Akathisia: A Side Effect To Be Remembered
DAVID E. RASKIN M.D.1
1 Residency Coordinator, Department of Psychiatry, University of Chicago, 950 E. 59th St., Chicago, Ill. 60637
Because of its subtle symptoms, a diagnosis of akathisia is often overlooked when a patient's symptoms worsen during drug treatment. The symptoms, which include restlessness and anxiety, are much like those of such conditions as tardive dyskinesia, restless legs syndrome, and "molimina crurum nocturna." The author warns that the phenothiazines, thioxanthenes, and butyrophenones exacerbate akathisia and that a careful diagnosis should be made before increasing a patient's medication.
