Tardive dyskinesia treatment
Symptoms of tardive dyskinesia may get better or disappear when you stop taking or lower the dose of the medication causing symptoms. Switching to another medication that is less likely to cause tardive dyskinesia may also reduce symptoms.
If changing medications doesn’t work or isn’t an option, your doctor may prescribe drugs to help to manage and improve symptoms. In cases where tardive dyskinesia affects breathing, doctors may recommend deep brain stimulation.
- Botulinum toxin injections: Your provider injects a small amount into a specific muscle or muscle group to briefly weaken or paralyze the muscles. This can prevent involuntary movements that are localized to one area, such as the face.
- Deutetrabenazine/tetrabenazine: These medications control the involuntary movements that occur due to Huntington’s disease but can also treat tardive dyskinesia symptoms. They work by changing the activity of dopamine in the brain.
- Valbenazine: This medication specifically treats tardive dyskinesia. It lessens the abnormal movements of the face, tongue, and body by decreasing the amount of dopamine, serotonin, and norepinephrine in the brain.
Deep brain stimulation (DBS) may be a treatment option if symptoms of tardive dyskinesia affect your breathing or do not improve with medication changes.
DBS involves placement of a battery-operated medical device in the chest (similar to a heart pacemaker). A neurosurgeon implants wires into specific areas of the brain causing involuntary movements. The device sends electrical signals through the wires to the brain and disrupts abnormal brain activity. This can reduce the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia.
Caring for people with tardive dyskinesia means managing multiple conditions at the same time. At Penn Medicine’s Movement Disorders Center, we treat more people with tardive dyskinesia than any other program in the region. Our expert team has the skill and experience necessary to safely relieve symptoms of tardive dyskinesia without compromising care for other conditions.