These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An individual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
Reglan
Question: How long should a patient be kept on reglan, 10 milligrams, and should they be monitored
closely?
Answer: Reglan(metoclopramide) is an extremely useful drug in treating GI motility disorders.
For people with severe reflux, or general slowness of the GI tract resulting in vomiting and
malabsorption, this drug can work wonders. It is also useful in diabetic gastroenteropathy of
evening out the GI speed. There is no drug as effective as Reglan. However, in some patients
it can cause irreversible neurologic side effects. These are usually seen as facial tics and
movements. Stopping the drug at the earliest sign and using as little as possible will
minimize this problem. However, some patients are very susceptible and can get irreversible
facial tics with small doses. There are other drugs which are not used, such as propulsid for
GI motility disorders. While they do not work as well, they also do appear to cause the
neurologic side effects.
