Tardive Dyskinesia and missed diagnosis

"Miracle Drugs" Cause the Worst Plague
of Brain Damage in Medical History

(This is taken from Chapter 4 of Peter Breggin's book, Toxic Psychiatry.)
. . . antipsychotic drugs have been termed "neuroleptics," in that these drugs' actions imitate a neurological disease. - American Psychiatric Press, Textbook of Psychiatry (1988)
It is also clear that the antipsychotic [neuroleptic] drugs must continue to be scrutinized for the possibility that their extensive consumption might cause general cerebral dysfunction. - Unpublished paper coauthored in 1978 by Igor Grant and others, including Lewis Judd; comment expurgated from published versions

Every violation of truth is not only a sort of suicide in the liar but is a stab at the health of human society. - Ralph Waldo Emerson

Roberta had been treated for several years with the "miracle drugs," neuroleptics such as Thorazine, Haldol, Mellaril, and Prolixin. My medical evaluation described her condition:
Roberta is a grossly disfigured and severely disabled human being who can no longer control her body. She suffers from extreme writhing movements and spasms involving the face, head, neck, shoulders, limbs, extremities, torso, and back - nearly the entire body. She had difficulty standing, sitting, or lying down, and the difficulties worsen as she attempts to carry out voluntary actions. At one point she could not prevent her head from banging against nearby furniture. She could hold a cup to her lips only with great difficulty. Even her respiratory movements are seriously afflicted so that her speech comes out in grunts and gasps amid spasms of her respiratory muscles.
Roberta's current psychotic disorder is most probably also a product of neuroleptic-induced brain disease. Her inappropriate affect - giggling and superficial smiling while in great distress - is typical of brain damage. Roberta may improve somewhat after several months off the neuroleptic drugs, but she will never again have anything remotely resembling a normal life.

Tardive Dyskinesia and Tardive Dementia
Roberta had an unusually severe case of tardive dyskinesia (TD), a disease frequently caused by the neuroleptics. The term "tardive" means late developing or delayed; "dyskinesia" means abnormal movement. Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder that can afflict any of the voluntary muscles, from the eyelids, tongue, larynx, and diaphragm to the neck, arms, legs, and torso.(1) On rare occasions it can occur after a few weeks or months, but usually it strikes the individual after six months to two years of treatment.

Any of the neuroleptics can cause tardive dyskinesia. The total dosage probably affects the likelihood of this happening, but the dose relationship is not easily demonstrated, and any amount must be considered dangerous. While some symptoms improve or even disappear after removal from the offending medications, most cases are permanent. There is no known treatment for tardive dyskinesia.

Often the start of disease goes unnoticed, because the drugs that cause it also tend to suppress the overt symptoms. Thus the disease percolates out of sight, finally breaking through with uncontrollable twitches, spasms, or writhing movements. Whenever possible, patients should try to stop the drugs periodically to check for abnormal movements.

Roberta also had tardive dementia, a global deterioration of her mind and mental faculties caused by the drugs. While tardive dyskinesia is a firmly established disease, tardive dementia remains more controversial within the profession, although evidence for its existence seems incontrovertible.

Had She Seen a Different Doctor ...

Roberta was a college student getting good grades, mostly A's, when she first became depressed and sought psychiatric help at the recommendation of her university health service. She was eighteen at the time, bright and well-motivated, and a very good candidate for psychotherapy. She was going through a sophomore-year identity crisis about dating men, succeeding in school, and planning a future. She could have thrived with a sensitive therapist who had an awareness of women's issues.

Instead of moral support and insight, her doctor gave her Haldol. Over the next four years, six different physicians watched her deteriorate neurologically without warning her or her family about tardive dyskinesia and without making the diagnosis, even when she was overtly twitching in her arms and legs. Instead they switched her from one neuroleptic to another, including Navane, Stelazine, and Thorazine. Eventually a rehabilitation psychologist became concerned enough to send her to a general physician, who made the diagnosis. By then she was permanently physically disabled, with a loss of 30 percent of her IQ.(2)

More "Mild" Cases of Tardive Dyskinesia

Most cases of tardive dyskinesia are labeled "minimal" or "mild," compared to "moderate" or "severe." But imagine how you would feel if your mild case of tardive dyskinesia made you stick out your tongue periodically in front of other people, or if you had to blink your eyes spasmodically or crane your neck oddly, or if your voice screeched a little out of control, while others were watching or listening.

Link

Any of these psychotropic medications can cause TD - Tardive Dyskinesia.


When thyroid and other physical diagnoses are missed by physicians and psychotropics are prescribed, the result may be a loss of quality of life or permanent disability.