The Infamous Thorazine!...................

[Justice]

THORAZINE,ONE OF THE OLDEST ANTI-PSYCHOTICS IN THE BOOK! I'M SURE WE'VE ALL HEARD THE SAYING "THE THORAZINE SHUFFLE",WE'LL LUCKY FOR ME,I DON'T HAVE IT,BUT IF I DID,I'D SELL TICKETS!$$$:D
I HAD ONE DOCTOR SAY IT WAS BLACK BOXED,WHATEVER THAT MEANS,AND WOULDN'T WRITE MY PRESCRIPTION FOR IT,WHEN I'D BEEN ON IT FOR YEARS,I'D JUST MOVED AND IT WAS A NEW DR.,SHE STARTED DEMANDING AN EKG,BEFORE PRESCRIBING IT! SO i WENT BACK TO MY ORIGINAL DOCTORS THAT STARTED ME ON IT,THEY WERE ONLY AN HOUR DRIVE.AND THAT DOCTOR SAID IT WAS WELLBUTRIN THAT WAS BLACK BOXED!:confused:
SO HE PRESCRIBED ME MY THORAZINE,AND SINCE I ONLY SEE THE PSYCHIATRIST LIKE EVERY 2-3 MONTHS,I KEPT THE ONE THAT WAS AN HOUR DRIVE. NOW THESE MEDICAL SYMPTOMS I'M HAVING WITH THE FEVERS AND PASSING OUT,IT'S THE THORAZINE THAT MY PRIMARY CARE DOC.IS TRYING TO BLAME IT ON,BUT THE 2ND OPINION DOC,SAY'S HE'S FULL OF ****. THAT THE THORAZINE CAN CAUSE SEIZURES AND VERY HIGH GRADE,BUT RARE FEVERS TO COME ON SUDDENLY,BUT NOT THE CHRONIC LOW GRADE AND SOMETIMES HIGH GRADE FEVERS I'VE BEEN HAVING.aND THE PASSING OUT,THE THORAZING WOULDN'T CAUSE ME TO STAY UNCONTIOUS FOR THE HOURS THAT I WAS! SHE THINKS MY DOCTOR JUST CAN'T FIGURE IT OUT SO HE'S LOOKING FOR SOMETHING TO BLAME!
IS ANYONE HERE HAD EXPERIENCES WITH THORAZINE THAT WOULDN'T MIND SHARING THEM WITH ME,SIDE EFFECTS,ANYTHING I SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT,BECAUSE i'M READY TO GO INTO MY DOCTORS OFFICE AND TELL HIM ON THE 16TH,THAT I'M DONE WITH IT! WHEN IT'S THE ONLY PHENOTHIAZINE THAT DOESN'T GIVE ME EPS! SO IT'S THAT OR NOTHING!:confused:

[mrsD]

Justice...what dose are you taking?

Wellbutrin has a black box warning (like all antidepressants) for suicide potential.

Thorazine has warnings about malignant neuroleptic syndrome and
extrapyramidal effects (but they are not black boxed):

you can read about them here:
http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/chlorpromazine_wcp.htm

Fevers should be reported as soon as possible to the doctor.

[Justice]

Right now it's only 100 mg a day at bedtime.It was a lot higher for years,but when I got a Doctor that would listen to me,I convinced him to lower it in half,it was about 200-250 a day,at night! But I don't see why the symptoms I have now have anything to do with the Thorazine,when I have so much things going on with me medically over other things,that has nothing to do with my meds.for example,in February I had the chicken pox again throughout the month for the 3rd time,when I just had them last year through the month of Jan.2006! Now I have Laryngitis,because he took me off anti-biotics thinking it's the thorazine! Everytime I'm taken off anti-biotic I catch something I come in contact with,and I came in contact with an employee at Smiths a couple weeks ago with laryngitis,I just got it a couple days ago!:confused:

[mrsD]

I am just getting over it...sore throat, stiff neck and laryngitis.

I used some Cold Eze lozenges (we have some samples at work) and they
did the trick... however, they make your mouth/taste strange for a day or so.
The lemon, was tolerable.

