I have depression.
Although I am much better now, there was a time when I developed a side effect called akathisia.
To put it simply, this side effect makes it impossible to stay still.
I couldn’t sit, and even when I lay down in bed, I couldn’t sleep.
Nights were extremely difficult.
It was right before summer, so at least it wasn’t too hot or too cold outside.
I tried lying down on the artificial grass, wandered around the room, turned on the TV—but I couldn’t even watch it.
All I could do was endure it.
And when the sleepiness became absolutely unbearable, I would eventually collapse and fall asleep.
This repeated day after day.
It was so bad that I went to the hospital for an emergency visit, and they prescribed an additional sleeping medication.
Even after taking it, nothing improved.
After putting up with it for several more days, I went back to the hospital again.
They said it might be a side effect of one of the medications, so we stopped that particular drug.
A few days later, the symptoms disappeared.
I was supposed to be in a period of rest, needing sleep to recover, but with akathisia, I couldn’t sleep at all, and I felt like my illness would never improve.
I thought I had no choice but to endure it.
The medication leaflet even said, “Stop using this medicine if you become unable to stay still.”
After that experience, whenever my medication changed, I became especially careful to check whether “inability to stay still” was listed as a possible side effect.
Whenever it was, I would find myself hoping, “Please don’t let the akathisia return,” and I became determined to stop taking the medication immediately if the slightest sign appeared.
Fortunately, I have never had akathisia again since then.
Medication leaflets list many possible side effects, but they usually only provide general information, so I hadn’t paid much attention before.
From now on, I plan to read the precautions carefully before taking any medication.