NURS 6630 Assignment: Study Guide for Medication Treatment Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychosis Disorders Zyprexa (Olanzapine)
Description and FDA Indication Uses
Olanzapine is an atypical antipsychotic principally prescribed to treat schizophrenia and bipolar disorder (it is also marketed under the brand name Zyprexa (Image 1)). FDA-approved indications related to the medication are presented in Table 1.
Table 1. FDA-Approved Indications – Olanzapine (Oral Formulation) (Guzman, n.d.)
Image 1. Olanzapine Tablets (Wellona Pharma, n.d.)
Non-FDA Uses
Olanzapine has the research supporting it for the off-label uses of dementia, anxiety, and OCD (Thomas & Saadabadi, 2022).
Classification
Olanzapine belongs to the group of drugs known as atypical antipsychotics. It functions by altering the way that a few organic brain chemicals behave.
The Medication Mechanism of Action
The drug mainly affects dopaminergic receptors in order to function. It functions as an inhibitor of the mesolimbic pathway’s d2 Receptors, preventing dopamine from potentially acting at the post-synaptic receptor.
The medication pharmacokinetics
Within the permitted dose spectrum, the pharmacokinetics of the medication is simple and dosimetric. In healthy people, it had a mean half-life of 33 hours and a range of 21 to 54 hours. The observed plasma clearance ranged from 12 to 47 L/h, with a mean of 26 L/h (Thomas & Saadabadi, 2022).
The Medication Pharmacodynamics
The medication is a second-generation antipsychotic that exhibits a variety of receptors’ sensitivities for neurotransmitter systems HTR2A and HTR2C, dopamine receptors (DRD1-DRD4)
NURS 6630 Assignment Study Guide for Medication Treatment Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychosis Disorders
, H1 Receptor, alpha1 transactivation, and neuromuscular junction receptors (CHRM1- CHRM5) (Thomas & Saadabadi, 2022).
Appropriate Dosing
Once daily, without regard to meals, the medication should be provided; the usual starting dose is 5 to 10 mg, with a goal dose of 10 mg/day in a few days. Given that a steady state for olanzapine would not be reached in the average patient for about one week, any more dose changes should typically take place at intervals of no less than one week. It is advised to increase or decrease the dosage by 5 mg QD as needed (Guzman, n.d.).
Considerations of Use and Dosing
In people who are elderly, have a history of hypotensive responses, are debilitated, display other characteristics that
NURS 6630 Assignment Study Guide for Medication Treatment Schizophrenia Spectrum and Other Psychosis Disorders
may impede the absorption of olanzapine, such as non-smoking women, or who are more pharmacodynamically responsive to olanzapine, the suggested beginning dose is 5 mg (Guzman, n.d.). The suggested beginning dose of oral olanzapine for teenagers is 2.5 or 5 mg, with a goal dose of 10 mg/day, and it should be given once daily without regard to meals. The drug is not recommended for children and during pregnancy.
Half-life
For any particular medication, understanding the idea of half-life is helpful in calculating steady-state levels and excretion rates. The half-life of olanzapine ranges from 21 to 54 hours, with a typical of 30 hours. The stable plasma levels of olanzapine are reached after roughly a week of daily treatment. Olanzapine thus exhibits linear pharmacokinetics within the FDA-approved dosing range (Thomas & Saadabadi, 2022).
Side Effects
Possible side effects include increased hunger, constipation, sore throat
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