Stelazine

[sdjeff]

When I was in the hospital it was suggested that if the risperdal didn't work out that they would try Stelazine. Well, the Risperdal isn't working very well.

So what is the low down on this drug? The good, bad and the ugly.

[cabal]

When I was in the hospital it was suggested that if the risperdal didn't work out that they would try Stelazine. Well, the Risperdal isn't working very well.

So what is the low down on this drug? The good, bad and the ugly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Actually, I'm too lazy to look up info about this drug on the internet.

I know it's a typical antipsychotic. Usually, the (newer, and more expensive, maybe the hospital wants to cut costs...) atypical antipsychotics are (much) better than the older, typical antipsychotics. I know I've heard the name stelazine before, I just don't remember the context.

Other alternatives that you could propose are Zyprexa (not a good idea on the long run, tends to cause massive weight gain), Seroquel (once you get past the initial sedation it's not so bad and it often has an antipsychotic effect at dosages of 600-800 mg a day,usually not much weight gain). Then there is abilify, I don't know that much about it. I think it's probably not the best antipsychotic, in general. There's Geodon, I don't know much about that one either.

And of course there are many alternatives. I don't know why "they" came up with Stelazine, I just seem to "remember" that it's dirt-cheap.

I suggest you check out www.crazymeds.us, look up some meds at rxlist.com and use google.

Btw, why is the Risperdal not working very well ? Because of side effects ? Most meds have side effects, Risperdal is relatively side-effect free. And maybe a lower or a higher dosage of Risperdal would improve things.

[sdjeff]

Basically I have tried all of the new APs except for Clozaril. I can't afford the blood tests.

Without going into some diatribe of all the drugs and their SEs it's like this: some have had bad SEs, some just didn't work, or both. The Risperdal (3mg) only works partially and I get bad EPS from it. I have to take Cogentin to mitigate some of the EPS.

So it's beginning to look like I will have to try the older APs. Unfortunately I have to have an AP. No doubt about it.

[number_6]

When I was in the hospital it was suggested that if the risperdal didn't work out that they would try Stelazine. Well, the Risperdal isn't working very well.

So what is the low down on this drug? The good, bad and the ugly.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

For the management of schizophrenia.

Stelazine (trifluoperazine HCl) is effective for the short-term treatment of generalized

non-psychotic anxiety. However, Stelazine is not the first drug to be used in therapy for most

patients with non-psychotic anxiety because certain risks associated with its use are not shared by common alternative treatments (i.e., benzodiazepines).

When used in the treatment of non-psychotic anxiety, Stelazine should not be administered at

doses of more than 6 mg per day or for longer than 12 weeks because the use of Stelazine at

higher doses or for longer intervals may cause persistent tardive dyskinesia that may prove

irreversible.

The effectiveness of Stelazine as a treatment for non-psychotic anxiety was established in a 4-week clinical multicenter study of outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder (DSM-III). This evidence does not predict that Stelazine will be useful in patients with other non-psychotic

conditions in which anxiety, or signs that mimic anxiety, are found (i.e., physical illness, organic

mental conditions, agitated depression, character pathologies, etc.).

Source: GlaxoSmithKline Prescribing Information for Stelazine

http://72.14.207.104/search?q=cache:u-F9An...ne&hl=en&client

6

[cabal]

It just seems important to find an antipsychotic that won't give you any EPS, it seems. But I know almost nothing about the typical antipsychotics.

[Fiona]

I've taken Stelazine, and liked it. If you search this group you'll find several posts of mine about it.

Fiona

[sdjeff]

Thanks for your replies. We are tweaking the Risperdal dose to see if it helps.

[steves]

I would stay on the risperdal less risk of permant eps . I take risperdal and it works wonders.

With some dosage tweaks you should find a happy medium.

I had an uncle that was on all the old drugs and it made him worse.

He ended up in the hospital 3 times just from the medicine.