Prescriptions for schizophrenia
Medications Used To Treat Schizophrenia
Written by WebMD Editorial Contributors
If you have schizophrenia, it's important to get treatment as quickly as possible. Medication is key, along with other types of care, such as psychotherapy, which is a kind of talk therapy, and social skills training.
But you have to be sure you take your medication. And that’s not always easy. Schizophrenia is a mental disorder that affects how a person acts, thinks, and feels. It can keep you from seeing the world in a normal way, which means you may not want to take your medication.
Schizophrenia causes many symptoms, including:
- Delusions (believing things that aren’t true)
- Hallucinations (seeing or hearing things that aren’t there)
- Jumbled or confused thinking and speaking
- Odd and random movements like strange posture
Doctors aren’t sure exactly what causes schizophrenia. There is no cure. So to treat it, a doctor will prescribe medications that can ease symptoms and prevent them from coming back.
Antipsychotics: Medications That Tame Psychosis
The medications doctors prescribe most often for schizophrenia are called antipsychotics. They ease symptoms such as delusions and hallucinations.
These drugs work on chemicals in the brain such as dopamine and serotonin. You can get them during an episode to help relieve psychosis quickly, and also take them long term to prevent symptoms.
You'll most likely have to take schizophrenia medication your entire life, even if your symptoms get better. You can take antipsychotics as a liquid, a pill, or as an injection.
If you think you might have trouble remembering to take medicine every day, you can try a shot you get from your doctor once or twice a month called a long-acting injectable antipsychotic medication (LAI). It works just as well as taking a daily pill.
Doctors will choose which medication is best by looking at the following:
- How well it works on your symptoms
- How much it will cost
- Side effects
- How easily you can get it
- How often you have to take it
Your doctor may adjust your dosage over time and might change the medication you take, depending on how you respond.
In some cases, your doctor will prescribe more than one kind of antipsychotic drug.
Antipsychotics work best on "positive" symptoms like hallucinations and delusions. They may be less effective on "negative" symptoms like withdrawal and lack of emotion.
Types of Antipsychotic Medications
There are two groups of antipsychotics. Doctors call the older group of medications “first-generation,” “typical,” or “conventional” antipsychotics. Some common ones are:
- Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
- Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
- Haloperidol (Haldol)
- Perphenazine (Trilafon)
- Thioridazine (Mellaril)
- Thiothixene (Navane)
- Trifluoperazine (Stelazine)
The newer ones are called “second-generation” or “atypical” antipsychotics. Examples of these medicines include:
- Aripiprazole (Abilify)
- Aripiprazole lauroxil (Aristada)
- Asenapine (Saphris)
- Brexpiprazole (Rexulti)
- Cariprazine (Vraylar)
- Clozapine (Clozaril)
- Iloperidone (Fanapt)
- Lumateperonee (Caplyta)
- Lurasidone (Latuda)
- Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
- Olanzapine/samidorphan (Lybalvi)
- Paliperidone (Invega Sustenna)
- Paliperidone palmitate (Invega Trinza)
- Quetiapine (Seroquel)
- Risperidone (Risperdal)
- Ziprasidone (Geodon)
Note: Clozapine is the only FDA-approved medication for treating schizophrenia that is resistant to other treatments.
Side Effects of Antipsychotics
While the first-generation, older meds usually cost less, they can have different side effects than the newer antipsychotics. Some can cause higher levels of the hormone prolactin. This can affect sex drive, mood, menstrual cycles, and growth of breast tissue in both men and women.
One of the common side effects of many of the newer antipsychotics is weight gain. You may also have trouble keeping your blood sugar and cholesterol levels under control.
One of the more serious side effects from long-term use of both the older and newer medications is a movement disorder called tardive dyskinesia. It makes your facial, tongue, and neck muscles move uncontrollably and can be permanent.
While both older and newer antipsychotics can cause tardive dyskinesia, researchers believe that the odds are higher with the older antipsychotics.
Antipsychotics come with other side effects as well. You could have any of the following:
- Weight gain
- Sexual problems
- Drowsiness
- Dizziness
- Restlessness
- Dry mouth
- Constipation
- Nausea
- Blurred vision
- Low blood pressure
- Seizures
- Low white blood cell count
Be sure you see your doctor regularly while taking antipsychotic medication.
And talk to your doctor if you have any concerns about side effects.
Add-on Treatments
Along with antipsychotic drugs, your doctor may prescribe another type of medication. Depending on your symptoms, they could give you or a mood stabilizer or antidepressant.
