Bells Palsy and Tardive Dyskinesia

My mother age 73 was on Risperdal for 2 months. 4 Months after her last dose she got pancreatis (pancreatitis) and Bells Palsy and now her jaw moves back and forth under stress. Is Bells palsy linked to tardive dyskinesia? I read in the Facial Nerve Book that it is.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Tardive dyskinesia is a side effect of antipsychotic medication. There is no conclusive evidence that Bell's palsy is related to tardive dyskinesia. There are numerous causes for Bell's palsy. Some of the causes are a direct injury to the facial nerve, infection and idiopathic.

Have you been consulting a neurologist?

Regards

[valmart]

yes....But ButThis is what I found in a The Book The Facial Nerve Written By UPMC (University of Pittsburgh)Doctors. the medication Risperdal is an antipsychotic. my mother's one eyelid drooped for 2 months before her whole right side of her face dropped. This was about 6 months ago. Her right cheek and corner of her mouth still is not fully recovered. you can visibly see this when she talks. Do you know if an MRI will show any evidence of Tardive Dyskinesia? She has not had any antipsychotic for 1 year.

[Abhijeet Deshmukh, MD]

Hello.

Tardive dyskinesia has to be diagnosed clinically. The MRI will not be helpful. There are no structural changes in Tardive dyskinesia. It occurs due to a change in the way the neurotransmitter receptors work.

The symptom of jaw movement is tardive dyskinesia, not the drooping of one side of face.

Regards

[caregiver222]

I can think of no legitimate or appropriate reason for a 73 year old to be on risperdal. Risperdal is a "blacklisted drug" associated with many deaths. The geriatrics department at Johns Hopkins sponsored a seminar at Mount Sinai last year specifically dedicated to the inappropriateness of risperdal for the elderly patient. Long term use of risperdal will result in tardive dyskinesia, siezures, and degradation of sentience.

[ILADVOCATE]

She could have Bell's Palsy and tardive dyskinesia as well. A person can have the two conditions which are completely unrelated. Tardive dyskanesia is not a simple condition. I have many variants of it. What your mother has could be tardive dystonia which could have created dystonic motions in the jaw. Current research says that Bell's Palsy is caused by a virus. My grandfather had it. He was treated with steroids. It went away. Tardive dyskinesia will never go away. It can't be detected with an MRI but a movement disorders specialist can detect it. There are warnings about using antipsychotics in the elderly, one reason being that they are more prone to acquire tardive conditions, which in myself are as severe as Parkinsons' and I am being evaluated for tardive psychosis which is still in study as a criteria. If she is diagnosed with tardive put another post here and I could give you information about what prescriptions I am on. As for antipsychotics, I am on glycine, a glutamate antagonist, which is a new class of antipsychotics in Phase 2 study that when released will be among the new medications that will replace the current ones as they promote a full recovery and do not cause diabetes so they will be able to be used safely for anyone who needs them. Why was she on Risperdal to begin with? Was she showing signs of psychosis or was it misused for behavioral control as can happen in poorly run nursing homes? I do not want to make any reccomendations or suggestions as regards tardive conditions until she is diagnosed. Have her see a movement disorders specialist and they'll advise you more.