Friend Suffering from Tardive dyskinesia

He's so sick and can't sit still. The other night he thought he might choke to death.
Has anybody dealt with this problem and had some success?
Vitamin E or melatonin helped?
how about herbs like Kava or skullcap?


http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tardive_dyskinesia

thanks for any information you post.
Ganesha

so, am I alone in this worry?
well I guess so is he.
we all worry together.

Sorry to hear about your friend's situation; that must be terribly distressing to him, and to you, too.

You may not have received an answer because fewer people deal with tardive dyskinesia today than in the past, and few of us may have had personal experience with it. I do seem to recall doctors used to prescribe a med called Cogentin that was helpful; there may be newer, better treatments available now. I have not heard of any homeopathic remedies, sorry.

Has your friend called his pdoc about this?

oh gosh i have no idea what it is. i guess most people haven't heard of it. may i ask what it is?

How do you know the problem is tardive dyskinesia? Have you considered akathisia? In either case, your friend should be seeing a doctor, right away, not consulting the internet for alternative treatments. The most likely course of treatment, at least at first, is discontinuation of the offending drug (which you did not identify), and symptomatic treatment with other prescription medication.

I strongly urge medical consultation. The longer these symptoms persist, the more likely they are to become permanent.

Lar

i'm glad that you know about tardive dyskenesia. i had it with every antipsychotic i was put on. pdoc at the time (1993) thought i was psychotic when i only had ptsd. i was lucky that when all that ended that i did not end up with a permanent tardive dyskenesia (yes, it can become permanent if you take antipsychotics for too long). i do have one permanent tardive dyskenesia, in a way. happens only in a millisecond once a year - my jaw will have a crazy tick. it used to tic like crazy when i took antipsychotics. i will never take that stuff again - ever. made me horrible that i even wanted to die. your friend needs to see his doc to get off of that offending medication asap. seriously. if the doc doesn't understand like mine did, have him get another pdoc. i'm not kidding. you don't want to play around with this one. it's nasty. the last antipsychotic, risperdal, made me lose my ability to swallow foods that i couldn't eat for a week. his swallowing ability is affected. don't worry, it will come back once he gets off of it. hope it all goes for your friend. (hugs) to you both.

TELL YOUR FRIEND TO GET OFF THE OFFENDING DRUG
A.S.A.P!!!! IT'S NOT DOING ITS JOB. EXPERIENCE SHOULD BE TELLING HIM THIS. THE NET IS NO PLACE TO ASK FOR MEDICAL ADVICE. HE NEEDS TO BE AT THE E.R. GETTING SOMETHING TO FREE HIM UP FROM THAT SIDE EFFECT. THE ONLY TWO SIDE EFFECT MEDS I KNOW OF ARE AND STILL ARE ARTANE AND COGENTIN. IF THERE ARE ANY NEW ONES, I'M OBLIVIOUS TO THEM. PLS. TELL YOUR FRIEND TO SEEK MEDICAL ATTENTION IMMEDIATELY!!!! THIS IS NO JOKING MATTER.
TAKE CHARGE OF YOUR OWN LIFE, CAUSE THE SHRINK ISN'T GOING TO DO IT FOR YOU.

I had this experience about 5 years ago. I was taking a psych med along with compozine for my nausea that went along with my migraines. All of a sudden, I couldn't walk. I couldn't coordinate my feet to even walk from my bedroom to the bathroom without the help of my husband. Then I couldn't coordinate my hands in to feed myself. I couldn't get food from my plate to my mouth.

I went to the urgent care & luckily one of the people there recognized that one of the meds I was on could cause that reaction. I immediately went off that, but was still taking the compozine. Several more weeks went by & the sypmtoms weren't getting any better, so I went to the neurologist I had gone to several years earlier. I thought because it wasn't going away that it might actually be Parkinson's even though no one in my family had had anything like that.

Well, several more weeks went by & he realized that the compozine might be continuing the symptoms. I went off the compozine & it took about another month for the symptoms to go away. That was the most horrible medical experience I ever had. My husband had to walk me into the bathroom & back to my bed. He was working far away from home at the time, so I went to the bathroom right before he left for work & couldn't go again until he got home, 10 + hours later. I couldn't shower myself or wash my hair. I wanted to go outside of the house, but walking was impossible.

It is important to get off the meds that are causing the problem.....but being under a Dr's care during the symptoms are important too. They need to be recognized as side effects of what ever is the cause & documented.

I wish your friend good luck.....he is not alone.....there are others of us who have gone through the same experience.
Debbie