It’s 20 years since I sat on the edge of a chair in my gp’s office and I told him “I can’t sit still”. I did not know then that this ‘restlessness’ had a name - Akathisia - and that it was drug-induced and that it could become permanent. I don’t know if Michael J.Fox knows the word akathisia. The word is not used on the website that bears his name. Akathisia is a subtype of dyskinesia - one of the most frequent harms caused by levodopa.
Still: A Michael J. Fox Movie Review By John Nugent Posted On10 05 2023
There is a poetic irony to the title of this documentary: Michael J. Fox has never really been able to keep still, even before being diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. A restless kid who seemed to have ants in his pants…
DIAGNOSIS; Rapid weight loss, Garbled speech, Body moving in a ‘restless dance’ Lisa Sanders, M.d. Oct. 20, 2002
There is a movement disorder known as choreoathetosis, a word derived from ancient Greek that means ‘‘restless dance.’’…
If you have seen Michael J. Fox on television lately, you have seen choreoathetosis. In interviews he can be seen gesturing constantly with his hands and shifting from side to side as if trying to get settled in the most uncomfortable chair ever made. He has advanced Parkinson’s disease, and his movements are a side effect of its treatment.
Can recreational drugs cause PARKINSON’S? EMILY JOSHU DAILYMAIL.COM 7 May 2023
As Michael J Fox, 61, says he fears partying too hard in the '80s may have done permanent damage… research suggests cocaine, MDMA and meth can trigger disease
Prescribed drugs and neurological complications K.A.Grosset, D.G.Grosset J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 2004;75:iii2-iii8
In epidemiological studies between a third and a half of parkinsonism is caused by medication.
Drug-Induced Parkinsonism Hae-Won Shin and Sun Ju Chung J Clin Neurol. 2012 Mar; 8(1): 15–21.
…the persistence of parkinsonism may be due to permanent DRBA-induced damage to dopamine receptors
Substances of abuse and movement disorders: complex interactions and comorbidities A. Deik, R. Saunders-Pullman, and M. San Luciano, Curr Drug Abuse Rev. 2012 Sep; 5(3): 243–253.
Dopamine depletion may explain the dysphoric aspects and parkinsonism seen during cocaine abstinence and cocaine urges, as lingering rest tremor has been described in former abusers, which is suggested to be proportional to the degree of use and inversely related to the length of time since the last use, perhaps implying an enduring toxic effect of cocaine on basal ganglia function… “Crack dancing” consists on self-limiting, choreoathetoid movements involving orofacial and limb musculature that may be associated with akathisia
Akathisia Author: RxISK Medical Team Last updated: 2018
Akathisia is an emotional state caused by over 100 different drugs, primarily antidepressants and antipsychotics, but also antibiotics, anti-hypertensives and others. It causes suicidality, homicidality and other disturbances of behavior
It can range from a constant and disturbing mental unease through to an intense emotional turmoil – and mental restlessness. This can be accompanied by physical discomfort, an inability to remain still, or an obvious motor restlessness or fidgetiness.
https://davidhealy.org/pharmacosis-trigger-algorithm/
Pharmacosis: Trigger Algorithm David Healy June, 18, 2012
There are a number of steps we take you through at RxISK.org to establish whether your drug is causing your problem.
These are the steps pharmaceutical companies routinely work through, based on which they often decide their drug has caused a problem, while still denying in public that it does so.