Akathisia

Recent years have been so marked by an inability to sit still or find any physical peace, as if to remain in motion is to distract one self from pain too intense to bear. I stiffen immediately when sitting and must jiggle to ward off pain. Remarkably, these days I am much better in this regard. I am interested in what is happening in the brain and body during these times. There were times I was so bad for days on end it was as if I had St. Vitus's dance.

from wiki:

Akathisia, or acathisia, is a syndrome characterized by unpleasant sensations of "inner" restlessness that manifests itself with an inability to sit still or remain motionless (hence the word's origin in Ancient Greek: from καθίζειν - kathízein - "to sit" with a privative a as prefix expressing negation or absence; literally meaning inability to sit). It can be a side effect of medications, mainly neuroleptic antipsychotics especially the phenothiazines (such as perphenazine and chlorpromazine), thioxanthenes (such as flupenthixol and zuclopenthixol) and butyrophenones (such as haloperidol (Haldol)), piperazines (such as ziprasidone), antiemetics (such as metoclopramide and promethazine), and stimulants (such as antidepressants and amphetamines). Akathisia can also, to a lesser extent, be caused by Parkinson's disease and related syndromes,[1] and likely other neurological diseases. However, this may be due more to the drugs used in treatment such as sinemet (l-dopa) and less with the Parkinson's disease itself.[2] Another major cause is withdrawal from most any physical addiction, for example, in benzodiazepine withdrawal syndrome.[3] It was discovered that akathisia involves increased levels of the neurotransmitter norepinephrine, which is associated with mechanisms that regulate aggression, alertness, and arousal.[4] Though no further research has been done of yet, it may also be involved with disrupted NMDA channels in the brain, which have both synergistic and regulatory effects on norepinephrine.