We need more research about how effective these treatments are for schizophrenia, but many doctors try them.
They might prescribe these extra drugs for what's known as treatment-resistant schizophrenia. This means antipsychotics don't address all your symptoms.
Mood Stabilizers
Mood stabilizers balance your moods. This means you're less affected by depression, anxiety, or excitement.
Mood stabilizers include:
- Lamotrigine (Lamictal)
- Lithium
- Carbamazepine (Tegretol)
- Valproic acid (Depakote)
Their side effects include:
- Itching and rashes
- Thirst and frequent peeing
- Trembling hands
- Nausea
- Slurred speech
- Fast or uneven heartbeat
- Muscle control problems
- Changes in your eyesight
- Seizures
- Hallucinations
- Swelling in your eyes, face, mouth, throat, hands, feet, or lower legs
If your doctor gives you lithium, they'll do regular blood tests and watch for kidney and thyroid problems it can cause.
Antidepressants
Many people who have schizophrenia also have symptoms of depression. Doctors can treat these symptoms with antidepressants, which affect brain chemicals that are linked to emotions.
The most frequently prescribed types of antidepressants are called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors or SSRIs. They include:
- Citalopram (Celexa)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac)
- Paroxetine (Paxil, Pexeva)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
- Escitalopram (Lexapro)
Some of the more common side effects of antidepressants are:
- Weight gain
- Nausea and vomiting
- Tiredness
- Diarrhea
- Sex problems
Medication and Support
Schizophrenia can make it hard to stick to a medication plan. You'll need a strong support system.
Learn as much as you can about schizophrenia and encourage family members to do the same. Allow your loved ones to be part of the decision-making process with your doctor.
Surrounding yourself with people who care about your well-being is also key.
When you start to take your medication, you may feel better right away. But it may take up to 4 to 6 weeks before symptoms like hallucinations and delusions get better.
Be sure to keep taking it long enough for your doctor to know if it’s working. Sometimes it can take several tries to find out which medication works best.
Potential Interactions of Drugs That Treat Schizophrenia
Written by Stephanie Watson
Antipsychotic medicines help keep your schizophrenia under control and prevent symptoms. But these medicines sometimes don't mix well with other drugs you take. They can also interact with herbal supplements you buy without a prescription, and with some foods and drinks.
The result can be side effects, or even problems with your medicines not working as well as they should. The effects of combining these drugs can range from constipation to low blood pressure. Some interactions are mild.
Others are more serious.
Ask your doctor what signs to look for, and when to call.
Your Schizophrenia Medicines
Two types of antipsychotic drugs treat schizophrenia:
“Atypical” antipsychotics are newer, and have fewer side effects than the older drugs. They include:
- Aripiprazole (Abilify)
- Asenapine (Saphris)
- Brexpiprazole (Rexulti)
- Cariprazine (Vraylar)
- Clozapine (Clozaril)
- Iloperidone (Fanapt)
- Lumateperone (Caplyta)
- Lurasidone (Latuda)
- Olanzapine (Zyprexa)
- Olanzapine/samidorphan (Lybalvi)
- Paliperidone (Invega)
- Quetiapine (Seroquel)
- Risperidone (Risperdal)
- Ziprasidone (Geodon)
“Typical” antipsychotics are older medicines. They include:
- Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
- Fluphenazine (Prolixin)
- Haloperidol (Haldol)
- Perphenazine (Trilafon)
- Thioridazine (Mellaril)
Some of these medicines come in long-lasting injectable forms that you take only once every 1-3 months.
This can help with making blood levels more regular and help with not forgetting to take the medications.
Many of these medicines interact with other drugs you might take. One study found that haloperidol interacts with 58 different drugs. And clozapine interacts with 55 drugs. Antipsychotics can also interact with herbal supplements, foods, and drinks.
Drugs, Supplements, and Foods
If you take antipsychotic medicines, you’ll also want to watch out for these possible problems:
Foods and Drinks
Alcohol. Antipsychotic medicines already cause drowsiness as a side effect. Drinking alcohol with your medicine can make you extra sleepy.
Caffeine. Coffee and other caffeinated drinks and foods like chocolate can raise the amount of Clozaril in your blood. This could lead to more side effects.
Grapefruit. This fruit and its juice can dangerously raise blood levels of some antipsychotic drugs such as lurasidone (Latuda), quetiapine (Seroquel), and ziprasidone (Geodon).
Nicotine: Smoking can decrease levels of medicines for schizophrenia which are active in your body. Let your doctor know if you smoke or use nicotine.
