Acute akathisia is a common and disturbing side effect of classic antipsychotic medication. Some evidence suggests a role for iron deficiency in chronic and tardive akathisia. In acute akathisia, however, the data are contradictory. Serum iron and ferritin levels of 33 inpatients with acute akathisia during classic neuroleptic medication were compared with those of 23 patients on classic neurol...

Heavy drinking contributes to involuntary body movements such as akathisia. Quetiapine has been shown to alleviate symptoms of akathisia; however, its efficacy in the alcohol dependent population is not well established. Thus, we aimed to identify efficacy of Quetiapine in treating akathisia in very heavy drinking alcohol dependent patients. 108 male and female heavy alcohol consuming study par...

OBJECTIVE A 28-year-old male diagnosed with schizophrenia, maintaining well on Olanzapine, developed akathisia soon after addition of Erythromycin for Pityriasis Rosea. This prompted us to evaluate the relationship of Erythromycin and akathisia. METHOD We report the case and the literature focusing on akathisia as a possible adverse event of Erythromycin. RESULTS Akathisia resolved after Er...

Sir, Dr. S. Haque Nizamie & P.N. Suresh Kumar in their article 'fluoxetine induced extrapyramidal symptoms: Case reports' in Indian Journal of Psychiatry 1998, Vol. 1,No. 1, 87-89 have categorically remarked absence of suicidal ideation in both the cases who had developed pseudoparkinsonism and akathisia while being treated with fluoxetine alone and in combination with heloperidol & lithium. Ak...

This article reviews what causes clinicians to overlook or underdiagnose akathisia. The causes are considered to be related to both the patient's symptoms and the clinician's attitude toward akathisia. The patient factors include mild severity of akathisia, lack of apparent motor restlessness, no voluntary expression of inner restlessness, no clear communication of inner restlessness, restlessn...

A condition of motor restlessness ranging from a feeling of inner disquiet to inability to sit or lie quietly or to sleep.Called also acathisia, akithisia, and Kathisiophobia (1). The term ''Akathisia" was created by Haskovec in 1901. Haase first applied the term (1955) to the inability to sit still and to the other irri­tative hyperkinetic symptoms that are sometimes seen as a complication of ...

The pathophysiology of akathisia still remains controversial. Iron deficiency was proposed to be an important factor in the development of akathisia. In the present study, it was aimed to compare levels of serum iron and linked variables in chronic akathisic (n=30), and non-akathisic patients (n=30) with schizophrenia and healthy controls (n=30) because of the controversy in the association of ...

Sir, Dr. S. Haque Nizamie & P.N. Suresh Kumar in their article 'fluoxetine induced extrapyramidal symptoms: Case reports' in Indian Journal of Psychiatry 1998, Vol. 1,No. 1, 87-89 have categorically remarked absence of suicidal ideation in both the cases who had developed pseudoparkinsonism and akathisia while being treated with fluoxetine alone and in combination with heloperidol & lithium. Ak...

Akathisia is a syndrome characterized by the unpleasant sensation of "inner" restlessness that manifests itself in the inability of sitting still or not moving. Many types of medicaments can cause akathisia as an adverse event of their use and they include: antipsychotics, antidepressants, antiemetics, antihistamines, and psychoactive substances. We will present the case of a 50 year old patien...