Moving of Muscles involuntarily, sometimes smooth and fluid, sometimes jerky. These are symptoms of Dyskinesia, a result of the medication taken for Parkinson’s disease. Please consult Dr. Gurneet Sawhney, a Neurosurgeon in Mumbai.

Life with Dyskinesia:

Moving of Muscles involuntarily, sometimes smooth and fluid, sometimes jerky. These are symptoms of Dyskinesia, a result of the medication taken for Parkinson’s disease.

Dyskinesia may affect just some parts of the body or the entire body, and the severity may be different for different people.

Sometimes it can go unnoticed and other times, it might be challenging to carry out even the daily routine tasks. The frequency and the time at which it occurs may also vary.

Living life with these conditions can be difficult and challenging not only for the patient but also for the family.

There are remedies to control or manage Dyskinesia, but of course, you need to consult a neurosurgeon for advice.

Dr. Gurneet Sawhney, one of the best neurosurgeons in Mumbai, specializes in DBS.

DBS (deep brain surgery) is one way of treating Dyskinesia.

Dr. Sawhney, an expert neurosurgeon, has experience of almost two decades, and his patients are a testimony of his skill, knowledge, and prowess in his field.

Consulting Dr.Sawhney has been made easy by clinicspots.com, lybrate.com, justdial.com, etc.

Types of Dyskinesia and who is at risk?

Dyskinesia is seen in patients suffering from two forms of illnesses.

Levodopa-induced Dyskinesia is seen in patients who are being treated for Parkinson’s disease. Levodopa, a drug that is used to treat Parkinson’s, causes Dyskinesia.

Too much or too little dopamine in the system can cause these movements.

Tardive Dyskinesia is seen in patients with mental conditions such as depression or schizophrenia. The medications given to these patients also cause Dyskinesia.

It goes away once the patient stops taking that medication, but it may take 2 to 3 years.

 

Symptoms:

AS mentioned earlier, the symptoms of Dyskinesia may affect either some parts of the body or the entire body may be subject to these uncontrollable movements.

But, for the knowledge of the laypersons, it looks like a person is:

• Fidgeting
• Swaying the body
• Bobbing the head
• Wriggling
• Twitching
• Or simply restless.

Dyskinesia is different from the tremors of Parkinson’s. While these are visible to the eye, the patients actually have a tough time breathing, eating and drinking.

Management and treatment of Dyskinesia.

If Dyskinesia is levodopa-induced, the treatment may differ for each person. Some of the ways to treat Dyskinesia are:

• Optimize the levodopa dose in your system to avoid a huge fluctuation of dopamine.
• Take continuous small doses of levodopa.
• Amantadine in small continuous doses is known to treat Dyskinesia.
• Duodopa is a medication to balance dopamine in your blood. It can help control Dyskinesia and allow you to function smoothly.
• And lastly, for a very severe form of Dyskinesia, Dr. Gurneet Sawney suggests Deep brain stimulation surgery.
• In some cases, it is seen that exercise helps control tremors and other uncontrollable movements. Your doctor would be able to guide you on what you can do at your level to keep your body movements in control.
• Try to sleep well, as lack of sleep also aggravates Dyskinesia.

Causes of Dyskinesia:

AS mentioned earlier and read by you already, the chief cause is the dopamine in your blood that is released by levodopa. But what we add here is that the levels of dopamine change. It is high when the medicine is taken and low when it wears off. This fluctuation is the cause of involuntary muscle movement.

Dyskinesia doesn’t appear as soon as you start Parkinson’s treatment with levodopa. It manifests in a period of 4 to 10 years.

Antipsychotic drugs that can cause Dyskinesia include haloperidol, fluphenazine, risperidone, and olanzapine.

In addition to the above, some drugs taken to control nausea for a very long period also causes TD. These drugs are Metoclopramide and prochlorperazine.

Conclusion:

To summarize the write-up, Dyskinesia has been seen in people treated for Parkinson’s disease with levodopa for more than four years. It aggravates when the dopamine level in the blood fluctuates- high when the medicine is taken and low when the medication wears off.

It is also seen in patients being treated for mental illness.

There are medications to control Dyskinesia, but deep brain stimulation surgery is the last option if the condition is not controlled by medication.