This belongs to the group of medicines known as neuroleptics.
Orap used to treat mental illness with symptoms such as hearing, seeing or sensing things that are not there, mistaken beliefs and problems dealing with other people.

Orap is available in tablet form.

It is also sometimes known as: Orap. You may notice the use of any of these names on the packaging of your medicine.

Why is this drug prescribed?

Orap tablets contain the active ingredient pimozide, which is a type of drug called an antipsychotic. It is sometimes described as a neuroleptic or a 'major tranquilliser', though this last term is fairly misleading, as this type of drug is not just a tranquilliser, and any tranquillising effect is not as important as its main mechanism of action in psychiatric illness. Pimozide works by blocking dopamine receptors in the brain. Dopamine is a natural compound called a neurotransmitter, and is involved in transmitting messages between brain cells. Dopamine is a neurotransmitter known to be involved in regulating mood and behaviour, amongst other things. Psychotic illness, and particularly schizophrenia, is thought to be caused by overactivity of dopamine in the brain. Pimozide blocks the receptors that dopamine acts on, and this prevents the overactivity of dopamine in the brain. This helps to control psychotic illness. Pimozide improves disturbed thoughts, hallucinations and delusions in schizophrenia and other psychotic illnesses, such as paranoid psychosis or a condition called monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis. In this condition the sufferer is preoccupied with and convinced that they have one particular medical problem, for example they may have a delusion or hallucinations that they are infected with parasites.

Treatments

* Schizophrenia * Other psychotic illness, for example paranoid psychosis or monosymptomatic hypochondriacal psychosis

What side effects can this drug cause?

* Drowsiness * Difficulty sleeping * Anxiety * Disturbances of the gut such as constipation, nausea, indigestion * Abnormal movements of the hands, legs, face, neck and tongue, eg tremor, twitching, rigidity * Dry mouth * Dizziness * Weakness * Increased sweating * Headache * Sexual problems, such as decreased sex drive and impotence * Low blood pressure * Disturbance in body temperature regulation * Abnormal heart beats * High blood prolactin level. Rarely this may lead to symptoms such as breast enlargement, production of milk or menstrual disturbances * Decreased level of sodium in the blood * Seizures