Do antipsychotic medications cause heartburn?

Question

Hello doctor,

Usually, I can nap during the daytime, but since I changed the brand of my Olanzapine, I cannot do that anymore. I am on Olanzapine 5 mg for social anxiety disorder under medical supervision. Now, my social anxiety has gone. Please let me know what I should do. I cannot nap during the daytime but I can sleep during the night. My sleep is not good; my eyes feel so awake. My blood sugar level is 81 mg/dL, and it is normal. Three months ago, my doctor switched from 50 mg of Sertraline to 5 mg of Trifluoperazine to help my heartburn symptoms.

Kindly help.

Thank you.

Answer 1

Hello,

Welcome to icliniq.com.

I read your query and can understand your concern.

You may have a social anxiety disorder (as you mentioned). There is non-pharmacological management for it, you should try to follow the below guidelines to deal with it. These include:

You should do exercises daily for 30 to 45 minutes like at least going for a walk. It will improve your sleep.
You should do meditation for 20 minutes daily. Just sit in one place in a comfortable position, and try to concentrate on your normal breathing, Do not stop or force yourself to stop your thoughts, just let it be. It will help you to relax.
You should eat healthy home-cooked foods, and avoid junk foods.
You must drink enough water.
You should spend quality time with friends and family daily.
You should spend time on creative hobbies like reading good books, writing journals, painting, drawing, and learning new skills or language or musical instruments.
You should get enough of seven to eight hours of sleep daily.
You must avoid tobacco, alcohol, or any substance abuse.
Live your life, do not just spend it.
Be bold and confident.

Investigations to be done include:

Complete blood count (CBC).
Thyroid profile.
Vitamin B12.
Vitamin D3.

If you have social anxiety then you do not need the tablet Olanzapine (atypical antipsychotics) and tablet Trifluoperazine (typical antipsychotics) as they both are antipsychotic medications.

You need antidepressants like tablet Sertraline (antidepressants) or tablet Escitalopram (antidepressants) to deal with anxiety.

If you want to continue the above medications (Olanzapine and Trifluoperazine), then you can add the tablet Clonazepam (Benzodiazepines) 0.5 mg at night for sleep disturbance.

I hope that you get your answer.

Thank you.