Ziprasidone (Geodon) Uses

Ziprasidone is an atypical antipsychotic, and it is used for treating schizophrenia, a mental illness in which there are unusual or abnormal thinking patterns and behaviors. Ziprasidone is also approved for the treatment of manic or mixed episodes in patients with bipolar I disorder. 

There may be other uses of ziprasidone—your pharmacist or doctor can give you further drug information.

Ziprasidone (Geodon) Mechanism of Action

Ziprasidone works by changing the levels of dopamine and serotonin, which are neurotransmitters (natural chemicals) in the brain that regulate mood, thinking, and behavior.

Ziprasidone (Geodon) Doses

Ziprasidone comes in the form of capsules to be taken by mouth in strengths of 20 mg, 40 mg, 60 mg, and 80 mg. It is also available as a prescription medicine called ziprasidone mesylate 20 mg/mL - this is an injection solution for use by healthcare providers in a healthcare setting.

Schizophrenia Treatment

The recommended starting dose of ziprasidone HCl (Geodon) capsules to treat symptoms of schizophrenia is 20 mg twice daily with food. This dose may be increased up to 80 mg twice daily if needed. Your doctor will increase the dose no sooner than 2 days after the last dose adjustment. The goal is to take the lowest effective dose of ziprasidone; therefore, your provider may observe you for improvement in symptoms for several weeks before increasing the dose. The maximum dose of ziprasidone is usually 80 mg twice daily. The safety of doses above 100 mg twice daily has not been evaluated in clinical trials. Your doctor will periodically reassess the need to continue treatment. 

For acute treatment of agitation in patients with schizophrenia, ziprasidone mesylate may be administered by intramuscular injection at a dose of 10 mg to 20 mg per day, up to a maximum of 40 mg per day, for up to 3 days. The intramuscular injection can be switched to oral ziprasidone hydrochloride capsules for long-term maintenance treatment. Intramuscular ziprasidone mesylate is not given to patients already taking oral ziprasidone HCl.

Bipolar Disorder Treatment

The recommended dose of ziprasidone for the treatment of acute manic or mixed episodes in patients with bipolar disorder is 40 mg twice daily with food. This dose may be increased to 60 mg twice daily or 80 mg twice daily on day 2, if needed. The dosage may be adjusted subsequently, based on tolerance and efficacy. The usual maintenance dose is 40 mg to 80 mg twice a day for bipolar I disorder. In clinical trials, the average dose was 120 mg daily (60 mg twice daily). Your doctor will periodically reassess the need to continue treatment with ziprasidone for bipolar I disorder.