The treatment for schizophrenia begins with medication. Antipsychotic drugs help relieve the symptoms caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain. Different therapy is used in conjunction with medication to assistant patients with schizophrenia to have a better life.

Antipsychotic medication has been used for over 60 years. The older medications are called typical antipsychotic medication and they include:

Chlorpromazine, (Thorazine), Haloperidol (Haldol), Perphenazine (Etrafon, Trilafon) Fluphenazine (Prolixin).

Researchers are constantly finding new treatments and new ways to relieve the symptoms of schziophrenia and as a result there is new medication referred to as second generation medications or atypical antipsychotic medications now use since the 1990.s. One of the new medications, clozapine (Clozaril), is effective in controlling hallucinations and the breaks with realilty. As good as this drug is for effectively controlling psychotic symptoms, it has a serious side affective. Clozapine causes a condition called agranulocytosis, where white blood cells are lost. This is serious because it is white blood which are responsible for warding off infection in our bodies. Therefore people using clozipine must constantly (about every two weeks) have blood tests to make sure their white blood cell count is not too low. It can be very costly to have these blood tests done. However, Clozapine is still an important antipsychotic medication that is often used when other drugs do not prove to be effective.

There are other atypical antipsychotic drugs which do not cause the agranuloctoisis side affect. These antipscychotic drugs include: Risperidone (Risperdal), Olazapine (Zyprexa).Quetiapine (Seroquel), Ziprasidoen (Geodon), Aripoprazole (abilify), and Palliperidone (Invega).

Side Affects

Patients are always concerned about side affects and so they should be. If you are a patient do not go off your medication even if you are experiencing side affects. Always talk to your doctor and follow his or her advise. Going off your medication on your own will risk the terrible symptoms coming back and may even cause more side effects by going off the too quickly. Your doctor will decide if you need to go off those medications, or change dosages. or even change medications. Also, sometimes it just takes awhile before the medication takes affect and during the adjustment period there will be side affects. These side affects often wear off in a matter of weeks. Finally, since many medications causes drowsiness, it is important not to drive while adjusting to a new medication. The medication may specifically warns against driving.

The possible side effects from these antipsychotic drugs include: drowsiness, a sudden onset of dizziness when shifting positions, skin rashes, blurred vision, sensitivity to the sun, menstrual problems, and rapid heartbeat.

There are other factors associated with atypical antipsychotic drugs such as weigth gain. Weight gain can also lead to such things as diabetes or it could led to high cholesterol or other metabolic changes in the body. Doctors will routinely check the blood glucose levels, lipids, and their patients. weigth when they are are on atypical antipsychotic medication.

It is not uncommon for atypical antipsychotic medication to affect movement.This could translate to rigidity, restlesness, tremors. and muscles spasms. One of the side affects of taking long term atypical antipsychotics is a condition called tardive dyskinesia. This condition causes uncontrolled muscles movements. The muscle moviements is typically found around the mouth area. Sometimes this condition will cease once the medication is stopped. However, in other patients the condition can be mild or severe and is not curable. The condition is rare, but of course if you feel you may have tardive dyskinesia you must alert your doctor right away.

Antipsychotic drugs can be taken in liquid or pill form and sometimes they are administered by injection. After about six months of taken the drugs patients should feel a lot better and the hallucinations and the delusions should go away.

Sometimes it takes a while to find just the right medication as everyone.s biological makeup is different. Also, it is important to let your doctor know what other medication you may be taking such as minerals, or herbal remedies. There could be some serious reactions to mixing certain substances together with antipsychotic drugs.

There are various therapies such as psychothery, cognitive behavior therapy, family education groups, illness management groups and self help groups that can help patients and their families, learn about, manage, and cope with schizophrenia.

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