Perhaps you or someone in your family has been prescribed a medication called Chlorpromazine by your doctor. When you hear this name, you may feel a little scared or curious. It is normal for questions like, 'What is this medication? Why am I being given this?' to come to mind. Since this is a medication often given for mental health conditions, there can be various misconceptions among people. So today, let's talk about this chlorpromazine medication in a simple way that you can understand.
What exactly is Chlorpromazine?
Simply put, chlorpromazine is a medication used to treat several mental health conditions. It belongs to a class of drugs called antipsychotics . Dopamine is a chemical in the brain that helps control things like our mood and emotions. This medication works by balancing the levels of this dopamine in the brain.
However, this medication is not only prescribed for mental illnesses. Doctors use it in several other situations. For example:
- Mental illnesses such as schizophrenia and bipolar disorder.
- Control nausea and vomiting.
- For the hiccups that have been going on for a long time and can't be stopped.
- For some cases of the disease called porphyria.
- Relax the muscles during tetanus.
- Calm the patient before any surgery or medical test.
Things you need to tell your doctor before taking this medicine
Before starting this medication, it is very important to give your doctor a complete description of your health condition. Because this medication should be used with caution in people with certain medical conditions. If you have any of the conditions listed below, be sure to tell your doctor about it.
| Relevant situation/reason | Description |
|---|---|
| Existing medical conditions | Brain tumor, dementia, diabetes, glaucoma, head injury, heart disease, history of irregular heartbeat, kidney or liver disease, low blood pressure, lung disease such as asthma, Parkinson's disease, prostate disease, seizures. |
| Body discomfort | Difficulty swallowing food, difficulty controlling bowel movements, difficulty urinating, and intestinal obstruction. |
| Blood-related problems | Conditions such as low white blood cells, red blood cells, or platelets. |
| Lifestyle and habits | If you are a frequent drinker. |
| Allergies | If you are allergic to chlorpromazine, sulfites, other medicines, foods, dyes or preservatives. |
| Special occasions | If you are pregnant, trying to get pregnant, or breastfeeding. |
How is this medicine given?
This is not a medicine you can take home. Chlorpromazine is an injection given by a medical professional in a hospital or clinic . It is given into the body by injection into a muscle or infusion into a vein.
Special care should be taken when giving this medicine to children. Although it is recommended in some special cases for children over 6 months of age, it is essential to follow the relevant precautions.
Overdose - Very important!
If you think you have taken too much of this medicine, never ignore it. Go to a hospital Emergency Unit (ETU) immediately. If necessary, you can call the National Poisons Information Centre at the Colombo National Hospital for advice.
Other medications that may interact with this medicine
It is very important to tell your doctor about all the medications you are taking, as chlorpromazine can interact with many other medications.
| Never take chlorpromazine with these. | |
|---|---|
| Cisapride | Pimozide |
| Dronedarone | Saquinavir |
| Metoclopramide | Thioridazine |
| Be especially careful as problems can arise with these as well. | |
| Alcohol | Lithium |
| Antihistamines for allergies, coughs, and colds | High blood pressure medications |
| Medications for stress, anxiety, or sleep | Anticonvulsants (Phenobarbital, Phenytoin) |
| Medications for Parkinson's disease (Levodopa) | Narcotic medications |
| Drugs used to induce sleep during surgery | Blood thinners such as Warfarin |
This list is not complete, so be sure to tell your doctor about any medications, vitamins, or traditional remedies you are taking.
Things to consider when taking medication
Your medical team will closely monitor your condition while you are receiving this vaccine, but it is important that you are aware of these facts.
Drowsiness and dizziness
This medicine may make you feel sleepy, dizzy, or have blurred vision . So avoid dangerous activities such as driving or operating machinery until you know how this medicine affects you. Be careful when getting up or sitting down suddenly , especially if you are elderly. This can reduce the chance of fainting and falling. Drinking alcohol can make this sleepiness worse.
