Murrieta, CASophia H. says that she was on Reglan medication for much longer than she should have been, which may have caused her to suffer Reglan side effects. Although Sophia (not her real name) has not been diagnosed with Reglan Tardive Dyskinesia, there is a chance that she has developed the condition, which is marked by involuntary movement.
"I was prescribed Reglan, because of gastric bypass surgery, in 2001," Sophia says. "Ever since the surgery I have been ill. Reglan was prescribed for the nausea and problems with swallowing—I kept choking on my food. Doctors told me that Reglan would help the muscles contract quickly to move food through my system more easily. I had taken Reglan from January 2001, until maybe 2004, and then after that, off and on.
I have that restless leg [syndrome]—a constantly moving leg—and tapping foot. I have the twitching in my face. Not all the time, but it does happen. I have twitching in the muscles in my arms. I have been ill to the point that I could not walk and I have had horrendous foot pain.
With Reglan, I would take the medication and it used to make me feel sick all over. I almost felt like I had stroke-like symptoms. My legs get numb; it almost feels like when your legs fall asleep after sitting too long and you are on pins and needles. I feel a lot of that, in my legs and stuff. I was on it [Reglan] for a very long time, longer than I should have been on it.
It's interfering with my lifestyle. I have insomnia because of the restless leg and I have a lot of anxiety and panic attacks. I'm on medication for that as well. The doctors have not said that the problem was caused by the Reglan, but I think it was.
I would say it was around 2002 when I kind of noticed it [the first side effects]. I used to get the tingling and numbing sensation—it used to be so bad that they would prescribe me a cream to make the pain go away, but the cream didn't work.
The sensation varies. Sometimes it's annoying; sometimes it's painful. I would say it is more frequently on the pain side. I have problems with breathing. It's almost like my voice changes and I can't take a full breath. I actually thought it was something with my heart, at first. They [doctors] told me I had tachycardia because it felt like I was having heart palpitations. I do have problems with my breathing, so they gave me a handicapped placard [for her vehicle] because I cannot walk far due to the shortness of breath.
It has gotten worse over time. I don't know what to say. I'm shocked that this could happen. I am very shocked that a medication can have this amount of effect on a person and they do not let a person know ahead of time so the person can decide if they want it. It doesn't seem to me as though these side effects are getting better. It seems I might have to live with this. The problems seem to be more permanent; it's not like they are going away. It's embarrassing. My face twitches and I don't know about it. It affects my self-esteem, I never know if I'll be twitching so I keep more to myself."