Forums › Drugs › Over the Counter & Prescription Drugs › This is a serious post about Antipsychotics
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 17, now I’m 24 and believe me, if you have any mental illness like this and have had these drugs you know that they pass you around the table like a guinea pig.
besides all of the weird side effects like making you anti social and homebody, there is one side effect that I’m curious to see if anyone else has experienced or has right now as a lasting consequence to taking these medications.
on the drugs’ websites, most anti psychotics experts claim that there is a rare but serious side effect known as “tardive dyskenisia (s/p)”. basically the side effect paralyzes your facial muscles making it hard to show emotions like smiling or grinning or even muscle twitching, that sort of thing. they claim it’s rare but can be permanent. I have been on every single anti psychotic you can think of minus a few major ones (lithium, etc) for years. I am now prescribed zyprexa at night but that isn’t relevant; I have permanent muscle problems with my face. I mean I already have a “poker face” (I’ve been working retail coming on 7 years so you’ve heard and seen it all by now so nothing really makes you grimace or laugh THAT hard) but I find it almost painful to smile or it feels like my muscles are having to work 10x as hard just to fake a grin, not to mention my cheeks and jaw hurt when I do it.
it’s very unsettling but moreso, depressing. people at work think I’m constantly in a bad mood. my customers don’t think I’m friendly even though I give them excellent customer service and kiss their asses. my parents don’t think I’m ever happy. it isn’t so much an issue with me emotionally but it’s tiresome to try and explain that my facial muscles just don’t work that well anymore. everyone at work, my manager included, has reviewed my skills at customer service and everyone says I just look angry.
I know this is a “drug party forum” but I was wondering if anyone else out there feels this way or has the same problem and could provide some support.
I also know a lot of people may crack this topic up and make it a joke but…I’d really appreciate some understanding that this is a very real side effect that can cause issues with work and relationships, etc. Thanks.
I have never been prescribed these myself but I have known many people in the UK who have. Especially those who are around 30-40 now and may have also been users of recreational drugs in the past and suffered mental health issues.
All of them have reported various side effects and unfortunately in some cases the drugs have not stopped them harming themselves or others.
it is unfortunately true worldwide that younger patients are often used as experimental animals by the pharm companies teaching hospitals (especially to train healthcare workers around the same age) although perhaps unsurprising as dosage/treatment errors are less likely to prove fatal than in the frail elderly who are also widely prescribed these drugs.
Your healthcare providers should be taking note of the side effects and reporting them as an “adverse reaction”. This is called a “yellow card” in my country; I am not sure what the system is in the USA but there should be one somewhere (anonymised data should be sent to the WHO for global use).
I do not know enough about whether they can find better treatments for your condition; TBH I think the perception of it is made worse by American culture where people in retail are expected to be “smiling all the time” (when US companies take over British/European ones they try and make their staff do this; it is awkward and false and unnerves customers rather than pleases them).
healthcare worldwide seems to be still searching for a “Holy Grail” of a treatment that reduces the symptoms of complex mental health conditions but does not present a risk of abuse/diversion. It may well make much more sense to just tolerate the recreational use in order to allow licensed research on “party drugs” for treatment of mental health conditions.
@slimshifty217 974400 wrote:
I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder when I was 17, now I’m 24 and believe me, if you have any mental illness like this and have had these drugs you know that they pass you around the table like a guinea pig.
besides all of the weird side effects like making you anti social and homebody, there is one side effect that I’m curious to see if anyone else has experienced or has right now as a lasting consequence to taking these medications.
on the drugs’ websites, most anti psychotics experts claim that there is a rare but serious side effect known as “tardive dyskenisia (s/p)”. basically the side effect paralyzes your facial muscles making it hard to show emotions like smiling or grinning or even muscle twitching, that sort of thing. they claim it’s rare but can be permanent. I have been on every single anti psychotic you can think of minus a few major ones (lithium, etc) for years. I am now prescribed zyprexa at night but that isn’t relevant; I have permanent muscle problems with my face. I mean I already have a “poker face” (I’ve been working retail coming on 7 years so you’ve heard and seen it all by now so nothing really makes you grimace or laugh THAT hard) but I find it almost painful to smile or it feels like my muscles are having to work 10x as hard just to fake a grin, not to mention my cheeks and jaw hurt when I do it.
it’s very unsettling but moreso, depressing. people at work think I’m constantly in a bad mood. my customers don’t think I’m friendly even though I give them excellent customer service and kiss their asses. my parents don’t think I’m ever happy. it isn’t so much an issue with me emotionally but it’s tiresome to try and explain that my facial muscles just don’t work that well anymore. everyone at work, my manager included, has reviewed my skills at customer service and everyone says I just look angry.
I know this is a “drug party forum” but I was wondering if anyone else out there feels this way or has the same problem and could provide some support.
I also know a lot of people may crack this topic up and make it a joke but…I’d really appreciate some understanding that this is a very real side effect that can cause issues with work and relationships, etc. Thanks.
God Damn party vibe killed my response when I tried to quote GL and respond to both of you. So I’ll try again: I can relate on some level and will share a bit.
