CNS drugs: antipsychotics, antidepressants, anxiolytics
Pharmacology · MBBS
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Study notes
A schizophrenia patient on haloperidol develops stiff shuffling and restlessness. These are extrapyramidal side effects — D2 blockade in the nigrostriatal pathway mimics Parkinson's (rigidity, tremor) plus akathisia (unbearable restlessness). Anticholinergics (trihexyphenidyl) or switching to an atypical (olanzapine, risperidone — less EPS, more metabolic: weight, diabetes) manages it. The trade-off defines generations: typicals tax movement, atypicals tax metabolism — choose by the patient's vulnerabilities.
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