Studies have shown that older adults who take antipsychotics (medications for mental illness) like prochlorperazine have a higher risk of dying while receiving treatment for dementia, a brain disorder that affects memory, thinking clearly, communicating, and performing daily tasks as well as possibly causing changes in mood and personality.

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has not approved prochlorperazine for the management of behavioural issues in dementia-affected older individuals. If you, a family member, or a person you care for has dementia and is taking prochlorperazine, speak with the doctor who recommended it. Visit the FDA website for further details.

To stop severe nausea and vomiting, use prochlorperazine suppositories and tablets. Another method of treating schizophrenia symptoms is with prochlorperazine tablets (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions). Moreover, prochlorperazine tablets are short-term treatments for anxiety that other drugs were unable to manage. Children under 2 years old or weighing less than 20 pounds should not get any treatment with prochlorperazine (about 9 kilograms). The drug prochlorperazine belongs to the group of drugs known as conventional antipsychotics. It functions by reducing excessive cerebral excitation.

Both oral tablets and rectally inserted suppositories are available for prochlorperazine. Adults typically take prochlorperazine tablets three to four times per day, while kids typically receive them one to three times per day. Suppositories containing prochlorperazine are typically placed twice day. Take prochlorperazine every day at around the same time(s). Ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any instructions on your prescription label that you are unsure about following. Follow the prochlorperazine directions exactly. Use it only as directed by your doctor, neither more nor less often.

Prochlorperazine dosages can be progressively increased by your doctor, not more frequently than once every two to three days.

Prochlorperazine may help control your symptoms if you’re using it to treat schizophrenia, but it won’t make your condition go away. Prochlorperazine should still be taken even if you feel OK. Without consulting your doctor, do not stop taking prochlorperazine. You can have withdrawal symptoms like nausea, vomiting, wooziness, and shakiness if you abruptly stop using prochlorperazine.

Observe these measures to administer a prochlorperazine suppository:

• Use soap and water to thoroughly wash your hands.
• Before removing the wrapper, if the suppository is soft, hold it under cold water or put it in the refrigerator for a few minutes to firm it.
• If there is a wrapper, take it off.
• Cut the suppository in half lengthwise if you were instructed to use only half of it.
• If necessary, put on a disposable glove or finger cot (available at a pharmacy).
• Instead of petroleum jelly, lubricate the tip of the suppository with a water-soluble lubricant like K-Y Jelly (Vaseline). If you don’t have this lubricant, spritz some cool tap water on your rectal region.
• Lay on your side with your upper leg bowed towards your tummy and your lower leg straightened out.
• Open the upper buttock to reveal the genital region.
• In order to pass the muscle sphincter of the rectum, insert the suppository with the pointed end first, roughly 1/2 to 1 inch (1.25 to 2.5 centimetres) in infants and 1 inch (2.5 centimetres) in adults. The suppository might come out if it is not put past this sphincter.
• For a few seconds, keep the buttocks firmly joined.
• To prevent the suppository from coming out, stay in a laying position for around 15 minutes.
• During about an hour, try to hold off on going to the bathroom so that the medication in the suppository can be absorbed by the body.
• Throw away discarded items, then wash your hands thoroughly.

Ask your doctor or pharmacist for more details if you believe this drug should be used for something else.

