300 mg Thorazine = bad idea

[PazuzuLocusts]

I keep this old drug on hand for times when my anxiety and insomnia get out of hand.

So, I took 300 mg and finally got 6 hrs. sleep

BUT

The next afternoon I became so intensely dizzy that I thought I was going to faint or have a seizure.

I went to the ER and was given a shot of Benadryl and a script for Ambien, and was told not to take Thorazine again.

The head spinning dizziness lasted for 6+ hours.

It turns out that Thorazine gets stored in fat, and continues to be released into the blood stream long after it's taken orally.

THEN it happened again the NEXT afternoon.

I hadn't even taken any more Thorazine, it was still in my system.

I rode out this dizzy spell by lying on the floor for a few hours until it passed.

[etinin]

Thanks for the warning
This is why people should avoid using antipsychotics as hypnotics when they're unproven for this purpose.

[COSGringo]

Wow, that sounds like a lot. I think I would expect to be on the next episode of "The Walking Dead" if I took that much.

[realxsalo]

neuroleptics are the worse kinds of drugs ever, especially the old ones.

[jagar2013]

There are newer generation of atypical antipsychotics which are generally better tolerated like Seroquel (especially) and Zypexa. They prettily help for anxiety and cause deep sleep for a couple of hours.

[Allycat]

@PazuzuLocusts , Thorazine is a very old drug with allot of side effects, it is famous for causing orthostatic hypotension which is a sudden drop in blood pressure with change in position, such as going from sitting to standing. This could possibly what you experienced. It has so many other side effects, I agree this sounds like it is not a good choice for you. That being said, 300mg is a very large dose, for sleep no more than 50mg. But given you have shown a sensitivity to it I really would not suggest taking again, as side effects tend to get worse with additional dosages. Benadryl is used as an antidote to it's many side effects. In fact benadryl causes some people to feel very tired and use that for insomnia. It is easily found as an OTC at all drug stores, but given that we don't know the other meds you are on please check for interactions prior to taking. Good luck.

[jagar2013]

Sides effects intensify together with increase of dose. If you take neuroleptic despite of appearances it is necessary adjust a dose in small step - breaking the tablet.

[dking1229]

yeah they call it thye thorazine shuffle. lol you take any more than 100mg of that stuff and its lights out. I took it with tramadol once and I couldnt stand much less walk.

[Jhani]

I had no idea it could stay in your system so long... I had a prescription for anxiety at one point and as Allycat said, I had major problems with hypotension and also tachycardia (super fast heart rate - in the 150's, resting!)
It's an outdated and unrefined antipsychotic, so it does have a lot of side effects that newer drugs that have been more thoroughly researched do not.