Some examples of these types of involuntary movements include:
Grimacing
Tongue movements
Lip smacking
Lip puckering
Pursing of the lips
Excessive eye blinking
Rapid, involuntary movements of the limbs, torso, and fingers may also occur.In some cases, an individuals legs can be so affected that walking becomes difficult or impossible. These symptoms are the opposite of people who are diagnosed with Parkinsons disease. People with Parkinsons have difficulty moving, whereas people with tardive dyskinesia have difficulty not moving.Respiratory irregularity, such as grunting and difficulty breathing, is another symptom associated with tardive dyskinesia, although studies have shown that the rate of people affected is relatively low.Tardive dyskinesia is often misdiagnosed as a mental illness rather than a neurological disorder, and as a result, people are prescribed neuroleptic drugs, which increase the probability that the person will develop a severe and disabling case, and shortening the typical survival period.Other closely related neurological disorders have been recognized as variants of tardive dyskinesia. Tardive dystonia is similar to standard dystonia but permanent. Tardive akathisia involves painful feelings of inner tension and anxiety and a compulsive drive to move the body. In some extreme cases, afflicted individuals experience so much internal tension that they lose their ability to sit still. Tardive tourettism is a tic disorder featuring the same symptoms as Tourette syndrome. The two disorders are extremely close in nature and often can only be differentiated by the details of their respective onsets. Tardive myoclonus, a rare disorder, presents as brief jerks of muscles in the face, neck, trunk, and extremities.
"AIMS Examination": This test is used when psychotropic medications have been prescribed because people sometimes develop tardive dyskinesia due to prolonged use of antipsychotic medications. The Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) examination is a test used to identify the symptoms of tardive dyskinesia (TD). The test is not meant to tell whether there is an absence or presence of tardive dyskinesia. It just scales to the level of symptoms indicated by the actions observed. The levels range from none to severe. The AIMS examination was constructed in the 1970s to measure involuntary facial, trunk, and limb movements. It is best to do this test before and after the administration of the psychotropic drugs. Taking the AIMS consistently can help to track severity of TD over time. Causes
Tardive dyskinesia was first described in the 1950s shortly after the introduction of chlorpromazine and other antipsychotic drugs. However, the exact mechanism of the disorder remains largely uncertain. The most compelling line of evidence suggests that tardive dyskinesia may result primarily from neuroleptic-induced dopamine supersensitivity in the nigrostriatal pathway, with the D2 dopamine receptor being most affected. Neuroleptics act primarily on this dopamine system, and older neuroleptics, which have greater affinity for the D2 binding site, are associated with high risk for tardive dyskinesia. The D2 hypersensitivity hypothesis is also supported by evidence of a dose–response relationship, withdrawal effects, studies on D2 agonists and antagonists, animal studies, and genetic polymorphism research.Given similar doses of the same neuroleptic, differences among individuals still exist in the likelihood of developing tardive dyskinesia.