hi. clozapine can cause serious problems. here in the US, they have a lot of restrictions on dispensing clozapine. I think people on clozapine are required to do blood work very often for the first 6 months or so (I could be wrong), and then less frequently after that. Not to scare you, but now and then people do die from the ill effects of clozapine ((with proper blood monitoring, that is rare)).

Its weird to me that they'd have her on clozapine when she has other problems going on, but I"m not a doctor (clearly). I did read that some countries use clozapine more often, in more people, than here in the United States. I guess prescribing practices vary from place to place.

On the plus side, when clozapine works--and it works for a lot of people, even those with severe and/or "treatment-resistant" schizophrenia (schizophrenia that hasn't responded to 2+ different antipsychotics)--it can work beautifully.

There's a lower rate of tardive dyskinesia with clozapine than with other antipsychotics. In addition, there's some research that suggests that clozapine reduces suicide rates in people with schizophrenia. Some doctors say it can improve overall quality of life, also.

Sorry about your situation. On the plus side, she's in a hospital, so I imagine they're able to keep a close eye on her and do all the blood work that's required at this point. Sometimes, doctors will put a person on a high dose of a tranquilizer and then reduce the dose over time, as the person stabilizes and recovers. Maybe that's what your sister's doctor has in mind?

I hope things get better. :-)