Before using prochlorperazine,

• Inform your physician and pharmacist if you have any drug allergies, including those to prochlorperazine, other phenothiazines including fluphenazine, perphenazine, promethazine (Phenergan), thioridazine, and trifluoperazine. If you plan to take prochlorperazine pills, let your doctor know if you have any allergies to aspirin or tartrazine (a yellow food and pharmaceutical dye).
• Inform your doctor and pharmacist about all prescription and over-the-counter drugs, vitamins, dietary supplements, and herbal products that you are now taking or intend to use. Incorporate any of the following: Barbiturates like pentobarbital (Nembutal), phenobarbital (Luminal), and secobarbital (Seconal); diuretics (‘water pills’); epinephrine (Epipen); guanethidine (not available in the US); atropine (in Motofen, Lomotil, and Lonox); antidepressants; antihistamines; atropine; lithium (Eskalith, Lithobid), ipratropium (Atrovent), medications for anxiety, irritable bowel syndrome, Parkinson’s disease, motion sickness, ulcers, or urinary issues; phenytoin (Dilantin); narcotic painkillers; propranolol (Inderal); sedatives; sleeping pills; and tranquillizers are some examples of other drugs that may interact with lithium. Your physician might need to adjust the dosage of your drugs or keep a close eye on you for side effects.
• Inform your doctor if you have or have ever had any of the following conditions: glaucoma (condition where increased eye pressure can cause progressive vision loss), dizziness, seizures, abnormal electroencephalograms (EEGs; tests that gauge electrical activity in the brain), brain damage, pheochromocytoma (tumour on a small gland near the kidneys), breast cancer, any condition that impairs the production of blood cells by your bone marrow, or heart disease. Moreover, let your doctor know if you have ever had to stop taking a mental health medicine because of negative side effects or if you intend to work with organophosphorus pesticides (a type of chemical used to kill insects).
• If you want to give prochlorperazine to a child, let the doctor know whether they have chicken pox, measles, a stomach virus, or a brain or spinal cord infection. Moreover, let the doctor know if your kid exhibits any of the following signs or symptoms: weakness, yellowing of the skin or eyes, nausea, listlessness, drowsiness, disorientation, aggression, seizures, or flu-like symptoms. If the child hasn’t been drinking normally, has had a lot of diarrhoea, or seems dehydrated, make sure to let the doctor know.
• It is crucial to let your doctor know about any additional symptoms you are having if you plan to use prochlorperazine to treat nausea and vomiting, particularly listlessness, drowsiness, confusion, aggression, seizures, headaches, issues with vision, hearing, speech, or balance, stomach pain or cramps, or constipation. When these symptoms are accompanied with nausea and vomiting, it may be an indication of a more serious disease that shouldn’t be treated with prochlorperazine.
• If you are pregnant, particularly if you are in the last few months of your pregnancy, if you plan to get pregnant, or if you are breast-feeding, let your doctor know. Call your doctor if you become pregnant while taking prochlorperazine. If ptrochlorperazine is taken in the final months of pregnancy, it may have negative effects on babies after birth.
• Inform the surgeon or dentist that you are using prochlorperazine if you are undergoing surgery, including dental surgery.
• Inform your physician and the radiographer that you are taking prochlorperazine if you will be receiving a myelogram, an x-ray examination of the spine. Prochlorperazine should be avoided for two days prior to and one day following the myelogram, according to your doctor’s advice.
• You should be aware that, particularly at the start of your therapy, this drug may cause you to feel sleepy and may impair your thoughts and movements. Prior to understanding how this drug affects you, avoid using machinery or driving a car.
• Throughout your prochlorperazine medication, enquire with your doctor about when drinking is safe. Prochlorperazine side effects can be exacerbated by alcohol.
• Prochlorperazine can make you feel lightheaded, especially when you first get out of a laying posture. Get out of bed gradually, resting your feet on the floor for a few minutes before standing up, to avoid this issue.
• Prochlorperazine may make it more difficult for your body to cool off when it becomes extremely heated, so you should be aware of this. If you want to engage in strenuous activity or be exposed to high temperatures, let your doctor know.

Keep eating normally unless your doctor instructs you otherwise.

If you miss a dosage, take it as soon as you recall. If the next dose is soon due, skip the missed one and carry on with your regular dosing plan. To make up for a missing dose, do not take a second one.

