Lubbock, TXWilbert L. is not positive that what his wife, Earline, is experiencing is Reglan tardive dyskinesia. He knows about Reglan side effects, thanks to research by his daughter, but does not know if his wife is suffering from her long-term Reglan use. Wilbert says Earline took the medication three times a day for many years and now he is left wondering if that Reglan use has caused permanent side effects.
"She had been taking Reglan for I don't know how long, exactly," Wilbert says. "It was about seven to 10 years. But, about 18 months ago, a growth appeared on her tongue—a wart. The doctor cut it out, but it didn't want to heal. The doctor noticed that it was taking a long time to heal and realized that she was sucking on her tongue.
She was constantly sucking on her tongue. Someone told us that if we gave her chewing gum, that would keep her from sucking her tongue. The wart looked like it was starting to come back, but we gave her the gum and it hasn't gotten any worse since then.
My wife went to a neurologist, who said that Reglan shouldn't be taken for more than two months, but no one had told us she shouldn't take it for a prolonged time before that. She was on it for such a long time. Then, my daughter went on the Internet and saw that sometimes Reglan side effects are irreversible. After that, we took my wife off the Reglan.
The wart that grew on her tongue was painful for her. The first surgery was hard—her mouth was quite sore for a long time afterward. For a while, the doctor thought he would have to do a second surgery, but the chewing gum helped with that. The doctor did not say if the tongue sucking was caused by the Reglan.
Now, she is having problems with her memory—she is having memory loss. I don't know if that can be attributed to Reglan or not."
Reglan, a drug used to treat Gastroesophageal Reflux Disease, has been linked to a condition called tardive dyskinesia, which involves involuntary, repetitive movement. Movements commonly associated with tardive dyskinesia include grimacing, tongue protrusion, lip smacking and rapid movement of the arms, legs and trunk. Additionally, Reglan has been linked to Neuropleptic Malignant Syndrome (NMS), a potentially fatal condition. Symptoms of NMS include high fever, unstable blood pressure, sweating, and autonomic dysfunction.