Neuroleptic malignant syndrome (NMS) NMS is a rare but serious neurological disorder, which means it affects your nervous system. It can happen as a side effect of taking antipsychotics. It may also occur as a withdrawal symptom if you stop taking antipsychotics.
All antipsychotics have been associated with the risk of sudden cardiac death due to an arrhythmia (irregular heart beat). To minimize this risk, antipsychotic medications should be used in the smallest effective dose when the benefits outweigh the risks. Your doctor may order an EKG to monitor for irregular heartbeat.
SPECIFIC ADVERSE EFFECTS
Dystonias are involuntary contractions of antagonistic muscle groups, leading to twisting, sustained and repetitive motions or abnormal postures, most commonly in the head, face and neck. These can be painful and highly distressing.
Taking care of your physical health is especially important if you take antipsychotic medication. Both schizophrenia and the medications used to treat it can increase the risk of diabetes and other serious health problems.
Other medicines or classes of medicines may also present a high risk. Examples include neuromuscular blocking agents, digoxin, antipsychotics and oral hypoglycaemics.
There are 4 major categories of movement disorders/motor side effects that are associated with antipsychotic treatment—drug-induced parkinsonism, akathisia, dystonia, and tardive dyskinesia.
The specific neurologic side effects of the antipsychotic agents include acute dystonias, parkinsonism, motor restlessness, and late choretoathetosis.
Evidence of the rapidity at which antipsychotics can affect brain volume in humans was recently provided by Tost and associates. These investigators found a significant, reversible decrease in striatal volume in healthy subjects within 2 hours after they were treated intravenously with haloperidol.
Side effects vary and include severe weight gain, impotence, insomnia, chronic sedation and a lack of concentration, all of which interfere with daily life activities.
Atypical antipsychotics can cause adverse effects of weight gain, hyperlipidemia, diabetes mellitus, QTc prolongation, extrapyramidal side effects, myocarditis, agranulocytosis, cataracts, and sexual side effects, which this activity will discuss here.
There are extensive data linking the typical antipsychotics with increased risk of sudden cardiac death. These medications block repolarizing potassium currents in vitro1,2 and prolong the QT interval,1,3,4 one important causal mechanism for the ventricular tachyarrhythmias that often lead to sudden cardiac death.
Side effects of dopamine receptor antagonists include orthostatic hypotension, peripheral anticholinergic effects (i.e., dry mouth, blurred vision, constipation, urinary retention), central anticholinergic effects (i.e., agitation, delirium, hallucinations, seizures, and coma), hyperprolactinemia, leukopenia, ...
Specifically, the researchers found that those who stopped taking antipsychotic medication within two years of first taking the drug were almost six times (5.989) more likely to recover from “serious mental illness” and were only 13.4% as likely to be re-hospitalized.
For neurological, neuropsychological, neurophysiological, and metabolic abnormalities of cerebral function, in fact, there is evidence suggesting that antipsychotic medications decrease the abnormalities and return the brain to more normal function.
The researchers found that individuals with schizophrenia treated with antipsychotics demonstrated progressive loss of gray matter in the brain, compared with healthy controls.
Tardive Dyskinesia
It is characterized by uncontrolled facial movements such as protruding tongue, chewing or sucking motions and making faces. Tardive dyskinesia is a very serious side effect of antipsychotic medications in particular, and patients taking such drugs should know what to watch for.
Studies have suggested that psychiatric drugs may do more harm than good, especially in the long-term. Antipsychotics have numerous serious and debilitating side effects including: Movement effects: Tremors, muscle stiffness and tics can occur. The higher the dose, the more severe these effects.
Antipsychotics are often recommended life-long for people diagnosed with schizophrenia or other serious mental illnesses because they are effective at controlling psychotic symptoms in the short term and might reduce the risk of relapse.
They can cause movement disorders such as twitching and restlessness, sedation and weight gain, and lead to diabetes.
Atypical antipsychotics carry a black-box warning for increased risk of death and cerebrovascular events in dementia, although typical antipsychotics appear no safer.
For people with schizophrenia, long-term antipsychotic use is usually accompanied by adverse effects such as weight gain, metabolic syndrome, diabetes, and ischemic heart disease, demonstrating their important role in increased mortality.
Epidemiological studies provide evidence that antipsychotics increase the risk of sudden cardiac death. Specifically, certain antipsychotics can induce prolongation of the QT interval, that can potentate a lethal ventricular arrhythmia.
First-generation antipsychotic drugs are more likely to cause adverse effects such as extrapyramidal symptoms and tardive dyskinesia. The most serious side effects of FGAs are neurological and are largely confined to the extrapyramidal motor system.