is there anyone else suffering from tardive dyskinesia and how do they cope?

Answer 1

I know, it's not an easy syndrome to live with or try to explain to others, is it? I was a very small child when I began suffering from asthma and back then the medications weren't as finely tuned as todays, so I shook all the time. When I began experiencing mental and emotional problems around 30, I was prescribed an antidepressent for over a year that proved to be exactly the wrong medication for my illness. I am bipolar and was in an extreme manic state and the antidepressant just accelerated the whole scene. It was about 4 years after taking it that I went to a new psychiatrist and he immediately examined me physically and told me about tardive dyskinesia. He was very straight forwarded and didn't mince words. I was stunned and scared to think that I might have to live with this problem indefinitely. I was really bad too, even strangers at a store would ask me what was wrong and why I was shaking so hard. But after talking to my doctor about it, I realized that at least now I knew what was really wrong with me, that it had nothing to do with my other asthma medications or God knows what else. It had simply affected my central nervous system and I told this to whoever asked me about it. I coped well by not focusing on it; after all, it did no good and I knew the reason for it and it wasn't my fault.
The years have passed and you know what--so have nearly all the symptoms. I hoped this helped you.