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Updated: Jun 15, 2026

Using Home-based, Remotely Supervised, Transcranial Direct Current Stimulation for Phantom Limb Pain
Published on: March 1, 2024
Clonazepam and botulinum toxin for the treatment of alien limb phenomenon
Ihtsham U Haq1, Irene A Malaty, Michael S Okun
1Department of Neurology, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, NC 27157, [corrected] USA. ihaq@wfubmc.edu.
Abstract:
We discuss a patient who developed an "alien limb" on her right side after brain herniation. She reported feeling as though her arm movements were controlled by a stranger and displayed limb levitation and groping behaviors. She received 0.5 mg clonazepam b.i.d. This was followed by a limb levitation frequency reduction of 73%. Discontinuation and retrial of clonazepam verified this response. She suffered a psychotic episode that she attributed to clonazepam. Clonazepam was discontinued. She received botulinum toxin injections to her arm that reduced her limb levitation by 84%. This is the first report of response to medication in alien limb syndrome.
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