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Do you find that hydroxyzine worsens cognitive symptoms in patients who are already susceptible to cognitive impairment?

e.g., schizophrenia, ADHD & dementia
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What do you recommend as the best pharmacologic alternative for restlessness or anxiety?

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4 Answers
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Psychiatry · Next Step 2 Mental Health
Answered on

Hydroxyzine should not have a direct negative effect on cognition. For decades after its inception, it was lopped in with Benadryl in terms of its receptor binding affinity profile and is listed in several anticholinergic burden scales as being anticholinergic. Similar to the child’s game ‘telephone...

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Psychiatry · University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
Answered on

The use of hydroxyzine has become much more frequent in recent years as we have become wary of more effective anti-anxiety medications due to their addictive potential. It seems that its impact is primarily a dulling of the senses and excitability, but reactions are variable from individual to indiv...

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Psychiatry · South Broward Hospital District
Answered on

No, because while the common train of thought is that hydroxyzine is anticholinergic, that's not the case. Just because it is anti-histamine like diphenhydramine doesn't mean they share all the same properties pharmacokinetically. Diphenhydramine doesn't share the same Ki for the 5HT1A receptor as h...

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Psychiatry · Community Services Group
Answered on

Thank you, Professor @Dr. First Last. Another "anti-anxiety" medication used frequently in ER and PCP offices is Xanax. I used to hear "once riding a tiger, it is difficult to get off of it". I see a lot of patients who have presented the whole psychological spectrum from depression to psychosis wit...

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