Body temperature control
This medicine may affect your body's ability to regulate temperature. Your tolerance to cold weather may be reduced, and your tolerance to heat may be reduced. Therefore, wear warm clothes on cold days. On hot days, limit exposure to the sun, exercise, and drink plenty of water.
Sun sensitivity
This medicine may make your skin sensitive to the sun. So protect yourself from the sun. If you must go out in the sun, wear clothing that covers your body and use sunscreen .
Dry mouth
Dry mouth is a common side effect of this medication. This can be managed by chewing sugar-free gum, sucking on unsweetened candy, and drinking plenty of water.
What are the possible side effects?
Like any medicine, chlorpromazine can have side effects. Some are serious, some are common. It is important to be aware of these.
| Side effects that should be reported to your doctor or hospital immediately | |
|---|---|
| Allergic reactions | Skin rash, itching, swelling of the face, lips, tongue or throat. |
| Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome | Sudden high fever, muscle stiffness, excessive sweating, fast or irregular heartbeat, confusion. |
| EPS symptoms (Extrapyramidal Symptoms) | Uncontrolled movements of body parts (especially the face, mouth), muscle stiffness, tremors, loss of balance, restlessness. |
| Liver damage | Pain in the right upper abdomen, loss of appetite, nausea, yellowing of the skin or eyes, dark yellow/brown urine, and light-colored stools. |
| Other serious symptoms | Signs of infection (fever, chills, cough, sore throat), low blood pressure (dizziness, fainting). |
| Things that are usually not serious, but should be reported to the doctor if they persist | |
| Constipation | Dry mouth |
| Drowsiness | Weight gain |
| Dizziness | |
If you experience any other unusual symptoms not mentioned in this list, talk to your doctor about them as well.
Take-Home Message
- Chlorpromazine is a vaccine that is only given in a hospital or clinic under the supervision of a doctor.
- Be sure to tell your doctor about all other medications you are taking, any other medical conditions you have, and any allergies you have.
- Be careful when performing tasks that require alertness, such as driving, as drowsiness and dizziness may occur while taking the medication. Avoid drinking alcohol.
- If you experience any serious side effects such as high fever, muscle stiffness, uncontrollable body movements, or yellowing of the skin, seek medical advice immediately.
- If you have any concerns or fears about this medication, talk to your doctor about it openly.
👩🏽⚕️ Additional questions (FAQs)
💬 Chlorpromazine Injection / Thorazine is a very powerful medicine used to treat which disease?
This is not an ordinary medicine! This is an injection of the oldest and most powerful (First-Generation Antipsychotic) emergency medicine used to immediately calm the patient and put him into a deep sleep (sedation) in cases of severe 'mental madness' (Severe Psychosis/Agitation) caused by schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and drugs, when the patient is uncontrollably agitated, and is in extreme danger of harming others or himself/herself.
💬 When you are screaming/screaming like crazy, how does this injection (Chlorpromazine) help your brain heal/sleep?
Such strange things are seen/are extremely disturbing when the chemical 'Dopamine (Dopamine / D2)' in the brain overflows! This vaccine completely blocks/closes and locks all the 'Dopamine receptors' in the brain (Dopamine antagonist). In addition, it also turns off the machines in the 'Histamine (H1)' and 'Adrenaline (Alpha-1)' stages, so the patient becomes silent and sits still/sleeps in a few minutes.
💬 What are the potentially fatal side effects (Black Box Warnings) of this severe brain-damaging vaccine (Thorazine)?
The biggest danger is that if this is given to elderly people with dementia (Dementia-related psychosis), they can suddenly stop breathing and die (Increased mortality)! The other most dangerous thing is that this can cause the patient to fall into a coma due to 'Fatal Hypotension / Orthostatic'. Also, a severe neurological disease that makes it impossible to stay still, causing the limbs to shake like crazy and the neck/eyes to move (Extrapyramidal Symptoms / EPS / Tardive Dyskinesia) can definitely occur.
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