Lurasidone (latuda) is a drug used in the treatment of various mental and mood conditions such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. The drugs are essential in making users think more clearly and feel less nervous when engaged in daily activities. The medication may also help in reducing hallucinations. Some of the benefits associated with latuda are improved appetite, sleep, mood, and increased energy levels (Rossetti, Paladini, Brivio, Sbrini, Papp, Calabrese, Molteni, & Riva, 2018).
Drug Class
Lurasidone is a psychiatric prescribed drug that belongs to the atypical antipsychotics class of drugs. This class of drugs works by aiding a patient to restore his or her balance of various natural substances found in the brain.
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Dosage and Intake
The drug comes in the tablet form and exists in 20mg, 40mg, 60mg, 80mg, and 120mg. The tablets are orally administrated into the body often once per day. However, some conditions may affect the dosage of the drug, including age and the type of psychotic disease being treated. For example, for schizophrenia, patients aged between 13 and 17 should take a dose of 40mg per day, and should not exceed 80 mg. Adults should not exceed 160mg per day.
On the other hand, for patients with bipolar depression, adolescents aged between 10 and 17 years are required to take 20mg per day and not exceed 80mg. They should increase dosage after one week based on the clinical responses but should not exceed 80mg. Some of the conditions include patient response to the treatment and if the user is taking other medications. It is vital for the patient to inform the pharmacist and clinician of all other products that they use such as herbal products, nonprescription, and prescription drugs (Yatham, Mackala, Basivireddy, Ahn, Walji, Hu, Lam, & Torres, 2017). The drug should be taken regularly for the patient to obtain the most of its benefits. Patients who use the drug are advised to take the pill at the same time daily to help them remember.
Side Effects
Latuda has many side effects although their intensity is dependent on the condition of the user. Some of the side effects include weight gain, nausea, lightheadedness, drowsiness, mask-like facial display, agitation, dizziness, shaking, and inability to keep still. Patients are advised to inform their physicians if any of the side effects persist or gets worse. Other alternatives to latuda are available if the side effects may harm the patient. In severe cases, the drug has been noted to lead to a sharp drop in blood pressure, especially for first-time users. On this note, lightheadedness and dizziness can elevate the risk of falling, which could present dire health consequences especially to the elderly. Moreover, the drug is associated with some severe side effects such as interrupted breathing, fainting, drooling, and trouble swallowing (Loebel, Silva, Goldman, Watabe, Cucchiaro, Citrome, & Kane, 2016).
Precaution
Patients should inform the pharmacist and doctor about any allergies since the drug can trigger various forms of allergies. Moreover, the patient should tell the doctor their medical history, especially that of diabetes, cancer, stroke, liver problems, kidney problems, dementia, obesity, and low blood pressure. Also, the patient should also provide family health histories such as diabetes and cancer. Since the drug may make some people drowsy or dizzy, it is recommended that they do not drive or operate machinery until its effect wanes off (Datka, Jaeschke, Styczen, Kopemy, Waligora, Hubert, &Storman, 2016). Besides, patients should avoid alcohol while on latuda medication because the drug can increase the blood-pressure and nervous system action of the drug, making patients more dizzy and tired as well as impairing their judgment and thinking.
Interactions
The drug can be used alongside any food as it does not have any effect on the patient. However, its interactions with other drugs may result in severe consequences. For instance, using the drug with some medications may result in high side effects. Although there is insufficient information about the drugs that may result in unwanted outcomes, substances such as alcohol, marijuana, and other recreational drugs should be avoided. On the other hand, the medications prescribed by the doctor should not be changed unless approved by the physician. Besides, some medicines may interfere with the removal of lurasidone from the body, which may affect how the drug works.
Special Nursing Considerations
Nurses should consider using lurasidone to treat patients with multiple mental and mood disorders, including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and depression. However, nurses must make several critical dosing and continued use considerations. First, it is important to note that the effective use of the drug for extended periods (longer than six weeks) has not been established in controlled research. Thus, nurses that choose to use the drug past six weeks must periodically re-examine the efficiency of the drug from an individual perspective.
Contraindications and Patient Teaching
Lurasidone just like other psychotic drugs is contraindicated in patients that are taking powerful liver enzyme inhibitors, especially CYP3A4 drugs like levodropropizine, ritonavir, clarithromycin, and ketoconazole. It is also contraindicated in individuals taking liver enzyme inducers such as rifampicin, phenytoin, carbamazepine, and many others. In the U.S., the drug is not also indicated for use in both children and breastfeeding mothers. Therefore, patients need to disclose in their medical history any medications they are presently using.
References
Datka, W., Jaeschke, R. R., Styczeñ, K., Koperny, M., Waligora, M., Hubert, J., &Storman, D. (2016).Lurasidone versus typical antipsychotics for schizophrenia. Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews , (11).
Loebel, A., Silva, R., Goldman, R., Watabe, K., Cucchiaro, J., Citrome, L., & Kane, J. M. (2016).Lurasidone Dose Escalation in Early Nonresponding Patients With Schizophrenia: A Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. The Journal of clinical psychiatry , 77 (12), 1672-1680.
Rossetti, A. C., Paladini, M. S., Brivio, P., Sbrini, G., Papp, M., Calabrese, F., ...& Riva, M. (2018). S164. GABAergic Dysfunction in the Chronic Mild Stress Model: Modulation by Lurasidone Treatment. Biological Psychiatry , 83 (9), S411-S412.
Yatham, L. N., Mackala, S., Basivireddy, J., Ahn, S., Walji, N., Hu, C., ...& Torres, I. J. (2017). Lurasidone versus treatment as usual for cognitive impairment in euthymic patients with bipolar I disorder: a randomized, open-label, pilot study. The Lancet Psychiatry , 4 (3), 208-217.
