Posts Tagged ‘ Tardive Dyskinesia ’

Enough with the Breastfeeding Bandwagon

April 6th, 2010. By AbiK

A news article in today’s NY Daily News has this for a headline:

“Breastfeeding could save many babies’ lives, billions of dollars: Pediatrics Journal”

Fine. Those of us who’ve been pregnant at some point in the last few decades would need to have lived in a cave on Mars to have missed the “Breastfeeding is good for your baby!” memo.

And so, yes, here we have another study that’s been done to tout breast milk.

Translation: another study to lend more ammunition to those who would like to see formula feeding labeled as a punishable crime.

I stress here that I agree that breast-feeding is beneficial to babies—I don’t argue that.

But as I had posted about breastfeeding and Reglan, it’s the guilt-trip that those who deem themselves as the arbiters of baby’s health and well-being impose upon moms-to-be and moms who are just hours post-delivery.

This barrage of breast milk goodliness, while well-intentioned, sends mothers—many of whom simply cannot breast feed when left to their own bodily devices—into a state of panic: I’m not lactating…am I producing enough?…how do I know if baby is getting enough nutrition?…

And they turn to drugs—like off-label Reglan—and homeopathy, massage techniques, pumps—you name it Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Breastfeeding, Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 2 Comments »

If your Breast’s on Reglan, is your Baby on Reglan?

February 8th, 2010. By AbiK

There are women who breastfeed, and there are women who don’t. I’m not going into pro’s and con’s here (or a debate on breastfeeding 4 year olds, or public displays of breasts)—but suffice to say, if you’ve been pregnant, you have undoubtedly found yourself signed up for two things associated with the letter “L”: Lamaze and La Leche League training—otherwise known as breastfeeding 101. You may have your own opinions about both practices surrounding the joy of childbirth, but no matter. You will be highly “encouraged” to attend these classes.

Encouragement to be a “good mother” is always good; but unfortunately if you decline attendance—or worse—attend but voice some reservations or lack of desire to follow the script, you feel yourself being labelled…identified…duly noted…as the dissenter in class. Other moms-to-be will cast disparaging glances in your direction like you   JUST.   DON’T.   GET IT. And you begin to internalize the negative vibes and start to question yourself.

God bless Cindy Crawford and her at-home, no meds deliveries. I am not Cindy. And I knew that no amount of huff-huff-puff-puff timed breathing while tightly gripping a pillow was going to delude me into thinking I could breathe through the pain. Nurse!! Where’s that &#@%ing epidural I ordered up!?? 

Breastfeeding was a different story. So many studies done to back up its healthiness. The benefits of bonding. The primal back-to-nature, this-is-what-it’s-all-about thing. Reduced rates of viral infection. Smart babies. On and on. Throw some Baby Einstein in and we’ll be off the WISC IQ scoring charts! Ok, sign me up! Pump for $200? Sure—I’ll take one!

Then…uh-oh…baby’s here and…NA-DA.

All the planning gone to hell. Why? A little thing called “complications”. (Not epidural-related for you Lamaze lovers out there). And so begins the guilt. The what-ifs. The what-now’s? Is my baby already underweight??

La Leche will offer you a figurative shoulder to cry on, along with some resources and guidance. And some well-meaning websites will share with you your “options” to get that milk flowing. One option: Reglan. Reglan’s called a “prescription galactagogue”. Funny thing about Reglan though (and Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Breastfeeding, Lactation, Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical, Emerging Issues | 4 Comments »

The Research on Reglan

February 3rd, 2010. By janem

Sixteen years ago, the Health Research Group of Public Citizen published a report in its Worst Pills, Best Pills News regarding the heartburn drug Reglan and the link to tardive dyskinesia-often an incurable and irreversible disorder. But the FDA didn’t slap a black box warning on this treatment for heartburn until last February, 2009. Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has bolted…

When you consider how many people are prescribed Reglan–dispensed 6.5 million times in 2008–it’s mind-boggling that the FDA didn’t act sooner.

My friend suffers from tardive dyskinesia and it’s not a pretty sight. His eye is constantly twitching and he can barely control his jaw when he’s talking-like he’s grimacing all the time. Some people think he has Parkinson’s disease. Because of this disorder, he lost a job in retail and now works as a line cook in a chain restaurant-a job that doesn’t suit him.

My friend is 50. He doesn’t know how he got this disorder and neither does his doctor, but he does remember taking a med for heartburn years ago…

The FDA approved metoclopramide, the generic name, way back in June 1985. I wonder how many people have tardive dyskinesia and took Reglan years ago and haven’t connected the dots?

