Thorazine (chlorpromazine)

Well I went to the doctor today, and he said I show all the symptoms, and I complain about the symptoms of Schizophrenia. Without going into great detail, I hear voices that scare the living ***** out of me. Well he took me off paxil, cold turkey and Doxepin. He upped my dosage of WellButrin to 150mg x2 daily and a new drug to me but old to the world of psyciatry, Thorazine 100mg. Does anybody know of any serious side effects to be mindful about.. I take my first dose tonight before bed time.. Any insight would be appreciated

I think the most common side effect is sleepiness so take your med at night and do not drive a car until you are familiar with how you react to the med.

Thorazine is an older med and has a lot of potential negative side effects. There are newer antipsychotic drugs (called "atypical antipsychotics") that don't have the risk for these side effects, but they have their own set of problems. Some of the baddies that thorazine places you at increased risk for are Tardive Dyskinesia and Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome. But many people don't develop these, and perhaps at the dose you are prescribed, your pdoc is not concerned? Or maybe he only on a short course of thorazine for you (tardive dyskinesia develops over time). I don't know. I think next time you see him, ask about side effects. Your pdoc's drug choices are interesting, as Paxil is pretty old too and newer SSRIs that also work on anxiety (e.g. Celexa, Lexapro) don't have the weight gain problem of Paxil. The doxepin is interesting as well. Were you hearing voices before you began the doxepin? (Doxepin can exacerbate psychotic symptoms.)

Good luck. I hope the voices subside.

Yes I was hearing voices before Doxepin. I tried Celexa initially for depression, but after 14 weeks it didn't do much. So I asked about Paxil. My PDoc wrote me a script for Paxil & Sinequan, because I had insomnia. So for 6 months everything was ok, I was taking 40mg of Paxil and 100mg of Doxepin daily. Well lets shoot forward to this month. On March 3rd 2011 I was hospitalized because I became so depressed and distraught over life. I was discharged 96hrs later and was given a RX for My usual Paxil & Doxepin and now Wellbutrin SR. So now I'm on a 3 drug cocktail. This was working well until I talked to my PDoc about the voices I hear on a regular basis, and lately it has been hard to function outside in public. He said he was gonna put me on an older drug, but it didn't have the side affect of gaining weight. Thorazine. So on WED. of this week I picked up my RX for Thorazine 100mg at bedtime and WellButrin 150mg x2 daily. Well the first night I took thorazine I was out for nearly an entire day. I totally missed thurday, have no clue where it went. I DON'T LIKE THAT. So I called him, and he said to just take 1/2 the pill instead, that works. I like the Wellbutrin because I'm a smoker, and really want to quit, and the wellbutrin (BuPRopion) has a side affect of not wanting to smoke, or atleast curbs the craving. So I like that. i haven't had any withdrawl from Paxil as of yet.

I haven't heard of anyone being put on that for years because of the side effects. Is this a Dr or a Pdoc putting you on these? Is your Dr older? Dunno... the side effects of the newer once seem so much more manageable IMO. BUT I'm not a Dr.

Me again... Also, how long have you been hearing voices and have they ruled out other causes? My mom hears voices when she gets really depressed but not when her depression is managed. Just something you may want to ask about.

My doctor is a OLD OLD Haitian Doctor. He was quick to say that thorazine doesnt add weight, Thats a big plus for me because I'm already a stocky football type. (6'3" 290lbs) I didn't ask to be put on this, but he just said here is a new RX, this will help you sleep and calm the voices.

Thats very interesting. I wonder if that may be it? I will be asking the doctor!

Oh yea I forgot! I've been hearing voices for about 15 years, however they seem to come and go. Its not all the time, but when they come, they come.

If you can you may want to seek out a second opinion with a younger Pdoc. There are just SO many new things out there. but I am biased I had a friend who had long term side effects from Thorazine after he took it for combat PTSD.

Well if I had health insurance I would get a second opinion. I go to a community based mental healtcare center. http://www.hendersonmhc.org/ I can ask to see another doctor that will give a second opinion. My meds are like $3.00 and my doctor visits are 5.00. However, medicine is nothing to play with so I will investigate. What other drugs similar to thorazine that are newer, that our out there so I can become somewhat knowledgeable before I plead my case to a different PDoc.

I have not been on any for voices but I've been on abilify and zyprexa which are both atypical anti psychotics. I would suggest posting a separate post here or maybe in the schizophrenia forum.

I will definetly do that Omers!!!

Thanks for the info!

Two newer drugs that are atypical antipsychotics are Abilify and Geodon. These have fewer side effects than both thorazine and some of the other atypical antipsychotics. THe atypicals tend to cost more than the older thorazine-type drugs. Good luck, chandler.