stopped the loxapine over a month ago and began taking the benztropine to fight the eps/tremor effects. But it has yet to do much in the way of controlling the ailments.

Ill be switching to a moderate dose of kratom while i attempt to cease my drinking and taper of off my GABAergic medications. This should cause any additional complications if done correctly?
 
I'm gonna move this over to ADD... I really don't know where to begin, other than thinking that the GABAnergic drugs are likely involved. I'd try to talk it over with your prescribing doctor (mention the alcohol use)...
 
Also, what exactly is the type of movement disorder? Are we talking about essential tremor, pill-rolling, etc?
 
Well i dont have the medical terms down; but its more of a gross motor control issue. My thighs, trunk, and hands have uncontrolled tremors akin to twitching. My main concern is the grimacing, that is accompanied by uncontrollable head/neck movements and a sort of stimulation or pressure that feels like its coming from within my head. I have had a seizure, years ago, and the sensation/shaking feels almost exactly like i am going to start convulsing.

I just dont see how it can be withdrawl as clonazepam has such a long half life and i take it consistently.
 
That is a very common benzo withdrawal symptom, I had bad twitching and loss of muscle control when I quit benzos as well -- over a year later I still have some tremor issues, but they've gotten much better and are now basically unnoticeable to anyone but me.

The only solution to the problem is to taper off all GABAergics, and then stay off them forever.

entheo said:
I just dont see how it can be withdrawl as clonazepam has such a long half life and i take it consistently.
Click to expand...

Look up: tolerance withdrawal.

When you take benzos, you can go into withdrawal even when you're taking a consistent dose.

Again, I reiterate -- you need to taper off, these symptoms will continue and get worse if you don't. You cannot start healing until you're off all GABA drugs.
Best of luck in your efforts, its not easy but its definitely possible.
 
^I agree with Roger 100%. Now that I know the type of tremor that you're talking about, it sounds extremely similar to what I experienced in benzo withdrawal. My tremor is also improving quite a bit but still flares up in times of high stress.
 
I do believe part of my problem can be attributed to my use of GABA drugs but if you examine the dichotemy of my situation it doesnt explain everything. Why would these symptoms suddenly appear after taking loxapine? I never had the trembling/shaking before taking anti-psychotics. My doctor and i both feel there is a strong correlation, but i would like to know what other people think until my next appointment.
 
^Antipsychotics are certainly correlated with EPS... I forgot you had mentioned that you had been on them.
 
^ so do you think the antipsychotics may have influenced the situation? Ive also been on aripiprazole and seroquil and a few other anti-psychotics within the last year or so. Could these medications have precipitated the tremors and seizure like sensations?
 
I think you may be able to better pinpoint the cause if you can pinpoint if it is essential tremor or resting tremor. If it is essential tremor, I'd say it is more likely to have to do with the benzos and alcohol. If it is resting ("pill-rolling") tremor, I'd say it is likely it is related to the antipsychotic.
 
entheo said:
I do believe part of my problem can be attributed to my use of GABA drugs but if you examine the dichotemy of my situation it doesnt explain everything. Why would these symptoms suddenly appear after taking loxapine?
Click to expand...

Who knows? It might even be a coincidence, bottom line is that none of that crap is doing you any favors. When your GABA function is compromised, even drugs that you normally tolerate start having extreme side effects. I couldn't even take vitamins during acute benzo withdrawal without it aggravating my symptoms, much less a bunch of wacky antipsychotics and whatnot. Taper off and give your body time to heal, before you induce a prolonged withdrawal reaction that in some cases never ends.
 
Yeah, im pretty concerned about having protracted withdrawl. It just seems odd that i would feel fine until taking loxapine amd abilify. Ive got to taper slowly though, im a such a high dose that it will at least be a year before i can get down to a low dose. Im going to stop drinking completely, but to function im still going to need my other medications. Thank you for the insight though.
If anyone can provide more advice i would be very thankful and appreciative.
 
If the tremors dont go away I would suggest looking into propranolol. I do not know how it would react w everything else your taking though.
 
From the wiki article propranolol sounds very promising, especially since it isnt a GABA drug. If i recall correctly beta blockers have quite a bit of contraindications. Could you give me any more information abou this medication? Ive never heard of it before and im not familiar with beta blockers.
 
From my description of the symptoms im dealing with, would you guys say that my problem is more closely related to essential tremor than eps? It has been giving me cognitive definciency type symptoms as well, for quite awhile before taking anti psychotics.
 
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