Trifluoperazine

Trifluoperazine is a prescription medication used to treat schizophrenia or anxiety. Trifluoperazine belongs to a group of drugs called typical antipsychotics, which work by altering the level of certain natural substances in the brain to restore mental balance.

This medication comes in tablet form and is typically taken 2 times a day, with or without food.

Common side effects of trifluoperazine include drowsiness, dizziness, skin reactions, rash, and dry mouth. Do not drive or operate heavy machinery until you know how trifluoperazine affects you.

Trifluoperazine is a prescription medication used to treat schizophrenia or anxiety.

This medication may be prescribed for other uses. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Trifluoperazine may be found in some form under the following brand names:

• Stelazine

Serious side effects have been reported with trifluoperazine. See the “Drug Precautions” section.
Common side effects of trifluoperazine include the following:

• drowsiness
• dizziness
• skin reactions
• rash
• dry mouth
• insomnia
• an absence of periods for women
• fatigue
• muscle weakness
• loss of weight due to a loss of appetite
• blurry vision
• tremors or shakes

This is not a complete list of trifluoperazine side effects. Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more information.

Tell your doctor if you have any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away.

Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to the FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

Increased Mortality in Elderly Patients with Dementia-Related Psychosis

Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis treated with antipsychotic drugs are at an increased risk of death. Analyses of seventeen placebo-controlled trials (modal duration of 10 weeks), largely in patients taking atypical antipsychotic drugs, revealed a risk of death in drug-treated patients of between 1.6 to 1.7 times the risk of death in placebo-treated patients. Over the course of a typical 10-week controlled trial, the rate of death in drug-treated patients was about 4.5%, compared to a rate of about 2.6% in the placebo group. Although the causes of death were varied, most of the deaths appeared to be either cardiovascular (e.g., heart failure, sudden death) or infectious (e.g., pneumonia) in nature. Observational studies suggest that, similar to atypical antipsychotic drugs, treatment with conventional antipsychotic drugs may increase mortality. The extent to which the findings of increased mortality in observational studies may be attributed to the antipsychotic drug as opposed to some characteristic(s) of the patients is not clear. Trifluoperazine hydrochloride is not approved for the treatment of patients with dementia-related psychosis