Though antipsychotics are generally used for long-term treatment of psychiatric conditions, there are several instances where therapy may be stopped altogether. We outline several practice pearls and clinical considerations when determining if antipsychotic tapering...
Prolactin is a hormone that is elevated during pregnancy and peaks in serum levels at delivery. It stimulates lactation and maternal behavior under normal circumstances. Prolactin release from the pituitary gland is inhibited by dopamine, so drugs that inhibit...
Looking at the adverse effect profile of second-generation antipsychotics is critical to medication selection in clinical practice. You should definitely know the general list of adverse effects of antipsychotics (i.e. EPS, metabolic syndrome, QTc prolongation, etc.)....
I was recently reviewing some clinical pearls on clozapine and was really surprised that there were five boxed warnings! After reading them over, I did recall all of the potential negative adverse effects that this drug can cause but did not remember that they were...
In just one more example of the prescribing cascade, I had a resident at a nursing home that was prescribed Lexapro for depressive and anxiety type symptoms. A few weeks after starting this medication, the resident had worsening confusion, change in cognition, and was...