Bipolar Symptoms: Psychomotor Agitation

hello, i have bipolar was diagnosed as a young teen, I find i am having a difficult time with the symptoms as of recently. i frequently swing between fits of uncontrolled rage and agitation to feelings of dread and not wanting to get out of bed and see light of day. I think the worst is the i dont care about anything faze for me though. as far as his recent blog, i typed in sypmtoms i was having that i hadnt been having before. The itchy feeling like something is biting me all over my body, restlessness my arms and legs just kicking and flailing out mostly at night when i am trying to lay down, for the last 2 weeks i have gotten an hour or 2 sleep a night and find i am so exhausted i can barely move sometimes. Thank you for putting a name to my most recent issue, hopefull with the Doctors help i can get it managable, i am already taking so many different meds to treat my bipolar i really hate adding more but even my eye wont stop twitching.

I've never been diagnosed with any full fledged disorder. At my last evaluation i lied to the therapist ALOT and they said i have an adjustment disorder or something of that nature. But sometimes when my emotions become so extreme that i have these fits. It may be sadness one day or rage the next. But the rage is the scariest part. I get this feeling in the bottom of my stomach like someone set a fire and my whole body gets hot and i just snap. I punched a hole in my wall last week and i can't even remember why i was so mad. I'll be laying down relaxing and just feel a wave of rage come over me. I just don't know what to do.

Hi, I was diagnosed with bipolar when I was a teen. They said my bipolar was the kind where your moods change very quickly. I was on medication til I was 19 and then I went cold turkey. I hated the way it made me feel. I felt like I had no personality kind of like a zombie. My mom was there for me while I was cold turkey. Everything was fine for a few years but here I am now at the age of 24 and I feel like I'm losing control of myself. I'm having a fit every other day out of irritation and anxiety. I also have OCD but I think that that has gotten out of control too. Everything has to be exact and in its place or I become overwhelmed with frustration and I start scratching my skin and pulling my eyelashes and hair from my scalp. I never used to be like this before during and after my use of bipolar meds. I'm honestly worried about myself and what's happening to me. Can somebody please help me understand what is going on? I've thought about yoga because people say it helps calm the inner body and thoughts. But I def don't want to go on bipolar meds again if I can avoid it.

Chantilly what meds were you taking?

Hi, I get this at least once a year.
I have not been diagnosed with bipolar, more like bpd/eupd with bipolar traits... I had no idea this was part of bipolar, I've been like this for years :/
Is this symptom specific to bipolar? Or could it be related to something else?

I have been looking for answers to this as well. I started getting these what I called twitches in September of 2015. It started with a stomp to the floor and the occasional arm jumping. I saw a GP for it and she decided to put me on Anti-Depressants to try and help. I went through a really stressful time with my PTSD brother who came to live with us in February. I somehow took on his stress from his anger and delusions etc. I knew nothing about mental health issues and was ignorant like the rest of the masses. During his being here, my jumping got alot worse, I could not find relief from it. I started not sleeping very well and then my judgement got foggy, and I felt so energized. I was talking weird, and using words I had picked up from my brother during his delusions. I somehow started taking them on as my own. I had never heard of the word "Muggle" but now felt like it applied to everyone around me who I deemed inferior. I insulted my boss, and a girl claimed I sexually harassed her. I don't think I did, but who's to know...I lost alot of memory chunks during all this. Ultimately this issue with acting out of my head, jumping around twitching like a madman got me fired from a well paying job that cost the wife and I our house. I finally went to the doctor who referred me to a psychiatrist. I was not seen at first, it took months to get me in...once in they saw me, and said right away I was BiPolar1. Now, I went my whole life, 38 years worth of never being manic. I had been through depression like a MOFO at a time or two in life. I got my diagnosis and I got meds. However the jumps and tics seem to come just a frequent as before mania took over. I have been out of mania since August or so of 2016. I sometimes feel the jumps coming, but it is rare. However even knowing its coming offers little to help, the jump just comes out elsewhere. I am tired of feeling like a fool in public. I stomp my feet, my arms might flail around. Sometimes it even creates a speech like tic. I will utter some nonsense in those times, just like 2 syllables. I have never been a big drinker, or drug user except this year during mania, but this was happening before that. Any suggestions on where to research more, offer advice etc? My therapist says she thinks the meds will fix it, but never says or seems to know anything about what drives it. I do know if I am suddenly upset or have a bad thought, remembering this past year for example makes me jump.
Before anyone asks, I take:
Depakote 1000mg
Lamictal 200mg.
Thanks!

The symptoms you describe, i.e., internal agitation and restlelessness bear the hallmarks of akasthisia - a drug-induced condition which is notoriously difficult to treat. This condition is caused by antipsychotics and a whole range of psychotropic medications. Even a change in dose and/or a change in medication can induce it. Confusing akasthisia with bipolar is common.