Phenothiazines can raise body temperature, and this is a serious side effect
which should be attended to. You may have changed chemically or other drugs you are taking may be affecting this. It is more common in males than females, but can affect anyone. So please take care of it with your doctor.

[Justice]

Can my Psychiatrist take care of it? Because that's what my PCP did about it,he just referred me to my Psych Doc. over the chronic fevers and passing out episodes! I see my Psychiatrist about it tomorrow!:confused:

[Justice]

I am just getting over it...sore throat, stiff neck and laryngitis.

I used some Cold Eze lozenges (we have some samples at work) and they
did the trick... however, they make your mouth/taste strange for a day or so.
The lemon, was tolerable.

Phenothiazines can raise body temperature, and this is a serious side effect
which should be attended to. You may have changed chemically or other drugs you are taking may be affecting this. It is more common in males than females, but can affect anyone. So please take care of it with your doctor.

I saw my Psychiatrist about what the PCP said,and he said that there is a condition that Thorazine can cause,but I can't remember the name of it,so he lowered my dose to only 50 mg. at night,and ordered some blood tests.I just had the blood tests done on this past Friday,so he'll get those results on Monday. He said that this condition has symptoms of fevers,and states of confusion,which I have had both,but he's still wondering why the passing out! But he assured me he would get to the bottom of it,because he has seen how my PCP has not been taking very good care of me physically,and has seen me getting sicker fast! So,he helped put my mind at ease a little more than before I saw him.Plus I am changing PCP's.He thought that would be a good idea,because each month he(my psych doc) has seen me,I've been much worse medically! With no answers from my PCP as to why! Thanks for the advice,I'm getting things taken care of,and getting rid of the burnt out PCP,and taking care of me!:hug:

[mrsD]

from Thorazine:

http://www.rxlist.com/cgi/generic/chlorpromazine_ad.htm
Hence potential for fainting.

The syndrome consisting of fever is called malignant neuroleptic syndrome, and is potentially serious. I find it very strange your doctor does not understand
the actions of this drug!

Check out the liver effects too on the link above. You need some blood tests....with that "gall bladder like pain"...

Good luck!

[Justice]

I have had Hep C since I was 19 yrs.old,and just started Interferon treatments last year at the end of January,However the Interferon,and the pills with it gave me Hemolytic anemia and they had to stop the treatments in the middle of May when my hematocrit dropped to 27,my RBC count was 2.69,my WBC count was 3.0,and my HGB was 9.8! This N.P that was overlooking my treatments never told me I had this,and just kept the treatments going until my life was in danger,then he stopped it.But it did bring my viral load down to less than 10,undetectable,when I started at 175,000 about! I think he was overdosing me.I felt like a lab rat when I found out I had this and he hid it from me,just because he was so excited that it was dropping my viral load.When I asked him why he didn't tell me ,he said,"I did,I said you were sick",and I responded by saying that sick is a pretty general term,that could mean the common cold,or Cancer,you could have been more specific! Then I requested a copy of all my medical records for the duration of all my treatments! I never got them.Then in November I got a letter saying I was being withdrawn from care for all my gastro-intestinal needs from thier clinic from all physicians and staff,and they wouldn't give me a reason why! And the letter didn't come from the head of the department ,it came from the N.P. that screwed up my treatments! I've tried to get an answer out of the head of the department,and no responce! They won't even treat me in the ER.I went there for vomiting blood,and the doctor had me do a UA,and drew blood,and then I fell asleep,then they woke me up and said you can go home now! NO EXAM!:confused:

[anasazi23]

It is thioridazine that has the black box warning.

[Justice]

It is thioridazine that has the black box warning.

mrsd said that Wellbutrin has a black box warning,but I'm not sure what that drug is that you're talking about.
I thought that Thorazine did,but I'm not sure if it does,I had one Doctor say it did,and another Doctor say it didn't.So the question is who do you believe,the 1st,or the 2nd,you know what I mean?:confused:
I'd just look it up on the net myself,that's what I did the other day about the Thorazine! But it still confused me about the black boxing! I was just looking for side effects,and rare conditions it could cause! mrsd is really smart,I'd ask her,she's good with this medication stuff!;)

[mrsD]

Does have a black box warning.... regarding QT syndrome--which is a heart effect. I have a long thread on Chronic Pain here in Useful websites that explains QT.

