Tardive dyskinesia is a side effect of medications used to treat schizophrenia, psychoses, depression and anxiety. These drugs are used to treat schizophrenia and other mental health disorders. TD causes stiff, jerky movements of your eyelids, face and body that you can’t control. You might blink your eyes, stick out your tongue, or wave your arms without meaning to do so. Not everyone who takes an antipsychotic drug will get it. But if it happens, it’s sometimes permanent. So if you have movements you can’t control, let your doctor know right away.
To ease your symptoms, your doctor may:
- Lower the dose
- Add another medication to what you’re taking to act as an antidote
- Switch you to a different drug
Symptoms:
Tardive dyskinesia causes stiff, jerky movements that you can’t control. You might:
- Stick out your tongue without trying
- Blink your eyes fast
- Chew
- Smack or pucker your lips
- Puff out your cheeks
- Frown
- Grunt
Dyskinesia of the limbs: It can also affect your arms, legs, fingers, and toes. That can cause you to:
- Wiggle your fingers
- Tap your feet
- Flap your arms
- Thrust out your pelvis
- Sway from side to side
- These movements can be fast or slow. You may find it hard to work and stay active.
Causes and Risk Factors
Antipsychotic meds treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and other brain conditions. Doctors also call them neuroleptic drugs. They block a brain chemical called dopamine. It helps cells talk to each other and makes the muscles move smoothly. When you have too little of it, your movements can become jerky and out of control. You can get TD if you take an antipsychotic drug. Usually you have to be on it for 3 months or more. But there have been rare cases of it after a single dose of an antipsychotic medicine. Older versions of these drugs are more likely to cause this problem than newer ones. Some studies find a similar risk from both types, though. Antipsychotic medications that can cause tardive dyskinesia include older antipsychotics like:
- Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
- Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
- Haloperidol (Haldol)
- Thioridazine (Mellaril)
- Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
- Your chances of getting TD go up the longer you take an antipsychotic medicine.
Some drugs that treat nausea, reflux, and other stomach problems can also cause TD if you take them for more than 3 months. These include:
- Metoclopramide (Reglan)
- Prochlorperazine (Compazine)
You’re more likely to get it if you:
- Are a woman who has gone through menopause
- Are over age 55
- Abuse alcohol or drugs