Other Drugs
Anticholinergic drugs for COPD or incontinence. Clozaril, chlorpromazine, and other antipsychotic drugs cause constipation as a side effect. Anticholinergic drugs such as ipratropium (Atrovent), ipratropium plus albuterol (Combivent), or tiotropium (Spiriva), used in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), can make constipation worse.
Antidepressants. Older tricyclic antidepressants can cause an irregular heartbeat if you take them with schizophrenia drugs.
Both tricyclic and SSRI (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) antidepressants can make seizures more likely, usually when given at high doses. SSRIs include:
- Citalopram (Celexa)
- Escitalopram (Lexapro)
- Fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem, Symbyax)
- Paroxetine (Paxil, Paxil CR, Pexeva)
- Sertraline (Zoloft)
- Vilazodone (Viibryd)
Tricyclics include:
- Amitriptyline (Elavil)
- Doxepin (Sinequan)
- Imipramine (Tofranil)
- Nortriptyline (Pamelor)
Other antidepressants your doctor should be aware of include:
- Desvenlafaxine (Pristiq)
- Duloxetine (Cymbalta)
- Esketamine (Spravato)
- Mirtazapine (Remeron)
- Venlafaxine (Effexor)
- Wellbutrin (Bupropion)
The SSRI fluvoxamine (Luvox) can also dangerously raise blood levels of clozapine, haloperidol, and olanzapine.
Your doctor can check to see if you’re on the right type of medicine for your depression.
Antihistamines. These medicines are used to treat colds and allergies, and are used as sleep aids. They can make you more drowsy, especially when combined with other medications. They are often sold over the counter.
Anti-infection medicines: Medicines to treat infections, especially HIV and tuberculosis can significantly change blood levels of antipsychotic medications.
Benzodiazepines. These meds, which include alprazolam (Xanax), clonazepam (Klonopin), and diazepam (Valium) treat anxiety. They can make you extra drowsy when you take them with antipsychotic medicines.
Blood pressure medicines.ACE inhibitors, beta-blockers, calcium channel blockers, and other blood pressure drugs can interact with antipsychotics. Together, they may make your heartbeat in an abnormal rhythm or lower your blood pressure too much.
Heart rhythm drugs. Doctors may prescribe medicines such as amiodarone (Cordarone), disopyramide (Norpace), and sotalol (Betapace) to treat an abnormal heart rhythm. But when you take them with antipsychotic drugs, these medicines can cause even more serious heart rhythm problems.
Mood stabilizers and anti-seizure medicines. Medicines such as carbamazepine (Tegretol), phenytoin (Dilantin), and valproate (Depakote) can alter blood levels of antipsychotic medications.
Opioid pain relievers. These pain-relieving drugs can make you very sleepy.
Parkinson's drugs. Taking levodopa (Sinemet) or other medications to treat Parkinson's disease with an antipsychotic can make both drugs less effective. This interaction could bring abnormal muscle movements and make your schizophrenia symptoms worse.
Corticosteroids. Taking these plus schizophrenia medicines can cause weight gain and raise your chance of having diabetes.
Herbal Supplements
Chasteberry. Some people take this dietary supplement for menopause symptoms, infertility, and other conditions. It could interfere with antipsychotic drugs and make them less effective.
Ginkgo biloba. This supplement can boost the effects of antipsychotic drugs in your body. It might also cause seizures in some people. Taking ginkgo plus risperidone (Risperdal) might also make a man more likely to have an erection that lasts more than 4 hours -- a condition called priapism.
Ginseng. This supplement can raise the effects of antipsychotic drugs, which could make you more likely to have side effects.
Kava. This herb is used to treat anxiety and improve sleep. It can boost side effects from chlorpromazine (Thorazine).
Signs of an Interaction
Call your doctor if you have any of these side effects:
- Constipation
- Dizziness, especially when you stand up
- Excess sleepiness
- Fast or unsteady heartbeat
- Muscle stiffness or spasms
- Seizures
- Weight gain
Use Schizophrenia Drugs Safely
Every time you get a new prescription, go over your whole list of medicines with your doctor and pharmacist.
Ask them to check that none of your prescriptions you take interact with each other.
Tell your doctor about any vitamins, supplements, and over-the-counter drugs you buy without a prescription.
Always read the medicine label and follow the directions your doctor or pharmacist gave you. And if you have any signs of an interaction, call your doctor.
