Low Dose Seroquel and facial tics: Tardive Dyskinesia??

I hope someone can help me out with this. I am really frustrated and confused. Kind of a long story, but I'll try to abbreviate.

I was diagnosed as Bipolar 2 in Sept. of 2009, and was given Lamictal. All was fine until I got to a certain point of titrating up and developed blinking of my right eye (not a twitch, a tic). I asked my Pdoc about it and he said it couldn't be from that. I weaned off the Lamictal anyway and the tics subsided. In the interim, I had been given a prescription for Seroquel, 50 mg at night to use for sleep as the Lamictal was giving me insomnia. I took the Seroquel at the 50 mg level for about 6 months, and then realized it could be causing my newly developed sexual side effects. I weaned off the Seroquel over a period of two months, very paranoid about side effects, and all was well, until about a week after I was completely off the Seroquel. I started blinking my right eye again.

It started very gradually, and at first I thought it was from dry eyes. But it kept getting more and more persistent, and then my nose started twitching too. I asked my Pdoc again about it, and he said, no, that Seroquel won't cause tics or TD, and it shouldn't happen after stopping anyway. I searched endlessly online and found nothing about TD after stopping a med. I saw a neurologist who said that I should probably just start taking Seroquel again, or get Botox.

I was determined to see if the tics would go away so I was off Seroquel for about 6 months. The tics never resolved. I started taking Seroquel again in November to see if it would help, like the Neurologist said, and it hasn't helped at all. Sometimes the tic is worse than other times, but it's never completely gone.

So, I have a few questions. The first: do I have Tardive Dyskinesia? I trust "real" people more than I do doctors at this point.

The second question: If it's just a tic and not TD, will my brain heal after awhile from the Seroquel? Any ideas how long that could take?

Last question: any ideas for natural treatments of tics or meds with few side effects to treat movement problems?

Again, sorry so long. This has been going on for over a year now, and I can't get any answers from the "professionals."

Hello, LionGirl22,

All antipsychotics carry the risk of tardive dyskinesia. Please go online
to seroquelandtardivedyskinesia.com and read the information on the reaction. In addition, Lamictal is turning out to cause serious acne
development in some people who are using it as a mood stabilizer and
particularly if they are using a generic form of the product.

In some cases tardive dyskinesia can be difficult to heal. Frankly, I'm surprised that your doctor didn't warn you of the possibility before prescribing it so that you had a choice about whether to take it or not. Perhaps he didn't know about that. I'd check with another doctor who does not recommend that you go back on seroquel. And what's the purpose of Botox? Be careful about your decisions in regard to this.

You might want to fortify yourself with high quality vitamins for a while to see if that helps relieve the dyskinesia. We aren't doctors so we can't diagnose or make any recommendations about meds to take.

I can tell you that if you are bipolar, you should not use alcohol or
or eat or drink anything that has caffeine in it. They both make the illness worse. Removing them from your diet will go a long, long way
toward improving your feeling tone. (I was told by my psychiatrist
to remove both of them from my diet if I used either of them at all.)

In addition, the use of caffeine on a long-term basis causes damage to
the frontal lobes of the brain just behind and above the eyes. (See
ruthwhalencaffeine.com; she has written about the use of caffeine and
its side effects which can be serious for those of us who are sensitive to it.)

I hope you recover soon.

Take care.

It's Genetic

Post Edited (It's Genetic) : 7/9/2011 6:58:34 AM (GMT-6)

My grandmother was given seroquel to help calm her down and help her sleep. She has been on a low dose, half of a 25mg pill for about 4 months. Her symptoms are vision problems, slight head nodding, biting her lip/jaw often, and licking /smacking her lips. Its hard to tell if the movements are intentional or involuntary, but I'm taking her to a new doctor for another opinion. I believe these symptoms are from the seroquel, but I'm worried about discontinuing the drug because of withdrawal side effects like insomnia.

Ironically, after my reply in feb 12, I ended up hospitalised with paralysis, seizures and dystonia from the Seroquel. it started with facial contortions in November late year. Can't get enough mood stabiliser into me as a result. I'll as pdoc about manganese and niacin as a way of possibly getting my body to accept mood stabilisers.