THE EFFECT OF HYDROXYZINE ON AKATHISIA AND OTHER NEUROLOGICAL SIDE EFFECTS OF ANTIPSYCHOTICS IN THE TREATMENT OF PARANOID SCHIZOPHRENIA

Abstract

Side effects of antipsychotic drugs are the most urgent problem in the pharmacotherapy of schizophrenia. Medications used to correct side effects of various pharmacological groups, including correctors of cholinolytics, tranquilizers-benzodiazepines, have severe side effects, which justifies the search for no less effective and at the same time safer alternatives. The aim of the study was to evaluate the corrective effect of Hydroxyzine on akathisia and other neurological disorders that develop as side effects of antipsychotic therapy. Materials and methods. The study analyzed the severity of side effects in 43 patients suffering from paranoid schizophrenia receiving monotherapy with antipsychotics, before their administration, on the 7th and 21st day after the start of taking Hydroxyzine. The severity of side effects was assessed by the ESRS scales and the scale of evaluating drug-induced akathisia. Results. A significant corrective effect of Hydroxyzine on akathisia and other neurological side effects of antipsychotics was shown on the 7th day of Hydroxyzine therapy, the severity of Parkinsonism, dyskinesia, akathisia and tremor significantly decreased. Patients noted an improvement in general well-being, a decrease in the level of anxiety associated with the disease, staying in a psychiatric hospital, side effects of psychopharmacotherapy. Hydroxyzine significantly reduced the severity of akathisia, assessed both objectively and subjectively by patients. There was a decrease in the need of patients to move, to change the position of the body, improved sleep, reduced emotional stress. In general, Hydroxyzine had a positive effect in the form of a decrease in pathological motor activity and a decrease in the severity of emotional manifestations associated with the side effect of antipsychotics, which persisted on the 21st day of Hydroxyzine therapy in the absence of clinically significant undesirable side effects. Conclusions. The results of the study show the effectiveness of Hydroxyzine for correcting neurological side effects of antipsychotics along with good tolerability and substantiate the possibility of expanding its use in the complex therapy of paranoid schizophrenia.