Mouth / Facial Movements?

[cskrone]

Hi All!

I'm 27 and have had a history of anxiety/depression for a few years now. Was put on a very low dose Abilify for 2 days and developed abnormal tongue movements right away. My doctor mentioned that this was EPS symptoms and would go away in a max of 5 days once the med left my system.

It has been 3 months and the symptoms have been a bit meandering.
Started out as tongue pain and tongue movements, then that completely went away and it became more lip numbness and I was opening and closing my mouth. Now, it's moved to nose wrinkling which has caused lots of cheek/facial pain. This is more of a motor tic..

My doctor tells me it is impossible for 2 days at Abilify to produce TD OR EPS symptoms this far out. What he thinks it is is psychosomatic or a psychogenic movement disorder. I have had some psychosomatic symptoms in the past (knee pain, RSI in my hands, tingling in my palm, dizziness) but nothing that affected my functioning like this has.

My doctor thinks this is one of the same. A physical movement disorder that is being CAUSED by anxiety and OCD. YET, to me, it FEELS SO REAL!

Would love to have some opinions on this. I know anxiety can produce massive phsyical symptoms but I have a hard time believing this isn't something neurological!

[Skizo]

Hey you should really read my post, I get all kind of facial numbness/paralysis from anxiety, and much, much more than that.

[cskrone]

Hey you should really read my post, I get all kind of facial numbness/paralysis from anxiety, and much, much more than that.

Hey Skizo - Where is your post? I would love to read it.

It would be very very strange if anxiety caused these facial movements and pain BUT I know that anything is possible with it!

[jessed03]

Jury's out on this one really. There are people who have similar symptoms to yours, and say it's down to the medication they take. Many doctor's however are very hasty to admit this could be due to medication (mainly to drug companies possibly omitting telling evidence.)

I get a lot of spasms and involuntary movements, I call it a mini fit, almost as if I've been buzzed by electricity, and usually in a calm situation. I have actually found anxiety makes them worse, and although I can't pinpoint what caused it, as it did come on the same time as taking an AD. I've found I carry immense amounts of tension in my body, and by engaging in techniques to release a lot of it, I've found my symptoms have reduced, but not completely.

Perhaps try for a short time to do lot's of relaxation excersises, to really temporarily lower anxiety levels, and see if it has any effect. I would definetly keep an eye on it, and go to your doctor if it gets worse or doesn't improve. Anxiety can really do the most bizarre things to the body though, and can make it a nightmare for people to even be able to tell whats real and whats stress related.

Do you suffer from bruxism (jaw clenching) or any neck pains at all?

[cskrone]

Hey Jesse -

Thanks for your reply. I'm with you on the jury's still out.

Here's the dilemmna. I went to a neurologist, psychopharmacologist, ENT, and my own pdoc who ALL said that 2 days at 2 mg of Abilify can under no circumstance cause permanent TD type symptoms. They mentioned that if it was an acute dystonic reaction or EPS that the symptoms would go away when the drug cleared my body.

I am "trying" to agree with them and accept their diagnosis but something in me tells me that this "could" have still been caused by the Abilify.

Some evidence for psychosomatic disorder is this:
I had knee pain after running a lot 2 years ago. My dad (orthopedic surgeon) inspected me, gave an MRI and XRAY's and said there was no imflammation. But, the pain persisted for 8 months.
I also picked up a hot pan last year and developed tingling in my palm that the doctor said wouldn't be an issue for more than 1 week. The tingling lasted 6-8 months before it went away.

The knee pain got so bad that it prevented me from walking far and the tingling was so annoying that I couldn't focus on what I way saying to people. I was functioning well in my business through both of these though.

So, with my history of having symptoms last MUCH longer than they should, there is a possibility that my mind "attached" to the EPS symptoms as a place for my anxiety and I won't let it go.

The symptoms started with my tongue and then moved to numb lips and then moved to nose squenching. Tardive Dyskinisia doesn't move around. If you get tongue thrusting, you have tongue thrusting and it "sticks" The fact these symptoms are moving is a bit strange as well.

And, if this was a typical anxiety symptom like dizziness or back pain or neck pain, I could believe it more. These movements and facial spasms are just out of control weird. AND, they feel so entirely physical and real.

I'm not sure what to do next. I still have trouble accepting that it's anxiety because Ability CAN potentially causes these abnormal movements but for 2 days!? Ah!!!