Torticollis can occur for several reasons, one of which is a side effect of certain drugs. Rather than highlight one specific drug it is perhaps better to talk about the mechanism of action by which this occurs.
Torticollis in a drug induced form is classed as an extrapyramidial side effect. Classically results from some medications which have anti-dopaminergic effects. The neurotransmitter dopamine is important for the regulation of movement. Different medications have different degrees of anti-dopaminergic effect. To complicate things further there are several different types of dopamine receptors and different drugs have different effects depending on their action on these receptors.
Classically drugs that have been associated with extrapyramidial side effects are some of the antipsychotics but there are case reports of this with trycyclics http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC489096/ however this appears to be a very rare, see http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0924977X97004057.
The paradoxical treatment of torticollis might be dependent on the cause of the condition. Tricyclic anti-depressants have anti-cholinergic effects, i.e. they block the effects of the neurotransmitter acetylcholine. This neurotransmitter works in opposition to dopamine in the basal ganglia (part of the brain responsible for movement control) as such might be used when the dystonia is as a result of doperminergic disregulation.
If you are at all concerned that you may be suffering side effects of any medication, then I highly recommend that you go and discuss this matter with your doctor. The above is a simplified explanation of some of the reasons why these side effects may occur. It is not intended as information for the purposes of self diagnosis and treatment.
No comments:
Post a Comment