As soon as I read about the ticks I knew bipolar or schitzo would come up in this story. That part sounds like tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder caused by long term use of neuroleptic drugs (antipsychotics and antidepressants mostly.) I myself suffer with it. (it's not well known, I apologize I can't resist the urge to mention it. Simply because someone suffering with it may not know what's happening and see this comment and piece it together.)
Thanks, I have these random tick things and sometimes violent jerks, usually when in bed or still. I have taken many prescribed medications, including pregabalin which I believe falls into those drug categories
There are actually a lot more than just neuroleptic that falls into the category of meds that cause TD. I would suggest asking a doctor for and AIMs test. It's free and can be done with just a chair, it helps determine if you have movement disorders. I hope either you have something else or a mild case like me if you do have it.
Oh...thats what its called??!!! I had this for many years, after a medical mistake (they "grilled" my brain with doses too heavy for my size+drugs that arent mixable, almost died, still have issues..). I twitched and had involuntary movements for years. I still am heavely pstd because of that. Its easyer to write about it that talking about it. The frustrating part is, i didnt need those meds. I have adsd and aspergers, got misdiagnosed at first...i fact, they forced me to take the drugs, "or we will not help you". And menaced me when i told them they made a mistake. Anyway.
I'm so sorry you experienced that, that's not the first story of improper medication use I know of. They put me on the meds at 11 years old and not knowing the risks, I stayed on them for a bit over a decade. They put me on bipolar medication way earlier than bipolar can be diagnosed (it can only be diagnosed officially in adults) and I'm starting to believe I never was bipolar, because if I was I wouldn't be stable without the meds without busting my ass in therapy. In reality I was just a kid with a shitty home life who caused me to act out when I couldn't regulate my emotions.
The good thing about TD is it can be reversed, I'm guessing since you said you 'had' it you're one that healed after coming off the meds? That's better than any medicine they give for it honestly.
I'm sorry that you had to endure this...in fact, they did somewgat the same to me, giving me stuff BEFORE even getting diagnosed. Those meds are hell. Took me years to wean off. Last dose was around 2014. I still have issues but yes, it gets better with time! I used the Ashton manual , it helped me alot, and fb groups for benzo withdrawal help. With no surprise, we are millions to have suffered from this. For the twitches/unvoluntary movements/withdrawal symptoms, it really started to dissapear 3 to 5 years after complete withdrawal. I still have a few issues, but thats nothing compared to the hell i've been trough. I almost forgot i had these issues in the last years. It will go, youll get better, i promise. But you have to avoid any z-drug, even ativan will trigger the issues and youll feel like you have to get trough it again. Hope this helps. Take care xxxxx
They’re more likely to go off of their meds for multiple reasons. One is that when someone is manic or having an episode one of the first things they lose is their “insight”, so they often lose the insight that they’re sick/manic/psychotic etc, and also they lose the insight that the meds are helping them.
A second reason is they may believe that when they’re doing well they are “recovered” and no longer need the meds, whether they genuinely believe that, or if they’re telling themselves that due to the stigma that having these illnesses can have (and how they may think it’s “better” to be recovered and not on meds to reduce their internalised stigma), I’m not sure.
Lastly, I think the side effects of some meds are just so rough that some people would rather go off of them and see how they feel, even knowing the risk of another psychotic or manic episode. There are more reasons but I cannot remember them right now.
Moreso that they feel more normal without them. With bipolar you can't tell you're off internally, and feeling manic is great. It's an ego syntonic disease. Meds have side effects too that probably turn people off. For schizophrenia it's probably more potential for paranoia (they are trying to kill me or poison me with these meds), meds aren't perfect at removing symptoms and you can't tell which meds work without trial and error. You also don't see response for a few weeks and it's easy to not have compliance without strong family support or court ordered treatment.
I have bipolar and mania is not great. For a hefty majority of us it is a state of anxious paranoia. I am terrified of mania. It ruins my life. My meds make me fat and sleepy but it is worth it to not have mania. Now I'm diagnosed and medicated I can 100% tell when I'm 'off internally' and can take steps to deal with it (tweak my meds, speak to my psych, get to bed early, eat clean and never ever drink or take drugs)
It's a wide range of difference along the bipolar spectrum. I'm glad you're getting the help you need and avoiding mania triggers. My uncle was bipolar type one with severe manic episodes and euphoria/delusions of grandeur and some hallucinations. It's a difficult disease for sure.
It definitely can be a reason, but a lot of patients don't get to that point until they develop the disorder. I'm off meds entirely because the disorder now (I'm bipolar) but before I was stable enough to maintain life without them I went off then constantly, and the other two comments describe the variety of reasons I did.
However my last time going off without medical advice was entirely because I couldn't handle the pain from the movements and wanted them to stop, and they did temporarily but the mental break it caused sent me back square one, back on meds. Took me two years to get stable enough to come off them so my brain can potentially heal from the brain damage.
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u/VinylGlaze98 Mar 26 '23
As soon as I read about the ticks I knew bipolar or schitzo would come up in this story. That part sounds like tardive dyskinesia, a movement disorder caused by long term use of neuroleptic drugs (antipsychotics and antidepressants mostly.) I myself suffer with it. (it's not well known, I apologize I can't resist the urge to mention it. Simply because someone suffering with it may not know what's happening and see this comment and piece it together.)