Herbal treatment of schizophrenia, recipes, treatment reviews
- Causes
- Symptoms
- Phytotherapeutic methods of treatment
- Additional materials
- Doctor's advice
Schizophrenia is called a mental disorder, the course of which is accompanied by a fundamental change in emotional thinking, the course of which is a mental disorder, the course of which is accompanied by a mental disorder, the fundamental changes in thinking, the course of which is called a mental disorder, the course of which is accompanied by a mental disorder, the course of which is a fundamental change in thinking.
The disease can present with many different symptoms. The most typical of them are auditory hallucinations, paranoid delusions, impaired speech and thinking, and social maladaptation.
Treatment of the disease is complex and includes drug therapy, work with a psychotherapist, social rehabilitation of the patient.
Causes
The exact causes of the disease are unknown. Factors that can provoke the development of schizophrenia include hereditary predisposition, brain diseases, metabolic disorders, severe stress.
Symptoms
Clinical signs of the disease are divided into several groups:
1. Productive symptoms. These include hallucinations and delusions.
2. Cognitive symptoms. These include various disorders of attention, perception, thinking.
3. Negative symptoms. These include depression, apathy, lack of will, which occur in patients suffering from schizophrenia.
Symptoms such as alienation, unreasonable irritability, sudden mood swings can be harbingers of the disease.
Initial signs of schizophrenia:
- speech impairment, slowing it down
- emergence of new strange hobbies
- decreased concentration of attention
- emotional poverty
- absent-mindedness
- unwillingness or inability to perform simple tasks due to a lack of understanding of their meaning
In addition, the disease can be manifested by the following clinical signs: freezing in unnatural positions followed by a sharp excitement
Phytotherapeutic methods of treatment
A good effect in the complex therapy of the disease is herbal treatment. Here are some plants that are used in the treatment of schizophrenia:
- violet - helps relieve symptoms of neurosis
- mistletoe decoction - helps with increased irritability, hallucinations
- Kalina - calms nerves
- Bath with rosemary - has a sedative effect
- Rezeda - from increased aggressiveness of
- Valerian - removes fear of fear
- linden - improves the work of the nervous system as a whole
additional materials
Doctor's advice
Olga
Please advise how to be treated for cytomegalovirus.
Our Anya is still sick, a year ago there was another seizure in the form of an epileptic one, it’s scary to remember. We went through a reprimand, but it is clear that she is still sick. We decided to take a blood test for infections, and now we found cytomegalovirus, she also has a huge amount of rubella, the infectious disease specialist said that this is from vaccination and we do not treat her, she prescribed FGDS, she will not continue to treat without it, Anya does not want to do it, she is afraid, therefore back to you for advice and harmless remedies. Yulia Evgenievna, help, please. We also donated blood for neurotransmitters, everything is normal, except for serotonin, it is also in large quantities, it does not sleep well, the blood is thick, dark and menstruation comes very painful with large black clots. Thyroid hormones are normal, after treatment with mint, testosterone has decreased, but has not yet reached the norm, we still drink mint intermittently.
We look forward to hearing from you.
Answer:
I'm very sorry, I didn't think it would turn out like this! How to proceed?
CMV is a serious virus, from the group of herpes viruses.
And it is necessary to be treated in order to reduce the titer of antibodies (class G immunoglobulins) by 2 or more times!
Today there is persistent talk about the role of herpeviruses in the origin and pathogenesis of schizophrenia , autism, various encephalopathies.
But herbs will play a supporting role here.
1. Seek and apply immediately.
Favipiravir or Remdesivir for the highest potency possible. The course is 14 days, a break of 2 weeks.
2. At this time, use Ingaron or Ingaverin as nasal drops. This method is just perfect for accessing the nerve pathways and the olfactory epithelium leading to the subcortex (emotions, fears, aggression) live here.
3. The collection of herbs can be drunk simultaneously with any of the remedies, with an interval of an hour and a half.
Roots: bluish blue; initial letter medicinal, lespedetsa kopeechnikovaya, ordinary sunflower petals, medicinal sweet clover, narrow-leaved fireweed, white mistletoe - all 1 tsp.
Prepare as usual with 1 tbsp. mixture per 300.0 ml of water.
Drink 75.0 ml 4 times a day.
4. And add here the instillation of lemon balm oil into the nose.
Antivirus interval 1.5 hours.
Regarding increased serotonin - I promise to think about it, I will write to you myself.
Good luck, see you soon!
