what is the thorazine shuffle?

[headache]

can someone plz describe to me what the thorazine shuffle is? i tried looking it up on google and it came up with a metal/rock song lol.

[tryp]

Because the typical antipsychotics work by blocking dopamine receptors, they can cause Parkinsonian (similar to those seen in Parkinson's disease) symptoms. One of these is a kind of shuffling gait while walking. It involves slow, stiff movements.

The term has been generalized to include the concept of being doped into oblivion, but the original symptom that the term refers to is the above.

Edited July 15, 2010 by tryp

[Velvet Elvis]

It doesn't happen to everyone, or even the majority of the people on the drug, however. It's mostly a term thrown around by anti-medication groups who don't even understand what MI is like and how helpful medication can be.

[AirMarshall]

I don't think it has any medical basis as terminology.

It's a perjorative term implying the use of the drug to sedate patients into non-functioning compliant zombies who are able to do little more than shuffle around the hospital ward.

While it could be used that way, I think anyone with experience in any responsible treatment program will attest to the falseness of this assertion.

a.m.

[Laume]

My dad used the term for the shuffling of highly medicated fellow patients he first saw when he went inpateint back in the 70s.

Air Marshall -your avatar makes me want to vomit

[Velvet Elvis]

be nice sabrina. He really looks like that.

[Laume]

lol for real, Velvet!

Edited July 16, 2010 by sabrina

[isthisit]

Air Marshall -your avatar makes me want to vomit

But if Zoidberg was real, that's exactly what he would look like.

[etkearne]

Typical antipsychotics and very high doses of atypicals (mainly risperidone and olanzapine) can cause motor difficulties. I never thought I would experience something like that until when I had to take 40mg of Zyprexa one afternoon. Everything that people said about Haldol and Thorazine became true for me on Zyprexa. Of course, I was taking (although doctor ordered) 4 times the average dose, but it was still scary. It was like wanting to scream and throw a fit, but not being able to do anything except twitch and grimace. Horrible.

So, yes, it is real, however, I have heard it called the "Haldol Shuffle" which is more likely since Haldol is an almost pure D2 antagonist. Thorazine has M1 and H1 antagonist properties which actually lower expression of EPS. However, just like high doses of Zyprexa, it can happen.

[anmol77]

I never thought I would experience something like that until when I had to take 40mg of Zyprexa one afternoon. Everything that people said about Haldol and Thorazine became true for me on Zyprexa. 

 

 

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== www.solitairechamp.net ==

Edited May 13, 2016 by anmol77

[melissaw72]

All I can add is that when I was on zyprexa (and I'm sure other meds that caused it too), I was walking sort of hunched over/bent over, and shuffling my feet (the 2 biggest things I can remember).  I was put on cogentin which helped, but the pdocs then decided to take me off the zyprexa to see if those symptoms improved, and they did.  Then I was off of cogentin because of that.  I am so glad they did that because I didn't want to be shuffling along and partially bent over when I walked forever.