Schizophrenia Flashcards
What are common side effects of antipsychotics?
- Hyperprolactinaemia: breast tenderness, breast enlargement and lactation
- Akathisia: sense of inner restlessness and inability to sit still
What are the history questions for psychosis?
- When did they last feel their usual self? How have things changed since?
- Ask about friends, interests, family life
- If voices/hallucinations - do they ever see or hear things that other people may not see or hear?
- Does the TV/radio ever refer specifically to you?
- Do you ever feel people are against you or want to harm you?
- Recreational substances?
What is the GP’s role in psychosis management?
- Should not prescribe antipsychotic treatment themselves
- GP can advise to reduce drug/alcohol intake
- Once they know the history can refer to specialist mental health services - Early Intervention in Psychosis team
What are the physical causes differentials of psychosis?
- Thyroid disease
- Temporal lobe epilepsy
- High dose steroids e.g. corticosteroids
- Encephalitis
- Brain tumour
What are the organic causes of psychosis?
- Acute confusion
- Dementia
- Temporal lobe epilepsy
- Infections of nervous system e.g. AIDS, encephalitis
- Brain injury
- Brain tumours
- Huntington’s
- Metabolic disorders e.g. Vit B12 deficiency, porphyria
- Endocrine and autoimmune disorders e.g. Cushing’s, thyroid, lupus
What investigations should be done for psychosis?
- Physical exam: HR, BP (if high and new may be major risk), dehydration, recent injury or embolism/stroke
- FBC (anaemia + infection), U+Es, LFTs, TFTs, eGFR, HbA1c/blood glucose (check for causes of confusion)
- Bone profile
- MRI - if there are accompanying metabolic signs
- Weight + BMI (schizophrenic patients are increased risk of metabolic syndrome)
- ECG (acute evidence of any cardiac events or long term changes)
What are the most common causes of psychosis?
- Schizophrenia
- Recreational drug use as part of acute intoxication (e.g. LSD, acid and other hallucinogenic drugs) or withdrawal symptoms (e.g. from alcohol)
- Bipolar disorder
- Acute confusion
What is the management of psychosis?
With 1st episode of psychosis:
- Oral atypical antipsychotic medication (depot when bad compliance) in conjunction with
- Psychological interventions
- Family intervention: help families to understand the condition and respond to symptoms in the most supportive way
- Individual CBT: with a trained psychologist to focus on helping patients to understand their symptoms better and develop alternate ways of coping
What are the main side effects of antipsychotics?
- Metabolic (weight gain, diabetes, metabolic syndrome, hyperlipidaemia)
- Sedation (common)
- Extra-pyramidal (i.e. movement disorders like akathisia, dyskinesia and dystonia)
- Cardiovascular (including prolonged QT interval)
- Hormonal (including increased plasma prolactin)
What are the monitoring requirements for antipsychotics?
- Weight
- Waist circumference
- Pulse and BP
- Fasting blood glucose, HbA1c
- Blood lipids
- Prolactin levels
- Assessment of movement disorders, nutritional status, diet and physical activity
- ECG
What are high potency typical antipsychotics?
- D2 dopamine receptor antagonists
- Higher risk of extrapyramidal side effects
- e.g. haloperidol, sulpiride, pimozide, fluphenazine, flupenthoixol
What are low potency typical antipsychotics?
- Non-dopaminergic receptors and D2 receptors
- Cardiotoxic and anticholinergic side effects including sedation and hypotension
- e.g. chlorpromazine, thioridazine
Describe the action of amisulpiride
- Atypical antipsychotic - highly selective for D2 and D3 limbic subtypes
- No serotonin action
- Weight gain and hyperprolactinaemia
Describe the action of atypical antipsychotics
- Serotonin-dopamine 2 antagonists
- Every patient on these needs annual bloods, BMI, lipids, glucose
- e.g. risperidone, olanzapine, quetiapine, aripiprazole, clozapine
Explain clozapine
- Regular tablet form
- Indication: treatment resistant schizophrenia
- Associated agranulocytosis - weekly bloods for 6 months, then every 2 weeks for 6 months
- Increased risk of seizures (especially + lithium)
- Sedation, weight gain, hypersalivation and deranged LFTs
- Increased risk of hypertriglyceridema, hypercholesterolaemia and hyperglycaemia
- Must be re-titrated after a gap of more than 48hrs
- In non-compliant, change to depot
What are the symptoms of autonomic dysfunction?
- Hyperthermia
- Hypertension
- Hyperreflexia
- Tachycardia
- Tremor
- Agitation
- Irritability
- Sweating