Mellaril cannot be used with Zoloft for this reason. Both prolong QT and can stop the heart in some people.

In that thread there are links to 4 lists of drugs that affect QT in some people, and how it may be triggered. Many antipsychotics do to some extent.

[Justice]

Mellaril:eek: I definately know what that is,I just didn't know the generic name,I get EPS from it really bad,the only Phenothiazine that has not given me EPS is Thorazine,and that's because I won't take a high dose,and I take both cogentin,and benadryl with it.Haldol is the worse,it only takes 1 mg.of haldol,and a couple hours and EPS kicks in! I have to put Haldol,and Inapsine on my allergy chart because of how severe it gets,and how fast,even 2 mg.of risperidol put me into EPS! Seroquel,and it wasn't supposed to,but it did,my body is just sensitive to phenothiazines big time! But I got my Doctor to lower my Thorazine from 100 mg at night to 50 mg,at night,and they did blood work that day,and I haven't heard back,so if anything was wrong ,he would have called.I've been at the hospital twice this week having tests run,because now they think it may be my gallbladder! I had a HIDA scan today! Haven't got the results back yet!:confused:

[Justice]

I got off the Thorazine,and the side effect medicine ,cogentin. My MedDoc was trying to say that was what was making me sick. So my PsychDoc did tests,and lowered the dose to prove to my other Doctor that it wasn't the Thorazine. But he did say that after being on it for so many years there are conditions that it can cause, I just don't have any of them yet, so I decided to quit while I'm still ahead,and get off the Thorazine before I was on it long enough to get any of those conditions that were possible. They weren't quaranteed conditions, but I didn't want to risk it, and then my MedDoc couldn't blame my being sick on the Thorazine anymore either. :Hum:
Once I'd been off it for a little while I did notice some side effects that it had been giving me, that I don't have anymore.:Head-Spin: But I'm still sick,and my MedDoc has to face that it wasn't the Thorazine! And I'm finally free of it after about 10 years of being on it, I have a little more balance,and a little more energy,those were side effects it was giving me,that are gone now!:Excited:

[anasazi23]

Again, when you say EPS what do you mean?

[Justice]

I can't remember what the E stands for exactly(medical terms),but the PS is Peramidal Syndrome,the E might be Extra for Extra Peramidal Syndrome,but I'm not possitive about the "E"!
But what it is ,is,it makes my eye's roll back into my head,and I get cold sweats really bad,to where I'm just soaked,and cold at the same time,and I drop to the floor and curl up in almost fetal position,and get really shaky. It can last for hours unless you get something to counteract the medicine that caused the reaction,just a side effect drug,or an anti-histamine works to! Like once I got it while shopping at Wal-mart,as I was leaving the store,with my step-mom,I grabbed the cart so I wouldn't hit the pavement,and she helped me into the van,then she ran into the store and got a box of benadryl,and a drink for me to take some to stop the EPS. After I took the benadryl,it took about 30-35 minutes to stop the reaction. And then I found out it was the Zyprexa that caused it, that was the only medicine I was on that had the ability to cause EPS! So I was taken off it immedietely! And continued taking benadryl for a few days until the Zyprexa was completely out of my system.I would take cogentin with a medicine that I'm on that I know can cause EPS,I just didn't know Zyprexa could! And the Dr.didn't think it would! He didn't realize how sensitive my body is to any drug that can cause it! Once I didn't have anything to take for it when it hit me at home,and I had to just wait for it to wear off,and it lasted almost 5 hours!:eek:

[anasazi23]

It is extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS). I was curious as to exactly what symptoms you had as EPS can be a lot of things. One things about EPS is the symptoms do not generally come and go, or come on suddenly outside of medication changes. What you described sounds a lot more like a complex seizure. Did you ever see a neurologist?