Posted by SLS on July 10, 2006, at 9:34:50
In reply to Zyprexa caused tardive diskinesia in son, posted by dandjsell on July 10, 2006, at 8:29:03
> Has anyone had a similar experience. we were told for 6 months it was a nervous tic and was normal. Once we stopped the medication he had been taking for 3 yrs, the tic has almost disappeared.
Hi.
Can you describe these nervous tics?
Did they appear 6 months ago? If so, then I guess they qualify as being tardive tics, and removing Zyprexa was probably the right move.
Tardive dyskinesia does not usually appear until someone has been taking a neuroleptic antipsychotic for several years, although it can show up infrequently after three months or so. If the tics began at the same time Zyprexa was introduced, it is unlikely they were manifestations of tardive dyskinesia. They might very well have been one of the other types of EPS (extrapyramidal symptoms) that these drugs are known to produce. True TD normally doesn't resolve once the drug is discontinued. It is usually, but not always, irreversible. It is a happy situation that your son's tics have resolved, whatever the cause. Interestingly, Zyprexa is sometimes prescribed to treat tic disorders, including Tourettes.
Is there any further need for your son to take an antipsychotic? If so, Seroquel might be worth investigating. It is thought to have a lower risk of producing EPS. There is also Clozaril, which also has the lower risk of producing tardive dyskinisia, but requires biweekly blood tests to monitor for agranulocytosis, a conditon in which the body fails to produce an adequate number of white blood cells. Clozaril is the most potent of the neuroleptic antipsychotics.
- Scott
poster:SLS
thread:665664
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20060709/msgs/665674.html