Neurological and Psychiatric Pharmacology

CAGE: Cut down, Annoyed, Guilty, Eye opener

A mnemonic for the CAGE screening questions and the dependence features.

Long acting benzodiazepine plus thiamine, with seizure and delirium risk

A memory aid for treating alcohol withdrawal.

SSRIs, SNRIs, tricyclics and MAO inhibitors

A memory aid for the antidepressant classes and their distinguishing features.

Sodium channel blockade, GABA enhancement or calcium channel blockade

A memory aid for how anticonvulsants work and their key toxicities.

Extrapyramidal effects with typicals, metabolic effects with atypicals

A memory aid for the adverse effects of antipsychotics.

GABA-A enhancement giving anxiolysis, sedation, anticonvulsant and muscle relaxant effects

A memory aid for the benzodiazepines and their clinical uses.

Cholinesterase inhibitors first, memantine second

A memory aid for the drugs used in dementia and what to avoid.

A narrow therapeutic index drug requiring regular level, renal and thyroid monitoring

A memory aid for the safe use of lithium.

Glutamate excites, GABA inhibits, and the monoamines modulate

A memory aid for the main central neurotransmitters and their roles.

Levodopa with a decarboxylase inhibitor, dopamine agonists, MAO-B and COMT inhibitors

A memory aid for the drug classes used in Parkinson disease.

Effective but slow, with early worsening and a discontinuation syndrome

A memory aid for the practical points of prescribing SSRIs.

Triptans are 5-HT1 agonists causing cranial vasoconstriction

A memory aid for acute and preventive migraine treatment.

Typicals cause movement problems, atypicals cause metabolic ones

A memory aid for the two generations of antipsychotic and their side effects.