Some people taking antipsychotic medication develop tardive dyskinesia -- a set of side effects that can occur after long-term treatment with antipsychotics. Symptoms include repetitive and uncontrollable movements of the body or face, such as lip smacking or "tongue thrusts." To prevent these symptoms of tardive dyskinesia from becoming permanent, it's important to let your healthcare provider know immediately if you experience any of them.

An Overview of Tardive Dyskinesia

Tardive dyskinesia is a set of side effects that can occur with antipsychotic medications, as well as with a few other types of medications. Antipsychotics are prescription medications used to treat psychotic disorders, such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, or psychotic depression.

 

"Dyskinesias" are repetitive, uncontrollable, and purposeless movements of the body or face. "Tardive" refers to those symptoms that develop after long-term antipsychotic treatment (often after several years). Unlike early dyskinesia symptoms, tardive dyskinesias may become permanent even if the antipsychotic medication is stopped.

 

Symptoms of Tardive Dyskinesia

Symptoms of tardive dyskinesia can include:

 

An individual may or may not be aware of these movements. These movements are usually quite recognizable, and many people fear that others will know they are taking an antipsychotic medication due to these unusual movements.

 

Tardive Dyskinesia: What Is the Risk?

Not everyone who takes an antipsychotic medication over a long period of time will develop tardive dyskinesia. It can be difficult to predict who will develop these problems, but it seems that taking antipsychotic medications for long periods of time increases the risk, as does taking higher doses of such medications.

 

It has long been believed that older, "typical" antipsychotic medications are more likely to cause tardive dyskinesia, compared to newer, "atypical" antipsychotics, although this is a controversial issue. Recent research (particularly a study called the "CATIE trial") suggests that older medications may be just as safe and can be tolerated just as well as newer medications, although much controversy still exists on this topic. In the past, older medications were often used at much higher doses than are used currently, which may explain why they appeared to cause more dyskinesia side effects.

 

Treatment for Tardive Dyskinesia

It is important to know that there is help for tardive dyskinesia. Simply switching medications or stopping the antipsychotic medication can be helpful. However, for many people, stopping antipsychotic medications altogether is not advisable. Sometimes, adding a medication such as benztropine (Cogentin^®) can be helpful.

 

The best way to prevent tardive dyskinesia from becoming permanent is to let your healthcare provider know right away if you have any possible symptoms.