PlainMeds provides educational information only. This is not medical advice. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist.

lorazepam vs ziprasidone

Side-by-side comparison of lorazepam and ziprasidone. Data from FDA drug databases (Orange Book, NDC Directory, recalls, shortages) covering 20,000+ approved drugs, plus CMS pricing; see our methodology.

minor Known Drug Interaction

7.9 Other Concomitant Drug Therapy Population pharmacokinetic analysis of schizophrenic patients enrolled in controlled clinical trials has not revealed evidence of any clinically significant pharmacokinetic interactions with benztropine, propranolol, or lorazepam.

Recommendation: Your doctor does not usually need to change your doses when these drugs are used together. Continue taking them as directed.

Drug Class
lorazepam Benzodiazepine
ziprasidone Atypical Antipsychotic
Type
lorazepam Prescription
ziprasidone Prescription
Summary
lorazepam

Lorazepam is a medicine that can help with anxiety. It belongs to a class of drugs called benzodiazepines, which slow down activity in the brain.

ziprasidone

Ziprasidone is a medicine used to treat mental disorders. It helps to balance chemicals in the brain to improve mood and behavior.

What It Treats
lorazepam

Lorazepam is used to manage anxiety disorders. It can also provide short-term relief from anxiety symptoms or anxiety linked to depression. However, it is not for the stress of everyday life. Talk to your doctor regularly to see if you still need this medicine.

ziprasidone

Ziprasidone treats schizophrenia in adults. It also treats manic or mixed episodes of bipolar I disorder, either alone or with lithium or valproate. This medicine can help manage mood swings and improve overall mental well-being.

How It Works
lorazepam

Lorazepam works by affecting certain chemicals in your brain. It enhances the effects of a natural brain chemical called GABA. This helps to calm your nerves and reduce anxiety.

ziprasidone

Ziprasidone is an atypical antipsychotic. It works by affecting certain chemicals in the brain, like dopamine and serotonin. By balancing these chemicals, it helps to reduce symptoms of mental illness.

Common Side Effects
lorazepam
  • Feeling sleepy or drowsy
  • Dizziness
ziprasidone
  • Feeling sleepy
  • Respiratory tract infection
  • Extrapyramidal symptoms (movement problems)
  • Dizziness
  • Restlessness
FAERS Reports
lorazepam
  • Tiredness 13,458
  • Feeling sick to your stomach 13,333
  • Loose stools 10,352
  • Difficulty breathing 9,234
  • Feeling worried or nervous 8,840
ziprasidone
  • Gaining weight 1,176
  • Diabetes 1,003
  • Feeling anxious 875
  • Type 2 diabetes 859
  • Trouble sleeping 801
Serious Warnings
lorazepam

Taking lorazepam with opioid medicines can cause very serious problems, including slowed or shallow breathing, coma, and death. Only take them together if there are no other options. Lorazepam can be habit-forming, leading to abuse, misuse, and addiction, which can result in overdose or death. Using lorazepam for a long time can cause you to become dependent on it. Stopping it suddenly can cause dangerous withdrawal symptoms. Your doctor will slowly lower your dose to prevent withdrawal.

ziprasidone

This medicine may increase the risk of death in elderly patients who have psychosis related to dementia. Ziprasidone is not approved to treat dementia-related psychosis. Talk to your doctor about the risks if you are an elderly patient with dementia.

Pregnancy
lorazepam

Lorazepam may harm an unborn baby. Talk to your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or are breastfeeding while taking this medicine. It can pass into breast milk and affect the baby.

ziprasidone

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. Babies born to mothers who use this medicine in the last 3 months of pregnancy may have withdrawal symptoms after birth. There is a pregnancy registry, call 1-866-961-2388.

Also Compare, Nearby Drugs

How to Read This lorazepam vs ziprasidone Comparison

lorazepam is classified in the Benzodiazepine drug class, while ziprasidone sits within the Atypical Antipsychotic class. Drugs from different classes work through distinct mechanisms, so a head-to-head comparison illustrates trade-offs rather than equivalence. Both drugs are prescription-only, so a licensed provider must authorize use.

Adverse event totals above are pulled from the FDA's Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS). For these top-ranked reactions alone, lorazepam has 55,217 submissions while ziprasidone has 4,714. Those figures reflect cumulative reporting volume, not per-patient risk, so older, widely dispensed drugs typically look worse on count alone. These two drugs have a known minor interaction flagged in FDA labeling, attributed to these medications do not interfere with each other's levels in the bloodstream or how the body clears them. they are processed by the body independently without interaction.. Serious warnings, pregnancy guidance, and contraindications can differ even when indications overlap.

A table cannot substitute for clinical judgment. Effectiveness, tolerability, drug-drug interactions with your other medications, kidney and liver function, pregnancy status, insurance formulary, and price all feed into a decision that only a licensed prescriber can make responsibly. Data here is sourced from FDA Structured Product Labels (SPL) and FAERS, both of which update as manufacturers and clinicians submit new information. This page is for educational purposes only, is not medical advice, and should not be used to self-switch between lorazepam and ziprasidone - always consult your physician or pharmacist first.

Important: This comparison is for informational purposes only. Drug effects vary between individuals. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist for personalized medical advice.