Spring sprang early this year and I feel I'm so agitated and about to come undone. Thank God I am not flailing physically. There's something to be thankful for. But the way I'm feeling mentally is horrid. It feels like I'm on the edge of full blown, take-me-to-the-hospital now. I tried to get off of 50mg of Seroquel and change to Latuda. After not sleeping well for three weeks, we went back to Seroquel. I'm sleeping 10 hours a night, but during the day I begin to have this severe psychomotor agitation until I take the med again at 6:30 p.m. when it begins to subside. Do I need to go up in dose or wait this out. Desperate. Thanks for any comments.

My symptoms have been so severe, the psychomotor agitation, screaming in my head, general unrest, I feel like I'm going out of my mind. I just want it to stop. It's been a count down to my pdoc: tomorrow finally! It's like my pmeds just aren't working anymore. And no, I don't take other drugs and don't drink.

My son was diagnosed with Bipolar and recently I saw him and he seemed quite agitated. How do you know if he is taking his meds

Yoga or meditation to ease psychomotor agitation? I'd curse both to Hell! The only thing that gives me relief is Ativan (lorazepam). I always went crazy this morning suffering in extreme with agitation. I'd be just as able to meditate or do yoga as to punch holes in animal crackers.

I don't have a diagnosis but have been doing this since I was a teen. I pace all over the house every day and think this is a symptom of hypomania (have done this for years and to me it seems like impulsive and symptomatic behaviour). I might be sitting at the table having a meal and get up suddenly , walk into the next room, pace around and then sit back down at the table. I make unnecessary trips like this which lead to nowhere , all day long. I usually feel agitated, angry, enraged or giddy and experience fleeting thoughts and feel the urge to move. I usually pace when I am speaking and acting out my thoughts. I will talk , laugh, cry, argue, shout, swear all by myself when in this state.

I think a recent steroid shot for allergies has keyed this up. I not only feel antsy in mainly my right arm with movement, but I have the urge to and DO hit myself in the mouth sometimes, as my own chewing noises agitate me. The arm thing started back in my teens, and urge to hit myself in the face or jaw. My dad took me to see our family dr., but he had no clue. I am 70 now. I had been doing fine, but I tend to wonder if that steroid shot with Depo-Medrol 80mg and Kenalog 40mg. in the shot could possibly have got me messed up again. Nothing sure on that however. The more still I can keep my arms, the better I feel. Sleep has been not deep, but there.

What is the difference between psychomotor agitation and akathesia?

i know this!! Beat and scratch my face leave bruises and bleeding. Scary. My best bet is get alone. Be quiet find a cool spot. outlast it. I take temazepam and it helps even me out.

Natasha,
My husband has bipolar disorder and has lived with the diagnosis and all of its troubling symptoms for over 20 years now. It's been our experience that psychomotor agitation is directly related to psychiatric medications. For him specifically it is a side effect of antidepressants. It is also accompanied by a tremor. A decreased dosage usually alleviates the problem. Other psychiatric meds have just as debilitating side effects. Antipsychotics for instance give him such a severe case of akathisia that he literally can't sit still for more than 30 seconds. Everyone is different, thus side effects are different for every drug as well. Different drugs within the same class will also emit different side effects. He lived with psychomotor agitation and debilitating tremors for 20 years because he didn't believe he had a choice. It was either take the meds or risk an episode resulting in hospitalization. He no longer suffers because he now has a psychiatrist who listens and is willing to work with him to find the right combination of medications at the right dosage for him. He was a victim of his condition for too long believing that he had no control. With a collaborative Doctor he now understands he doesn't have to suffer and still maintain control of this disorder. There are options out there. It's finding the right one for you!

Hi!
So i read this article and a lot of comments detailing more personal takes on this. I was lead to this through a search trying to figure out if these types of tweaks/twitches I have were perhaps a symptoms of high functioning autism or something. But in finding this article, having been diagnosed as bipolar, and being high on weed a lot, it made sense that this would apply to me. However, it seems like most of you almost experince it negatively? And in a more random way than me. Is it possible for this to feel nice? Joyful even. For me, it'd always the exact same motions, it's usually due to a burst of overwhelming excitement that manifests in a physical reaction--usually to have my hands fly to my face where i usually tap my fingertips gently but excitedly on my forehead, my face contorted in an extreme look of joy. In that moment, I usually hold my breath and it feels uncontrollable but I also somehow know to never do it in front of anyone....?/I ususlly only get high alone. But can't remember doing it around others when high either. It feels almost like orgasms diiiistant cousin, the very quick, satisfying release of abundant joy. Any ideas if this is the same thing or something else?

I must admit some of the comments seemed a bit odd to me because my experiences have not been pleasant.
For me, it’s almost as though my nervous system is on fire. This of course affects the muscles and skin. Also, movement doesn’t help the feeling very much. I’ve learned it can work me up and I become more agitated. Usually I try to go off somewhere alone and calm down. It doesn’t completely get rid of the feeling, but it helps.
It really is quite a terrible feeling. Last night I was dealing with it and my parrot wouldn’t stop screaming at me for attention. I felt close to pulling my hair out just to distract myself from both. Luckily it passed within an hour or so.
I genuinely think it has something to do with the nervous system though. Perhaps inflammation in the brain?