Trilefon (perphenazine)

Has anyone heard of / had experience with this medication? It's a sort-of in-between neuroleptic (AP). I have not done well with the 2nd gen AP's. Better with 1st gen. Trilefon is apparently a still old, but newer 1st gen?? Would love to know if anyone has experience. Thanks

Hi BethRags. Yes, I briefly took Trilafon (perphanazine). I specifically remember taking 12 mg per day, but I forget how it was split up. 6/6 or 4/4/4? I remember when I was put on it, it was for mania, and I had also been psychotic, at times. It worked beautifully! I mean, it really kicked butt and I felt clear-headed and motivated, in a very reasonable way! It's possible that it could have potentially eventually replaced the Geodon I had also been taking. The Trilafon (perphanazine) replaced a medication called Navane (thiothixene), which is also a 1st generation anti-psychotic. The Navane (at 10 mg/day) was helpful, but not as helpful at controlling my moods as the Trilafon (12 mg/day). I had only been taken off the Navane because I developed a rash.

I am VERY reluctant to write anything bad about Trilafon, because I was only on it for about a month or so. During that month period, I gained about 9 pounds. I know that sounds bad, and I confess I blamed Trilafon at the time, but I can't be certain it was the bona fide cause of the gain. I have known others who took Trilafon and did not gain any notable amount of weight on it. It turned out that after a trip to a dermatologist, it was determined that Navane did not cause the rash I mentioned, after all. I was given a cream, and the rash disappeared. I asked to be put back on Navane, because Navane was 100% weight friendly for me. My psychiatrist complied with my wishes. Unfortunately, it was only a short time before Navane caused me to experience a dystonia, something Trilafon did not do...at least while I was on it. I did not get a rash again.

Would I give Trilafon a second chance if my mania was out of control? I think I would. It's possible that it would not make me gain weight. I wouldn't know unless I tried again. Over the years, I have found that some weight gain during the course of a month is common for me, and likely not always related to a medication. I can actually gain and lose 4 lbs in a few days, depending on many factors.

Thank you, Birdie! Wow, your post gives me a big positive...what you've described is pretty much what my pdoc said today.

Interestingly, I was on Navane for quite a long time, many years ago. I found it very helpful. I tried it again a few months ago; it just didn't seem as strong as I needed a med to be.

I'm not too worried about weight after the hell I've gone through with Seroquel. Gained well over 100lbs on it - since going off just 2 months ago I've already lost 16lbs. So I know now to be very aware of extreme med-related weight gain.

I have never been on it but my daughter was . She was in a horrible Mania episode and it stomped it out of her in 3-4 days.... She was only able to tolerate it for another 2 weeks or so , she kept passing out. Her Pdoc said its a more rare side effect but it can happen. She is very sensitive to meds tho.

But I have talked to many people over the years and its been a perfect fit.

I hope it works for you, You suffered far too long on Latuda

Thank you, my dear

never been on it, but...ever the psych-geek...

a psych brought it up, as a maybe drug, because the 'atypicals' carry their own set of advese effects. . perphenazine or loxapine. both are on the less horrendous end of the 1st generation drugs...i forget why, exactly. perphenazine is a phenothiazine, so its very closely related to thorazine. dosages are lower, because its mid-potency (thorazine= low; trilafon=mid ; haldol, stelazine= high). less sedation than thorazine, but more EPS...but not as much EPS as Haldol, Prolixin, etc.

seroquel is low potency, to put this into a more modern perspective. risperidone is high potency.

in the big study, where perphenazine was compared to several 'atypicals,' perphenazine came out almost as well as zyprexa. i read somewhere that the researchers excluded some groups from the perphenazine group, which may have boosted its overall performance, but...yeah. weight gain can happen with any and all tranquilizers, its just way out of control with many of the 'atypicals,' it seems.

what a psych nurse told me is that dosage is key, plus monitoring for TD. AIMS test, every 6 months would be ideal. other than that...its been generic for a long time, its still somewhat popular and widely available.

My doctor just prescribed it to me, so hopefully it goes well

I hope the perphanazine works out really well for you, Blue_Bird! It is a medication I would try again, if needed.

Thank you! That’s good to know, I’m glad others here have had good experiences with it

Trilafon is amazingly helpful for decreasing anxiety. Almost no side effects. One side effect that's very disappointing is *sigh* weight gain. Again. Almost every darn psych med.