Tardive Dyskinesia

I have had this condition since early adulthood but it was so minor I never gave it much thought. It became a little more pronounced in my 40’s following my divorce and has slowly progressed into my late 70s. In the last couple of years, it has gotten bad enough that I sought medical relief. All the doctor offered was Botox, which I passed on. The last couple of months I have been doing a little more research on it, hoping I could find some kind of relief. 90% of those who suffer from this are on some kind of anti-psychotic drug. I don’t take any medications except for very small doses of THC one time a day 3 or 4 times a week. It seems to help a bit. My TD shows up as facial twitching on the left side of my face.

Just for the heck of it I looked up drugs that were the opposite of anti-psychotic, and they indicated drugs such as Adderall and other amphetamines. They also mentioned how stimulants can be used to treat restless leg syndrome. And ADD, which I am reasonably sure I have. Next, I looked up what is the opposite of Psychosis and it said sanity was the opposite, which I already knew. I decided to read up on sanity-related topics just for the heck of it. And I find out that some experts feel being too sane can be very unhealthy because most of us are just not strong enough to deal with reality. It doesn’t matter how smart or dumb we are; being smart and sane is actually much harder than being dumb and sane. I am starting to think this angle could play a part on treatment for non drug induced TD.

the fuck are you talking about?

Talking about how people deal with reality.

Can we safely assume you don’t have a cite for anything you mentioned in your OP? Even though you found this info on the internet, I’m guessing you’re not able to actually present any of it to us, right?

Note that stimulants being used to treat restless leg syndrome is different than stimulants being used to control ADHD and the ADHD being under control keeps legs from being so restless.

I’m not saying you made any of this up, to be clear, I’m asking for cites so we can all be on the same page right from the start instead of how these threads normally go.

No cites, just casual reading and surfing the net for related topics.

The Wiki page has basic information and a bunch of links: Tardive dyskinesia - Wikipedia

And I would also like to know where the OP got any of the information they gave us.

There is some decent argument that depressed people are actually the ones dealing with reality, and most of us non-depressed people are actually grinning pollyanna fools. But since that’s the popular way to be, it’s taken as the norm, even though its more fantasy-based than mild depression is.

I suppose the OP is positing something sorta similar about psychoses. Which sounds wacky to me.

How old were you when the doctors told you that you had this?

The only thing I posted that I would call information is the part about 90% of those who suffer from TD are on some kind of Anti-Psychosis drug.

When I first became aware of my own TD it always happened when I was trying to communicate something to someone, and I was apprehensive about their level of patience. It felt like a response similar to stuttering. One of the first things I learned is that very few people are capable of exploring an idea without prejudice. I am not talking about political things here either. More in the line of everyday things we do, such as gardening, fixing things, relationships, and any topic you can think of. Very little philosophy enters into most conversations and I find that overwhelmingly frustrating at times.

I only asked the Dr, about it 3 years ago. He said it might be a benign tumor somewhere near my ear pressing on a nerve. I know it is an emotional response because I can feel it.

  1. Where did you get the info in the first paragraph?
  2. Did you self-diagnose?

It sounds a lot more like a tic that doesn’t happen unless there’s a lot of stress.

You self-diagnosed, then ignored what the doctor said.

I’m sorry for your plight. I stutter so I understand involuntary actions.

I agree there’s an emotional component to it. The more nervous I am the less I can speak.

I’m not sure I agree with the drug stuff you’re describing. I don’t know much about stimulants. It just seems counterintuitive.

Personally I’d get a good work up from a neurologist and maybe a psychoanalysis report well before I started self medicating.

As for the diagnosis, A while back I stumbled across a video of a woman whose face was doing exactly the same thing mine does. Hers started when she went on the AP drugs. So I ended up joining a group and reading their stories. The ifo was just browsing I have done.

Mine goes from the corner of my mouth, downward to my throat, and then ends near my earlobe. It causes the left side of my mouth to jerk toward my ear, and for some reason, my left eye closes at the same time, even though nothing is pulling my eye down. If I wear a patch on my right eye, my left eye stays open much better, and it significantly reduces the twitching.

I am thinking more about possible behavioral changes than I am about medication.

Yes, listening to me for 30 seconds before diagnosing was not very convincing. I also looked up what he was talking about and it didn’t have much resemblance to mine.

This is where it started, but the stress was always associated with communicating with a superior of some kind.

Have you looked at any of the cites listed on the Wiki page I gave? Did you read the Wiki entry?

Which is increased stress.

Agree with reading the Wikipedia page.