Prochlorperazine could have negative side effects. Tell your doctor as soon as possible if any of these symptoms are severe or persistent:

• Feeling lightheaded, unstable, or having difficulties balancing
• Fuzzy vision
• Mouth ache
• Blocked nose
• Headache
• Nausea
• Constipation
• Having trouble urinating
• Enlargement or constriction of the pupils (black circles in the centre of the eyes)
• Higher appetite
• Gaining weight
• Agitation
• Jitteriness
• Having trouble falling or staying asleep
• Blank look on the face
• Drooling
• Body part shaking that is uncontrollable
• Shuffled walking
• Breast expansion
• Creation of breast milk
• Missing menstrual cycles
• Reduced male sexual prowess

Some adverse effects may be severe. Make a quick call to your doctor if you encounter any of the following signs:

• Fever
• Muscular rigidity
• Falling
• Confusion
• Rapid or erratic heartbeat
• Sweating
• Eyes or skin that have a yellow tint
• Flu-like signs
• Chills, a sore throat, and other symptoms of infection
• Neck pain
• Tongue protruding from the mouth
• Throat constriction
• Breathing or swallowing challenges
• Little tongue movements that resembled worm
• Rhythmic, uncontrollable facial, mouth, or jaw motions
• Seizures
• Rash
• Hives
• Itching
• Eye, face, mouth, tongue, throat, arms, hands, feet, ankles, or lower legs swelling
• Loss of eyesight, particularly at night
• Having a brownish hue to everything
• Coma (loss of consciousness for a period of time)
• Long-lasting erection

Further negative effects of prochlorperazine are possible. If you have any strange side effects while taking this medicine, let your doctor know right away.

You or your doctor can submit a report to the Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) MedWatch Adverse Event Reporting programme online or by phone if you have a serious side event (1-800-332-1088).

Keep this medication tightly closed in the original container and out of the reach of children. Prochlorperazine suppositories should be kept in their packaging; do not open a suppository until just before insertion. Keep the drug away from excess heat and moisture at room temperature (not in the bathroom).

Although many containers (such as weekly pill minders and those for eye drops, creams, patches, and inhalers) are not child-resistant and are simple for young children to open, it is crucial to keep all medications out of sight and out of reach of children. Always lock safety caps and promptly stash medication up and away from young children where it is out of their sight and reach to prevent poisoning. http://www.upandaway.org

Unused prescriptions must be disposed of carefully to prevent pets, kids, and other people from ingesting them. You should not, however, dispose of this medication in the toilet. Instead, utilising a medicine take-back programme is the easiest approach to get rid of your medication. To find out about take-back programmes in your area, speak with your pharmacist or the garbage/recycling department in your city. If you do not have access to a take-back programme, see the FDA’s Safe Disposal of Medications website at http://goo.gl/c4Rm4p for additional information.

Call the poison control hotline at 1-800-222-1222 in the event of an overdose. Moreover, information can be found online at https://www.poisonhelp.org/help. Call 911 right once if the person has collapsed, experienced a seizure, is having difficulty breathing, or cannot be roused.

Overdose symptoms could include:

• Agitation
• Jitterines
• Having trouble falling or staying asleep
• Blank look on the face
• Drooling
• Body part shaking that is uncontrollable
• Shuffled walking
• Sleepiness
• Coma (loss of consciousness for a period of time)
• Seizures
• Unsteady heartbeat
• Fever
• Mouth ache
• Constipation

Keep all of your doctor’s appointments.

Inform your doctor and the lab technician that you are taking prochlorperazine prior to any laboratory test.

Home pregnancy tests may not yield accurate results if you take prochlorperazine. If you suspect you could be pregnant while taking prochlorperazine, let your doctor know right away. Never attempt a pregnancy test at home.

Do not share your medication with anybody else. Any queries you may have regarding medication refills should be directed to your pharmacist.

You should keep a written record of every medication you take, including any over-the-counter (OTC) items, prescription drugs, and dietary supplements like vitamins and minerals. This list should be brought with you whenever you see a doctor or are admitted to the hospital. You should always have this information with you in case of emergencies.