Tardive Dyskinesia vs. Dystonia: Differences & Similarities

Late dyskinesia And dystonia are both neurological disorders that can affect your muscles and cause involuntary muscle contractions.

Late dyskinesia, which is generally a side effect of certain drugs, can occur in around 20% of people who take these drugs. Dystonia, which can occur for other reasons, affects around 250,000 people in the United States.

Although their symptoms are similar, these conditions have several differences.

Late dyskinesia can lead to unusual schemes of muscle movement, including brief, jerky and involuntary movements that affect your face and your mouth. The condition is triggered by prolonged use of certain psychiatric or other drugs. Symptoms can continue even after stopping taking the medication.

With dystonia, different muscle groups can involuntarily contract. This can run parts of your body in unusual postures, such as a twisted neck or a cramped hand. You could enter and get out of these postures repetitively, and you might find it difficult to relax the muscles.

Here’s how the symptoms compare:

Late dyskinesia and dystonia differ mainly by their causes and when or how the symptoms appear.

Their causes

Late dyskinesia: Some people experience late dyskinesia after taking certain drugs that block a brain chemical called dopamine. More specifically, it is more common to the types of older drugs used to prevent psychosis, such as thorazine (chlorpromazine) or haldol (haloperidol). These drugs are generally used for psychiatric conditions such as schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.

Dystonia: Dystonia has more causes. One of the following elements can cause dystonia:

• Inherited genetic diseases
• Neurological diseases that arise later, such as Parkinson’s disease
• Stroke
• Brain infection
• Drugs that block dopamine, temporarily and suddenly (acute dystonia) or after long -term treatment (late dystonia)

A type of dystonia called idiopathic dystonia occurs without any known cause.

Improvement of symptoms

Late dyskinesia: Symptoms often improve if you move the area intentionally, such as the deliberately removal of your language.

Dystonia: Symptoms of dystonia can get worse with intentional movement, and they can improve at rest. For example, you may have painful cramps in your hand when you try to write or involuntary contortions when you golf or play a musical instrument.

Symptom timing

Late dyskinesia: The word “late” means “late”. Late dyskinesia does not develop before taking a medication that has increased risk for several months. Symptoms tend to occur gradually and they continue after stopping the medication.

Dystonia: On the other hand, certain types of dystonia are fairly quickly. This can happen after a stroke, for example. Some people have symptoms of dystonia which suddenly appear in a few days of taking a medication that blocks dopamine. This is sometimes called acute dystonia reaction. It is generally reversible once you stop taking this medication.

Assigned age groups

Late dyskinesia: This can happen in anyone who takes medication blocking dopamine for an prolonged period, but children do not take these drugs very often. This can happen in young adults, but older adults who take these drugs are most at risk.

Dystonia: This can happen in people of all ages, including very young children. Different types of dystonia tend to appear at different ages.

Prevention

Late dyskinesia: You can work with your health care provider to prevent late dyskinesia if your medication endangers you.

For example, more recent antipsychotics are less likely to cause the condition that older antipsychotics (first generation). These more recent and less risk drugs include drugs such as:

• Clozal (Clozapine)
• Abilify (aripiprazole)
• Séroquel (Quétiapine)
• Latuda (Lurasidone)
• ZyPrexa (Olanzapine)

It may be useful to speak to your health care provider of what drugs can help the least risk. The lowest dose that controls your symptoms may also be less likely to cause late dyskinesia. Some people may only need these drugs temporarily, so it is important to work with your prescriber to avoid taking them more time than necessary.

Dystonia: You may not be able to prevent most causes of dystonia.

Late dyskinesia and dystonia overlap somewhat in certain factors, including diagnosis, approach to treatment and complications.

Diagnosis

Late dyskinesia and dystonia require other neurological problems, often using a neurologist (a doctor specializing in the brain and the nervous system). Other specialists such as psychiatrists and ophthalmologists may be necessary to help eliminate other possibilities.

In general, no specific test can diagnose one or other of the conditions, but a meticulous medical history and a complete neurological examination are essential. Sometimes blood tests or brain imaging methods can be useful for excluding other possibilities.

Treatment

Although treatment methods can vary, sometimes health care providers use similar drugs to treat one or the other condition. For example, drugs sometimes used to treat dystonia and late dyskinesia include:

• Anticholinergic drugs like trihexyphenidyleuse
• Dopamine impoverished drugs like xenazine (tetrabenazine)
• Benzodiazepine drugs like klonopine (clonazepam)

Other methods that can also be useful for both conditions include injection with botulinum toxin, which helps your muscles relax and stimulating the deep brain, a type of surgical procedure.

Effect on quality of life

Living with late dyskinesia or dystonia can considerably affect your quality of life. The two can make more difficult activities, maintain jobs, move easily and socialize.

Rarely, both conditions can lead to potentially deadly complications. For example, one or the other condition can affect vocal cords, muscles involved in breathing or muscles involved in swallowing. In some cases, this could lead to a medical emergency.

Their reactions can be caused by the same drugs

Late dyskinesia and acute dystonia reactions can be caused by certain antipsychotic drugs used for psychiatric problems. Less generally, other types of drugs – including certain drugs, antidepressants and anti -Uusea stimulants – can cause these conditions in some people.

Yes, it is possible to have both late dyskinesia and dystonia. For example, a person who is already suffering from late dyskinesia could develop symptoms of dystonia after a stroke.

Speak immediately with a health professional if you notice that you or a loved one have unusual movement models while taking a drug blocking dopamine, even if the changes are low. Stopping a drug when the first signs appear can prevent symptoms from worsening.

For signs of immediate distress, like the difficulty in breathing, it is a good idea to call 911.

Late dyskinesia and dystonia are both neurological disorders affecting muscles and models of movement. Late dyskinesia often causes repetitive and involuntary movements of the face, such as lip strikes. Dystonia can cause symptoms like muscle contractions that put you in unusual postures, such as a touch in your neck or hands.

A big difference between them is their causes. Late dyskinesia occurs in some people after taking a drug blocking dopamine for several months (most often for a psychiatric condition). Dystonia has many different causes, including genetic diseases, other neurological conditions, brain damage or a sudden response to a drug locking medication.

A similar approach can help diagnose both conditions. Neither can be cured, but drugs and sometimes other procedures can help limit symptoms.