Chlorpromazine (Thorazine)
The prototypical first-generation (typical) antipsychotic that inaugurated the psychopharmacologic era in 1952. Potent D2 antagonist with substantial anticholinergic (M1), antihistaminergic (H1), and antiadrenergic (alpha1) activity that produces a broad side-effect profile including sedation, orthostatic hypotension, and anticholinergic effects. QTc prolongation risk via hERG blockade. Also notable for photosensitivity and rare cholestatic jaundice.
Projected serum levels — 100 mg, once daily
Maintenance schedule: 100 mg once daily (oral).
Loading schedule: 235 mg on day 1, then 100 mg once daily — reaching therapeutic levels sooner.
Modeled steady state after ~4 days: peak ≈ 68.6 mg, trough ≈ 42.5 mg body load. Population-based estimate over 15 days for a 100 mg dose at a 70 kg reference body mass — the interactive app scales curves to your doses, timing, and body mass.
Key facts
- Category
- Antipsychotic
- Route modeled
- Oral
- Model confidence
- inferred
- Half-life
- 30 h
- Common dose
- 100 mg
- Suggested maximum
- 800 mg/day
- Reference dose range
- 50–800 mg (single dose)
- Suggested cadence
- once daily
- Validated against
- 100 mg oral — Cmax 0.050 mg/L at 3 h
Research behind this entry
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Effectiveness of antipsychotic drugs in patients with chronic schizophrenia
CATIE trial of 1,493 patients comparing five antipsychotics; the perphenazine arm (also a first-generation drug like chlorpromazine) showed comparable overall effectiveness to second-generation antipsychotics,…
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Chlorpromazine versus placebo for schizophrenia
Comprehensive Cochrane systematic review confirming chlorpromazine's efficacy versus placebo for global improvement in schizophrenia across 55 trials (5,124 participants), while documenting the substantial adverse…
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Pharmacokinetics of chlorpromazine after single and chronic dosage
Foundational PK study establishing chlorpromazine's extensive first-pass metabolism, long elimination half-life (~30 h), saturable kinetics at higher doses, and the clinical rationale for BID/TID dosing despite the…
3 published studies referenced in the app, each with a plain-language summary.