Mellaril - ever taken it?

[horselover65]

Almost 30 years ago, I was prescribed Mellaril. I looked it up a minute ago because I remember the doctor describing it as a mood leveller. It is apparently approved for use only for schizophrenia now and is to be used as a last resort. Does anyone else recall ever being prescribed this? Especially those whose bipolar diagnosis took a while... There was a time that schizophrenia was considered, but it was after I had taken this medication and it was ruled out in what seems like a fairly short consideration.

I am curious why I was prescribed this medication. I was on it for months. As best I can recall, I took 25 mg part of the time but at one point took more than one - 2 different strengths. I think it only added to 35 mg, though. I believe I may also have taken it while I was hospitalized. I will dig a little more because what I'm seeing are heart problems, etc. associated with this med and maybe that is why it now has such a narrow and limited use. Maybe they didn't know these things back then.,.

Thanks for any help you can give.

[horselover65]

Thank you! I saw a lot of that when I looked it up. I wondered what on earth my psych at the time was doing prescribing that for a teenage girl.

I had the thought that maybe it was the voices from back then. Maybe he was using it as an anti-psychotic. I looked up thorazine because I got several of those injections in the hospital and I reckon *maybe* he was using the Mellaril the same way - except on a daily basis.

I read the FDA warning via the link you sent. Thanks for that!

Read a little more about it from googling. In the early 80's, my best guess is that he prescribed it for "agitated depression" and/or as an anti-psychotic. It sounds like this was a drug that was used a lot in Europe and the US before the side effects became well-known.

Oh well. At least I know I didn't suffer from being on it. I had to do a lot of heart testing when I was hospitalized because we also found out about my father's heart problem at that time and it was genetic.

Thanks again :-)  I better move on to something else. I was trying to make a list of all the meds I've taken so that I could talk to my psychiatrist about what was and wasn't helpful. I got curious and started looking up drugs. That was the one that knocked my socks off - hopefully the ONLY one that'll end up looking so nasty. My mom would freak if she found out, but apparently no one knew back then...

[monkeyc]

Wow.

Those are some serious side effects -

CNS:
Drowsiness, sedation, nocturnal confusion, hyperactivity, lethargy, psychotic reactions, restlessness, disturbances of accommodation, vertigo and headache.

Extrapyramidal reactions (including Parkinsonism with motor retardation, rigidity, mask-like facies, tremor, salivation), dystonic reactions (including facial grimacing, tics, trismus, torticollis, opisthotonos, oculogyric crises), tremor, muscular rigidity, akinesia, akathisia.

As with all antipsychotic agents, tardive dyskinesia may appear in some patients on long-term therapy or may occur after drug therapy has been discontinued. This risk seems to be greater in elderly patients on high-dose therapy, especially females. The symptoms are persistent and in some patients appear to be irreversible.

All antipsychotic agents should be discontinued if tardive dyskinesia develops. Should it be necessary to reinstitute treatment, increase the dosage of the agent, or switch to a different antipsychotic agent, the syndrome may be masked. It has been reported that fine vermicular movements of the tongue may be an early sign of the syndrome and if the medication is stopped at that time, the syndrome may not develop.

Slowing of the EEG has been reported.

Behavioral Reactions:
Oversedation, impaired psychomotor function, paradoxical effects (such as agitation, excitement, insomnia, bizarre dreams, aggravation of psychotic symptoms), toxic confusional states.

Cardiovascular Effects:
Orthostatic hypotension, tachycardia, ECG changes (see Precautions).

Autonomic Nervous System:
Dry mouth, fainting, nasal stuffiness, photophobia, miosis, blurred vision.

Blood Dyscrasias:
Agranulocytosis, leukopenia, granulocytopenia, eosinophilia, thrombocytopenia, anemia, aplastic anemia, pancytopenia.

Gastrointestinal:
Anorexia, gastric irritation, nausea, vomiting, constipation, diarrhea, obstipation, paralytic ileus, pallor.

Hepatotoxicity:
Jaundice, biliary stasis.

Endocrine System:
Menstrual irregularities, altered libido, gynecomastia, galactorrhea, breast engorgement, weight change, edema, false positive pregnancy tests, disturbances of erection and of ejaculation (failure or priapism).

Urinary Disturbances:
Retention, incontinence.

Skin Reactions:
Itching, rash, hypertrophic papillae of the tongue, erythema, exfoliative dermatitis, contact dermatitis, photosensitivity.

Allergic Reactions:
Fever, laryngeal edema, angioneurotic edema, asthma.

Retinal Pigmentation:
Retinal pigmentation has been observed in psychiatric patients taking doses in excess of the maximum recommended daily dose of 800 mg over long periods of time (see Precautions).

Others:
Hyperpyrexia. Rare cases described as parotid swelling have been reported.

Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome:
As with other neuroleptic drugs, a symptom complex sometimes referred to as neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) has been reported. Cardinal features of NMS are hyperpyrexia, muscle rigidity, altered mental status (including catatonic signs), and evidence of autonomic instability (irregular pulse or blood pressure). Additional signs may include elevated CPK, myoglobinuria (rhabdomyolysis) and acute renal failure. NMS is potentially fatal and requires symptomatic treatment and immediate discontinuation of neuroleptic treatment.

I have never heard of it before but it sounds like a drug that just keeps on giving doesnt it...

BTW the creators of Mellaril-  Novartis -  no longer sell this drug, they discontinued it worldwide in 05 so any one making it would be a generic manufacturer - apparently its only used on serious psychotics now as it requires regular white cell count testing and ECG tests.  Nice.

The FDA issued a warning about it in 2000 : http://www.fda.gov/Medwatch/safety/2000/mellar.htm

Do a search for thioridazine and there's lots, this drug appears to have been around for some time.