GoodRx Guide
Tardive Dyskinesia: Your GoodRx Guide
Comprehensive information for you or a loved one — including treatment options and discounts on popular medications.
Definition
Tardive dyskinesia is a movement disorder. The word “tardive” means “occurring later,” and “dyskinesia” means “abnormal movements.”
People with tardive dyskinesia develop uncontrollable movements after taking certain medications. These medications block a chemical in the brain called dopamine. Dopamine plays an important role in controlling body movements.
Any drug that blocks the effects of dopamine can cause tardive dyskinesia. It can take months or years for people to develop tardive dyskinesia when taking these medications.
Causes
Dopamine-blocking medications trigger tardive dyskinesia.
Antipsychotic medications are one of the most common triggers of tardive dyskinesia. They treat schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. Antipsychotic medications that are more likely to trigger tardive dyskinesia include:
Other medications that can trigger tardive dyskinesia include some:
Antinausea medications
Antiseizure medications
Antidepressant medications
Antimalarial medications
Symptoms
Tardive dyskinesia causes repetitive movements that are difficult or impossible to control. Movements may be mild or so severe that they interfere with everyday activities.
Tardive dyskinesia can affect the:
Face and mouth: People may experience twitching, frowning, chewing, lip puckering, eye blinking, and tongue thrusting.
Torso: People may experience rocking of the body from side to side or pelvic thrusting. People may also breathe too fast or have trouble breathing.
Limbs: People may experience arm swinging and uncontrollable toe or finger movement.
Diagnosis
There are no blood tests or imaging studies for tardive dyskinesia.
A healthcare provider can diagnose tardive dyskinesia based on your symptoms. They may also use the Abnormal Involuntary Movement Scale (AIMS) to score your movements. Movements can be scored as 0 (none), 1 (minimal), 2 (mild), 3 (moderate), or 4 (severe).
Movements rated as 2 or higher suggest tardive dyskinesia.
Treatment
There’s no cure for tardive dyskinesia. But with treatment, movements can get better or disappear.
There are two FDA-approved medications for treating tardive dyskinesia:
Deutetrabenzine (Austedo)
Valbenazine (Ingrezza)
These treatments can ease movements and even help some people go into remission. Tetrabenazine is a similar medication that’s FDA approved to treat Huntington’s chorea, a different movement disorder. It’s sometimes used off label to treat tardive dyskinesia.
Natural therapies may help ease tardive dyskinesia symptoms in some cases. Some people have found success with:
Vitamin B6
Melatonin
Rest and improved sleep
Regular exercise
Limiting caffeine
Prevention
The best way to prevent tardive dyskinesia is to avoid dopamine-blocking medications. But this isn’t an option for some people.
If you need to take one of these medications, you can lower your risk of developing tardive dyskinesia by:
Using the lowest possible dose of your dopamine-blocking medication
Using dopamine-blocking medications for the shortest possible time
Switching to a medication that’s less likely to trigger tardive dyskinesia
Common concerns
Studies show people are more likely to develop tardive dyskinesia if:
They’re older than 60 years.
They have diabetes.
They have a history of severe symptoms of mental health conditions.
They have a history of cognitive impairments.
They have ongoing substance misuse.
These things don’t guarantee a person will develop tardive dyskinesia. But people at higher risk should talk with their healthcare provider about ways to lower the chances of developing tardive dyskinesia.
There’s no cure for tardive dyskinesia, but some people can go into remission. For other people, tardive dyskinesia is permanent.
There’s no way to predict whether a person’s symptoms will improve, worsen, or remain stable over time.
Tardive dyskinesia movements vary from person to person. Older adults are more prone to developing tardive dyskinesia, but they’re not always more likely to develop severe movements. Tardive dyskinesia may also get better as you get older. As many as 50% of younger adults see their symptoms improve over time.
References
Cloud, L. J., et al. (2014). Tardive dyskinesia: Therapeutic options for an increasingly common disorder. Neurotherapeutics: The Journal of the American Society for Experimental NeuroTherapeutics.
Jain, R., et al. (2018). Tardive dyskinesia: Recognition, patient assessment, and differential diagnosis. The Journal of Clinical Psychiatry.
Jeste, D. V., et al. (1979). Tardive dyskinesia — reversible and persistent. Archives of General Psychiatry.
Medsafe, New Zealand Medicines and Medical Devices Safety Authority. (2013). Adverse reaction reminder: Tardive dyskinesia. Manatū Hauora Ministry of Health.
Nasrallah, H. A. (2006). Focus on lower risk of tardive dyskinesia with atypical antipsychotics. Annals of Clinical Psychiatry: Official Journal of the American Academy of Clinical Psychiatrists.
National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke. (2023). Tardive dyskinesia.
Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc. (2019). Neurocrine Biosciences presents new data from RE-KINECT, the largest real-world screening study of possible tardive dyskinesia, demonstrating the effect of involuntary movements on patient quality of life. PR Newswire.
Psychiatric Times. (2019). AIMS abnormal involuntary movement scale.
Ricciardi, L., et al. (2019). Treatment recommendations for tardive dyskinesia. The Canadian Journal of Psychiatry.
Sajjad, S. H. (1998). Vitamin E in the treatment of tardive dyskinesia: A preliminary study over 7 months at different doses. International Clinical Psychopharmacology.
Soares-Weiser, K., et al. (2018). Miscellaneous treatments for antipsychotic-induced tardive dyskinesia. The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Solmi, M., et al. (2018). Clinical risk factors for the development of tardive dyskinesia. Journal of the Neurological Sciences.
Vasan, S., et al. (2022). Tardive dyskinesia. StatPearls.
Zheng, W., et al. (2016). Extract of Ginkgo biloba for tardive dyskinesia: Meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Pharmacopsychiatry.
