Posted by Christ_empowered on February 8, 2022, at 14:35:52
In reply to Can Antipsych's cause huge panic attacks?, posted by jay2112 on February 7, 2022, at 22:23:24
hi. funny you should ask (LOL)...
I somehow stumbled on a somewhat lengthy article a while back. I wish I'd bookmarked it...
the shrinks were describing a number of cases in which treatment with neuroleptics for schizophrenia-spectrum disorders seemed to result in severe anxiety and/or panic attacks.
If I recall correctly, most of the people/patients in the article had initially been prescribed older medications. Maybe that was or is standard practice in some nations? Haloperidol seemed to pop up frequently, which raises obvious questions such as...why do shrinks do this to us? etc.
Again, if I recall correctly, the drug-induced intense anxiety and/or panic attacks resolved with a gradual switch to a newer tranquilizer (seroquel was frequent, although I seem to recall a couple of the patients being put on Abilify or amisulpride?), plus a short term prescription for xanax xr or some other flavor mother's little helper.
haloperidol and many other tranquilizers seem to induce anxiety, panic, dysphoria, etc. in part because of their high affinity for D2 receptors, along with long lasting blockade, plus the relative lack of action at other receptors (serotonin, NE, etc...the so called "receptor rich" atypicals, such as quetiapine and olanzapine).
risperidone is still considered "atypical," but it isn't that much better than good ole vitamin H in many respects. dysphoria, cognitive dulling, "neuroleptic-induced deficit syndrome," etc...
plus the long term TD risk, EPS, etc...not so great. maybe a switch? is that an option?
quetiapine is sedating, and it also seems to cause less dysphoria and EPS than equivalent doses of Thorazine, so...not the best drug ever, but a step above the older options for many people.
Abilify is high potency, but the action at other receptors, plus the D2 partial agonism, make the neuroleptic induced deficit syndrome less of an issue than many other treatments.
olanzapine...I dunno. hated it myself, but it does seem to have some advantages over many of the other drugs, for many people.
some doctors swear by very low dose loxapine. just a thought...
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1118481
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20220128/msgs/1118485.html