Why is Caplyta called a Novel Antipsychotic?
ALL antipsychotic medication labels including Caplyta clearly state that their pharmacological mechanisms of action are not known. Theories of how they work are proposed, but are still unknown. Antipsychotics from the 1950s forward to the present have been suggested to either suppress or activate certain neurotransmitters, or to partially do so, along with perhaps affecting other neurotransmission factors. These mechanics are as yet not completely understood.
These early antipsychotic drugs were found useful in reducing unwanted symptoms of schizophrenia such as hallucinations, hearing voices, or agitation. For this reason, antipsychotics were originally licensed to use in the treatment of schizophrenia. In a crisis, antipsychotics do work to reduce schizophrenic symptoms. But their long-term effects are also incompletely understood.
And also of some concern, as more drugs come to market, the range of conditions this class of drugs is licensed to treat has expanded.
In 2019 Caplyta was approved to treat symptoms of schizophrenia in adults, followed by approval for treating depression in bipolar 1 and bipolar 2 conditions in 2021.
Although the pharmaceutical mechanisms of action are still uncertain, it has been surmised that Caplyta affects dopamine, serotonin, and glutamate transmission. This is not unlike many of the earlier antipsychotics that have come on the market since the 1950s. For patent purposes, each drug must claim a distinct molecular profile, even though they are all reportedly based on manipulating neurotransmission as a feature that is common to them all.
Certainly, the prescribing applications are new, and point to why the term novel can be correctly used to describe Caplyta.4,5
Is Long-Term Caplyta Safe in Pregnancy?
The drug’s label reports safety concerns for the child where the drug is taken during pregnancy, especially up to and including the 3rd trimester. Additionally, it has been determined that the drug does leech into the breast milk of nursing mothers — therefore breastfeeding while taking Caplyta is not recommended.1
Where the mother has taken Caplyta during pregnancy, the newborn may experience a number of withdrawal and extrapyramidal symptoms. These adverse effects may lessen in a few days after birth, or may persist much longer, requiring long-term care or in some cases, hospitalization.
Neonatal risks to the newborn can include:
- Agitation
- Hypertonia (muscle stiffness, difficult to move the muscles)
- Hypotonia (floppiness, weak muscles)
- Tremor
- Somnolence
- Respiratory distress
- Feeding disorder
Feeding disorder is a termed used in pediatrics to denote problems in feeding such as these:
- Arching or stiffening of the back during feeding
- Sucking weakly
- Drooling
- Gagging
- Spitting out, or spitting up after swallowing
- Coughing
- Not gaining weight as expected
The disorder itself can be misdiagnosed as a symptom of “autism” or a number of other potential diagnoses, especially by those who are over-eager to implement labeling and drugging with experimental medications at every turn, especially in children and other vulnerable populations.8,9
For new mothers, dealing with such problems can be overwhelming for both mother and child. These neonatal long-term effects may be best avoided by gently weaning the mother off Caplyta well before the third trimester.
Caplyta and Concerns about Infertility
Though no human studies were reported, animal studies on Caplyta showed that the drug can impair both female and male fertility.
Regulators require prescribers to disclose these concerns to their patients before prescribing Caplyta, especially for those of child-bearing age, or who are planning a pregnancy.
Caplyta and the Elderly Population
As in all antipsychotic medications, Caplyta packaging has to contain a “black box” warning for elderly dementia patients. This is because past studies showed that elderly dementia patients compared to younger patients, experienced a significantly increased risk for death when taking antipsychotic medications.
Apart from the dementia psychosis population, no age-specific drug trials were done to determine if Caplyta had other risks specific to elderly patients compared to younger patients. However, in the Drug Safety Journal an expert opinion on the antipsychotic class of drugs generally was expressed that stated dose-dependent risks were present in the elderly who used antipsychotic medications. These included increased risk for falls and fractures, extrapyramidal effects, pneumonia, pulmonary embolism, venous thromboembolism and infections require extra vigilant monitoring to prevent such outcomes in this population. Safety concerns based on real-world data regarding risks for diabetes and kidney injury were also voiced.7
Alternatives at ATMC to Help Caplyta Long-Term Effects
It is not at all uncommon for persons who have taken antipsychotic medication for a long time, to experience unwanted side effects, and who decide to reduce or discontinue the medication.
10,11 The difficulty can be in finding the correct help to do so safely. This is our specialty at Alternative to Meds Center. In a safe and friendly in-patient setting, we have helped thousands of people improve their mental wellness while at the same time reduce or eliminate medications that either stopped working, or in some cases just did not work well at all.
Each person is unique, and so their program must also be uniquely tailored to that person’s specific profile, history, and what they want to achieve and improve.
There cannot be a one-size-fits-all approach. What works best is thorough assessments, lab testing, nutrition and diet corrections, slow, slow, slow tapering managed by physicians who are familiar with tapering off antipsychotics, flanked by a wealth of comfort therapies for stress reduction, exercise for feel-good energy, cleansing for neurotransmitter rehabilitation, individual counseling, and many other well-managed holistic therapeutics used at ATMC.
Call us for more information for you or a loved one, and find out how easy it may be to enroll and start reclaiming your mental wellness. ATMC is insurance friendly and we can help determine what coverage you can expect. It is possible to recover from the long-term effects of Caplyta and other medications by learning about and using the correct tools. Find out more by calling us today.
You may also enjoy reading these articles:
Antipsychotic Withdrawal
Antipsychotic Alternatives
Inpatient Medication Tapering
