What is trifluoperazine used for?

Indications and Usage, quoted from the label by Mylan Institutional Inc. (ANDA040209). Cross-references to other label sections are left out.

For the management of schizophrenia.

Trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets, USP are effective for the short-term treatment of generalized non-psychotic anxiety. However, trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets are not the first drug to be used in therapy for most patients with non-psychotic anxiety because certain risks associated with its use are not shared by common alternative treatments (i.e., benzodiazepines).

When used in the treatment of non-psychotic anxiety, trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets should not be administered at doses of more than 6 mg per day or for longer than 12 weeks because the use of trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets at higher doses or for longer intervals may cause persistent tardive dyskinesia that may prove irreversible (see WARNINGS).

The effectiveness of trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets as a treatment for non-psychotic anxiety was established in a 4-week clinical multicenter study of outpatients with generalized anxiety disorder (DSM-III). This evidence does not predict that trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets will be useful in patients with other non-psychotic conditions in which anxiety, or signs that mimic anxiety, are found (i.e., physical illness, organic mental conditions, agitated depression, character pathologies, etc.).

Trifluoperazine hydrochloride tablets have not been shown effective in the management of behavioral complications in patients with mental retardation.

Source: DailyMed label, set id f742a579-411a-4140-91c4-edc735d638fa, version 11, effective July 22, 2025. NDC 51079-572, one of 24 listings for this product.