This is how Reglan works: it stimulates the muscles of the gastrointestinal tract including the muscles of the lower esophageal sphincter, stomach, and small intestine . That in turn stimulates more rapid emptying of the stomach as well as decreasing the reflux of stomach acid into the esophagus. Some patients, particularly those with diabetes, have nerve damage in the stomach and that causes delayed emptying of the stomach, resulting in heartburn and other symptoms.

I’d take heartburn over tardive dyskinesia any time. Or take another drug for heartburn!

Getting back to Public Citizen, I’m a big fan. When my doctor prescribes a new med, Worst Pills, Best Pills is my bible. You can subscribe to their website and get more current news than the FDA provides, or biased information from the drug companies.

And what about your doctor? Most of us trust our physicians to prescribe the right meds and think it unfathomable that we could be given a harmful drug. Yesterday I asked health expert Judy Norsigian of Our Bodies Ourselves to shed some light on the doctor dilemma with drugs.

She told me that many doctors don’t keep track of the latest findings and what happens with post-marketing surveillance. “Reports from the medical community usually become one of the key ways we find out about low level effects of any drugs, and not all the information from clinical trials, because there are not enough [people] involved in the trials to collect data,” Norsigian explained. ” And doctors are not always paying attention, so they aren’t even aware that there is a problem…”

All the more reason to do your own research, both online and by talking to your doctor and pharmacist about possible side effects. Another great source is the online Physicians’ Desk Reference. Just keep in mind that you can’t rely on the FDA (the “Foot Dragging Administration” as columnist Herb Denenberg calls it) to protect you.

Tags: Reglan, Reglan Side Effects, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | No Comments »

When Tardive Dyskinesia isn’t just a phase you’ll grow out of…

January 12th, 2010. By AbiK

Greek progressive math-death metallers Tardive Dyskinesia signed with Coroner Records for the release of their second album entitled “The Sea Of See Through Skins”, scheduled for the beginning of October. The album, presented as an experimental and hypnotic trip into an obsessive and structurated world, features an incredible technical approach and an overload of math structures and tempos.

And so there you have it. Yes, there is a band out there that, in all their blue-sky brainstorming for a band name, came up with “Tardive Dyskinesia” as their very own.

I’m trying to envision that session…(note, the band members hail from Greece, so my lingo may be slightly off, but…)

“Hey dude, how bout Epileptic Overdrive?”

“Nah…I mean it’s good man, but it doesn’t speak to the cause and effect…you know, like something’s gotta send you on the trip…”

And somehow someone somewhere came across the condition of Tardive Dyskinesia. All the elements were there. Drug-induced. Not natural. Physically altering. No control. In fact, completely out of control. The ultimate taking over of your body…and hence your mind… That’s it, man.

Here, this is straight from the band’s website:

Here we are: 2003 and the beginning of their more creative period. The change in sound brought about a change in name too: Tardive Dyskinesia (an illness caused by long-term use of psychotropic medication that manifests itself in involuntary, repetitive movements of the limbs).

That’s all they really say about it. And I guess not much more is needed from a fan’s perspective.

But if you’ve been suffering from Tardive Dyskinesia—the real condition, that is—you might question why anyone would want to brand themselves with it–and start pumping out the requisite t-shirts and buttons to promote it. And I guarantee you that the only way some listeners know what the heck the name really means is by happenstance: Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Drugs/Medical | 2 Comments »

Should we all just get high on Marijuana…legally?

August 18th, 2009. By AbiK

Not long ago I had posted about the drug Reglan—the drug that has been associated with Tardive Dyskinesia—and the possibility of using marijuana for medicinal purposes to alleviate some of the symptoms of the disorder. There really isn’t much more than ancedotal evidence to support using marijuana for Tardive Dyskinesia–and regardless, as of late July there were only 13 states that have actually legalized the drug.

Just today, as a follow up, I thought I’d check out Urtak.com—a collaborative surveying site—to see what the pulse is on whether folks think marijuana should indeed be legalized.

The Court of Public Opinion has spoken. Well, at least 276 members of the public have answered the question on marijuana legalization over at Urtak. And if you’ve been following the issue in the media, you may not be totally surprised by the results—it is a fairly polarizing issue.

The results… Read the rest of this entry »

Tags: Court of Public Opinion, Marijuana, Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia
Posted in Court of Public Opinion, Drugs/Medical | 3 Comments »