Parkinsonism

For advice on monitoring for and preventing antipsychotic adverse effects, see Overview of antipsychotic adverse effects.

Parkinsonism is typically seen in the early weeks of starting an antipsychotic or increasing the antipsychotic dose, or starting or stopping an interacting drug.

To treat antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism, options include:

stopping or reducing the dose of other dopamine antagonists (eg metoclopramide)
reducing the antipsychotic dose
switching to an antipsychotic less likely to cause extrapyramidal adverse effects, if the above measures are ineffective or impractical—see Approximate relative frequency of common adverse effects of antipsychotics for approximate relative frequencies of extrapyramidal effects.

While therapy is being adjusted, for symptomatic treatment of antipsychotic-induced parkinsonism, a typical regimen is:

benzatropine 1 to 2 mg (child older than 3 years: 0.02 mg/kg up to 2 mg) orally, up to twice daily as required for up to 2 weeks; slowly reduce dose over the last few days to stop. parkinsonism, antipsychotic adverse effect benzatropine benzatropine benzatropine