A new treatment for schizophrenia will be available in Russia
Since the Soviet times, fear and suspicion of people with mental disorders have taken root in many people. And today we often treat people with a diagnosis of schizophrenia with caution and prejudice. It is customary to be afraid of mental illness: it is not by chance that even when they feel something is wrong, many people prefer to get away from the problem, not to seek medical help, so as not to get "registered".
And as a result, very often treatment begins at a late stage of the disease.
The reality of these problems was shown by a recent survey by the All-Russian Public Opinion Research Center "The social image of schizophrenia: popular areas of support for relatives of patients." The majority of respondents - mostly the older generation - said they treat people with mental disorders with empathy (38 percent) and pity (34 percent). But one in four (26 percent) of those surveyed admitted that they were afraid of people with mental disorders, and one in five (18 percent) mentioned a distrust of them. Nine percent of respondents believe that our society treats such people with contempt.
The survey showed that Russians are highly aware of schizophrenia, sociologists stressed in their commentary. 20 percent of respondents say they are well aware of the symptoms of the disease, another 70 percent have information in general terms. Every fifth (20 percent) knows about people with such a diagnosis in their environment.
According to respondents, the main problems faced by people with mental disorders are difficulties in finding employment (40 percent), providing necessary medicines (33 percent), insufficiently qualified medical personnel (31 percent), and negative attitudes from society (31 percent). The most disturbing fact revealed in the survey is that respondents who indicated the presence of relatives with a diagnosis of schizophrenia ranked difficulties with medications in the first place in the scale of difficulties (45 percent). That is why the emergence of new drugs is so important, allowing patients to be in remission for a long time, maintain normal ties with society and loved ones.
The survey participants, who indicated the presence of relatives with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, put difficulties with medications in the first place in the scale of difficulties light sedatives, - says Inna, mother of a 22-year-old patient. - In adolescence, experts attributed his oddities, some obsessions to the puberty period, and later he himself began to hide hallucinations.
Several times he was in different hospitals, until in one of them the doctor collected a detailed history of the disease and made the correct diagnosis. As a result, treatment began only at the age of 20. But the son does not consider himself sick, he is not aggressive, on the contrary, he is very kind, he strives to help both me and the people around him, he can simply come up on the street and offer, for example, to bring a heavy load.
Science does not know exactly why mental disorders occur. Severe stress, drug use, and alcohol can also provoke the disease, but schizophrenia also develops in quite prosperous people. Moreover, many very gifted, brilliant personalities suffered from it: Isaac Newton, Nikolai Gogol, Mikhail Vrubel, Van Gogh, Robert Schumann, Nobel laureate John Nash ...
"About 24 million people in the world live with a diagnosis of schizophrenia - this is one percent of the world's population," explained Petr Morozov, Professor of the Department of Psychiatry at the Faculty of Additional Vocational Education of the Russian National Research Medical University named after N.
I. Pirogov. "This is a severe chronic and disabling mental illness. Doctors are well aware of its signs."
But if doctors have learned to cope with some symptoms of the disease with the help of properly selected therapy, then drugs that can help with loss of motivation, apathy, asociality and other negative symptoms that both patients and their relatives suffer from did not exist until recently . But it is these manifestations of the disease that push up to 60 percent of patients out of society, turning them into outcasts.
Therefore, when in the 1990s the research division of a Hungarian pharmaceutical company began searching for a new drug molecule, the task was ambitious: to make it work in a complex way - against all manifestations of the disease. It took about 20 years to solve this problem.
New opportunities make it possible to qualitatively improve the well-being of patients in general, make life easier for them and their families
- From the very foundation in 1901, our company, among other therapeutic areas, has been developing and manufacturing drugs for the treatment of disorders of the central nervous system, - said the General Director of Gedeon Richter Gabor Orban.
- We invest 10 percent of the proceeds in scientific research. Our drugs for the treatment of cerebrovascular disorders, mental disorders are well known and have been used all over the world for decades. And now Hungarian scientists have developed a drug with a completely different mechanism of action compared to the drugs of the previous generation. The new drug was approved by the FDA, the top regulator in the US drug market, in 2015. Two years later, the drug was registered and began to be used in Eastern Europe (Hungary, Czech Republic, Slovakia, Slovenia, Latvia, Poland, Romania). In Bulgaria, it was included in the insurance program. Today it is also available to patients in Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, the Netherlands, the UK.
"Innovative development is in demand on the world market," said Gabor Orban. He also said that the other day it was approved in the United States for the treatment of another complex and common mental illness.
"I am sure that by actively collaborating with the medical community, public and patient organizations, we will be able to make society more tolerant of patients with mental disorders.
