Tardive Dyskinesia is a terrible disorder that affects hundreds of thousands of people even though it's something that could have been prevented. Instead of doing everything they can to prevent patients from developing the disorder that they may have to live with the rest of their lives, doctors continue treatments that cause their patients to develop it, usually without the patient's knowledge of what could happen. In order to keep it from afflicting you or someone you love, you need to know exactly what TD is and what causes it.
This condition is largely unknown by the general population. After all, Tardive Dyskinesia has been kept as hushed up as possible, because it's in the best interests of the big pharmaceutical companies to keep it that way. The pharmaceutical company is failing to disclose the fact that some of their best-selling drugs are causing a problem. They include TD as a possible side effect on their information sheets, but only because the government has forced them to do so. Despite the doctors awareness of the negative side effects of medications, they continue to prescribe them to their patients. It's a bad situation that innocent people get caught in the middle of.
Tardive Dysknesia powers the brain which makes it sensitive to dopamine. This affects the part of the brain that controls movement, causing the person to be unable to control certain movements. Your facial features become distorted with TD. An individual having the affliction is likely to make funny facial gestures, stick out his tongue, purse his lips very often, and continueously appear to be gulping or munching something. Involuntary movements such as shaking and jerking can also affect the patient's limbs.
A patient with this disorder may find many different drugs being the cause. The most frequently utilized are antipsychotic medications prescribed for major emotional disorders and other neuroleptic medicines given for digestive conditions.
Certain non-neuroleptic medications that can result in Tardive Dyskinesia also exist. These contains generally used drugs in the treatment of depression, such as Prozac, Zoloft, Tofranil, and Elavil.
If your doctor has prescribed any of these particular medications for your condition, then you need to double check that you are on the lowest possible dose for the shortest possible amount of time. If these drugs are used for a long time then it can lead to the onset of TD. Once people develop the disorder, it may be with them for the rest of their lives, even if they stop taking the medication that caused it in the first place. Even if a patient stops, it is no guarantee that the condition will go away. There is always a chance that the condition could get worse.
