Motility, Parkinsonism, and Prolactin With Thiothixene and Thioridazine

• Clinical impressions suggest that thioridazine hydrochloride produces fewer extrapyramidal effects and more sedation than thiothixene. These drugs were given, each for three weeks, to 15 chronic schizophrenic outpatients in a counterbalanced, double-blind, crossover study. Spontaneous locomotion was recorded with an unobtrusive actometer toward the end of each three-week drug period. Surprisingly, patients were significantly more active with thioridazine, whereas parkinsonian scores, prolactin levels, and Brief Psychiatric Rating Scale scores remained about equal with the two drugs; thioridazine's extrapyramidal side effects were not "atypical." There are some explanations for why common clinical impressions and recent rodent studies have not predicted these results.