I experienced less than full on TD from Risperdone where I couldn’t quite make the right facial expressions or timely facial expressions in social situations(still can’t years later when I’m stoned but its loads better), I never experienced facial paralysis or severe TD and I was getting piss drunk pretty much the whole time on risperdone, anyways I discontiuned risperdone for like 3 months and then got put on zyprexia and some of the TD returned but less severe(it wasn’t even that severe to start with). I don’t even know if what I experienced would be classified as TD but certainly my facial expressions and ability to match them appropriately with a situation or produced them timely in that social situation was impaired and it was shitty to be honest.
@General Lighting 974427 wrote:
I have never been prescribed these myself but I have known many people in the UK who have. Especially those who are around 30-40 now and may have also been users of recreational drugs in the past and suffered mental health issues.
All of them have reported various side effects and unfortunately in some cases the drugs have not stopped them harming themselves or others.
it is unfortunately true worldwide that younger patients are often used as experimental animals by the pharm companies teaching hospitals (especially to train healthcare workers around the same age) although perhaps unsurprising as dosage/treatment errors are less likely to prove fatal than in the frail elderly who are also widely prescribed these drugs.
Your healthcare providers should be taking note of the side effects and reporting them as an “adverse reaction”. This is called a “yellow card” in my country; I am not sure what the system is in the USA but there should be one somewhere (anonymised data should be sent to the WHO for global use).
I do not know enough about whether they can find better treatments for your condition; TBH I think the perception of it is made worse by American culture where people in retail are expected to be “smiling all the time” (when US companies take over British/European ones they try and make their staff do this; it is awkward and false and unnerves customers rather than pleases them).
healthcare worldwide seems to be still searching for a “Holy Grail” of a treatment that reduces the symptoms of complex mental health conditions but does not present a risk of abuse/diversion. It may well make much more sense to just tolerate the recreational use in order to allow licensed research on “party drugs” for treatment of mental health conditions.
The race is on between Latuda and Clozaril to be the Holy Grail although neither meets all the criteria.
Thank you to both of you for being so understanding of my situation. I do not abuse my antipsychotics to get high because they dont make me high. I only take them because my doctor said to (more on that subject after I say a few more things). When I was a chronic with my grass, I found it 10x easier to manage this issue and now that I have no “friend” to buy from, I’m back to square one. So I agree with you on the stonage Buddha.
As far as the mental health industry – yes, it is literally nothing but a gigantic money maker for the US’s pharm companies. They make trillions a year just prescribing ADHD meds not even including the bipolar meds or anything else. I have spoken to my psychiatrist about the facial muscle issue and sadly, even though I love my psych because he’s so good to me about payments and is very smart, he is mostly legally obligated to prescribe MORE medications on top of everything else to help with THOSE side effects. We don’t really have a “yellow card” system here…nothing gets reported to the USFDA unless it’s in a clinical trial for a new medication to be marketed. THAT being said, once it’s already out and “proven effective” nothing else happens. It just gets sold and sold and sold.
I’m not looking for a cure-all magic pill that makes me “better” or “cured” because humans manufacture these drugs and man is not a perfect species. I’ve come to terms with my conditions (because I do have TONS more >.>) as being incurable factors in my life that make me function a little differently than “normal people”. And yes, retail is the same across this country. If you can’t smile and lick the customers’ asses even if they spit on you and threaten to beat your ass, then you aren’t cut out for the job basically. I’ve basically been faking it for soon to be 7 years and nobody really bothers me. People and customers complain about mindless shit all the time to me when I have no control over anything except a cash register and I’ve learned to just let it roll. I don’t care about them and when they get home, at the end of the day, they won’t lay in bed plotting my demise because a product wasn’t on sale. Ya just learn to deal, ya know?
My TD isn’t severe it’s more or less what you described, Buddha. It’s a weird feeling and makes it hard(er) to make appropriate expressions at appropriate times. ALSO *** I have Aspergers (before you ask, no, I’m not mentally handicapped). Aspergers keeps me from being socially capable in that I do not understand social hierarchy or others’ intentions so I tend to just say what’s on my mind and keep socially quiet. Aspergers definitely has a factor in this as well because most people with it have about 2-3 facial expressions and only use 1 which is my poker face. People at work, like I said, tell me I look miserable even if I’m having a good day so Aspergers piled on with the TD makes it harder.
Also the part about me taking them only because my doctor says to, is more or less just a hope and a prayer on my part that he’s right and I will be stable even if for a little while. I do my research and I challenge him if my medication doesn’t work or makes me feel worse. I have standards when it comes to what I put in my body and I am currently taking bipolar antidepressants. Base line = they don’t work all that well. I’m just a depressed person in general. I don’t know of a single time in my life where I was completely happy and content. I am a cynical bitch with a dark sense of humor with just a sprinkle of awkwardness on top. Not sure how it got this “bad” for me but hey, life is a journey and it’s not about the destination because everyone ends up at the same place. It’s usually all about where you start.
But again, thanks guys. I really appreciate your time. =)
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Forums › Drugs › Over the Counter & Prescription Drugs › This is a serious post about Antipsychotics
