Side Effects of Geodon in Children

The FDA is adding psychoactive drugs to a list of drugs that are approved for use in children. This list is getting longer with each year. The first three to be accepted were the atypical antipsychotics Seroqiel, Geodon and Zyprexa. Recently Risperdal has been added to the list. All of these medicines treat Bipolar and Schizophrenia. It should be noted that Schizophrenia is not usually diagnosed until a person's mid-20s. Bipolar may be exhibited in teen years, but it may be aggravated simply because of hormones. Serious mental illness may occur in children, but it is not as common as it is portrayed to be.

General Side Effects

• Before viewing the side effects Geodon has on children, it may be helpful to recognize its general effects on adults. They include fast or pounding heartbeat, dizziness, feeling light-headed, fainting, tremor, restless muscle movements in the eyes, tongue, jaw or neck (Tardive Dyskenisia), agitation, hostility, confusion, anxiety, headache, depressed mood, weight gain, runny or stuffy nose, cough, sore throat, increased thirst or urination, weakness, extreme hunger, nausea, vomiting, loss of appetite, fever, stiff muscles, confusion, sweating, fast or uneven heartbeats, dizziness, drowsiness, muscle pain or twitching and mild skin rash.

Children's Side Effects

• The side effects of Geodon and other atypical antipsychotics in children are sedation, tremor, shuffling, uncontrollable movements, drowsiness, abdominal muscle movements, nausea, dizziness, runny nose, rash, cough, weight gain, risk of diabetes and heart disease, risk of cardiac death including a larger risk of dying of cardiac arrest, and fatal heart-rhythm irregularities.

Psychiatric Concerns

• The FDA's approval of these drugs, including Geodon, raises concerns from parents and others alike if psychiatrists are actually giving correct diagnoses or just trying to move the new drugs onto a new category for Americans. A diagnosis of Bipolar at the age of 17 is more acceptable than a diagnosis of Bipolar at the age of 3. Unfortunately, in John M. Grohol's, Psy.D., June 10th, 2009 PsychCentral.com article called "FDA Panel Recommends Approval of Seroquel, Geodon and Zyprexa for Children, Teens," he cites that children as young as 3 have already been diagnosed as having mental illness. Another important question is what happens if a child or teen has to go through withdrawal? The withdrawal process from Geodon and other medicine used for psychotic features actually increases psychosis. This experience is called "rebound psychosis." And the next question would be: What would happen to a child or teen's brain and behavior when he has undergone several withdrawal periods all during the transition into adulthood?

Health Concerns

• The concern of many is that the long-term side effects of these psychoactive medicines have not been adequately studied. It is known that an adult taking any of these may be at a higher risk for diabetes. This leaves the question: What about a child? Once a child or teen grows up, will he automatically have serious heart problems, diabetes and significantly changed brain chemistry? How will he function as an adult and what long-last effects may have damaged or altered his brain?

Conclusion

• There is still controversy over children being treated with strong antipsychotics like Geodon and the risks that they will face as an adult. Caution must be used in diagnoses and with the medicines.