Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia and Marijuana
July 27th, 2009. By AbiK
A number of years ago, these three—Reglan, Tardive Dyskinesia and Marijuana—probably would not have been sitting in a headline together. But with the recent FDA-imposed black box warning for Reglan—the one that states the drug can bring on potentially chronic and debilitating neurological side effects (translation: tardive dyskinesia), Reglan’s been sitting side-by-side more often in text than GERD or “acid-reflux” patients would like.
The disturbing thing about Tardive Dyskinesia—aside from the fact that it’s a potential side effect of something used to treat a condition that’s seemingly rather commonplace—is that any resource you go to will tell you there is no treatment for it. That’s right: no treatment. And it can be completely debilitating—there are no shortage of videos on youtube.com to give you an impression of how challenging the condition must be to live with.
One of the alternatives I came across in researching how a patient could possibly manage tardive dyskinesia was marijuana. Admittedly it’s a controversial topic for many. And, my writing about it is in no way an endorsement—particularly given that there is no conclusive study on the effectiveness of pot for tardive dyskinesia. All you’ll find is anecdotal info.
Be that as it may, there are only 13 states (sounds like a revolution brewing, no?) that have legalized use of marijuana for medical purposes: Alaska, California, Colorado, Hawaii, Maine, Michigan, Montana, Nevada, New Mexico, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont and Washington. The site procon.org gives a nice little chart by state of how many plants you can have in your possession. You’ll even find that plants are classified (and regulated!) by whether they are “mature” or ‘immature”—who knew?
All joking aside, what is someone who suffers from tardive dyskinesia to do? Most patients diagnosed with TD would seem to have developed the condition as a result of anti-psychotic drug use—and perhaps for these patients their doctors felt the benefit of taking the drug outweighed the risk. But probably not so if the drug taken was Reglan for acid reflux. Maybe all there is to do is get high.
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