Chlorpromazine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands

Chlorpromazine is a medicine sold in the U.S. under 2 brand and generic names. Below: what the FDA label says, every product that contains it, what the pills look like, and its recall record.

By the pharmaranks editorial teamReviewed against the FDA (openFDA label, NDC Directory & Enforcement) sourcesUpdated Jul 24, 2026How we research

Key facts

Available as: Tablet · Capsule, extended release · Injectable
Sold as: 2 products — Thorazine and Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride
Prescription?: Prescription only
Generic available?: Yes
What the pharmacy pays: about $12 for a 30-count supply — not your price

Every chlorpromazine product we track (2)

Same active ingredient — different manufacturer, form, price and FDA recall record. That last one is what our independent score measures.

Chlorpromazine products
#	Drug	Rating	Type	Form	Generic?	Pharmacy pays
1	Thorazine	72/100	Prescription	Tablet	Generic	$12	View →
2	Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride	Not yet rated	Prescription	Concentrate	Generic	$12	View →

What chlorpromazine pills look like

Imprint codes, colour and shape from the FDA’s labelling data. Match the imprint on your pill — or search any imprint.

Chlorpromazine pill imprints
Imprint	Strength	Colour	Shape	Maker
509	10 mg	red	round	—
510	25 mg	yellow	round	—
512	100 mg	white	round	—
513	200 mg	white	round	—
C2	25 mg	yellow	round	—
C3	50 mg	yellow	round	—
C4	100 mg	yellow	round	—
C5	200 mg	yellow	round	—
G4	10 mg	blue	round	—
G5	25 mg	blue	round	—
G6	50 mg	gray	round	—
G7	100 mg	gray	round	—

Chlorpromazine recalls

From the FDA Enforcement database. A recall covers specific lots — not the drug as a whole.

How long chlorpromazine keeps

No chlorpromazine label we read sets a separate limit for after opening, but they do specify how it must be stored — and the stability behind any date assumes those conditions.

Chlorpromazine and breastfeeding

From LactMed, the US National Library of Medicine’s Drugs and Lactation Database — quoted, not rewritten.

Chlorpromazine is detectable in the milk of some mothers during therapy, but levels appear not to correlate well with the maternal dose or serum level. Some breastfed infants become drowsy during maternal chlorpromazine therapy. Very limited long-term follow-up data indicate no adverse developmental effects when the drug is used alone. A safety scoring system finds chlorpromazine possible to use cautiously during breastfeeding. However, using it in combination with haloperidol can negatively affect development. Monitor the infant for excessive drowsiness during breastfeeding and for developmental milestones, especially if other antipsychotics are used concurrently.

Full LactMed record for chlorpromazine: levels in milk, effects in breastfed infants, and the drugs it would consider instead

National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, record revised March 15, 2025. LactMed states its information is not a substitute for professional judgement.

What people report to the FDA about chlorpromazine

The FDA Adverse Event Reporting System (FAERS) collects reports from patients and clinicians. It holds 1,164 reports naming chlorpromazine, and the FDA flagged 91% of those reports as serious. The effects reported most often — leaving out reports about overdose, misuse or the condition being treated, which dominate the raw list for common medicines:

somnolence47 reports
neuroleptic malignant syndrome45 reports
hypotension44 reports
maternal exposure during pregnancy40 reports
sopor38 reports
dizziness35 reports
headache35 reports
foetal exposure during pregnancy34 reports

Read these as a signal, not a rate. A report does not mean chlorpromazine caused the effect — anyone can file one, and many describe people taking several medicines for several conditions. Crucially there is no denominator: FAERS does not record how many people took the drug, so these counts cannot be turned into “X% of patients” — a bigger number often just means a more widely used or more talked-about drug. Duplicates exist, and publicity drives reporting. For what is actually established, read the FDA label.

Source: openFDA drug/event (FAERS), retrieved August 25, 2026.

Related calculators

How long it stays in your system →

Frequently asked questions

Can you take chlorpromazine with other medicines?

It depends on the medicine. We check it against the FDA labels rather than guessing: our interaction checker searches each drug's own label for the other and quotes what it says, naming the section it came from. Run chlorpromazine against whatever else you take — and remember that a label not naming a drug is not the same as that combination being safe.

What brand names is chlorpromazine sold under?

We track 2 chlorpromazine-containing products in the U.S.: Thorazine and Chlorpromazine Hydrochloride. They are the same active ingredient; they differ in form, manufacturer, price and FDA recall record.

What forms does chlorpromazine come in?

Across the brands we track, chlorpromazine is currently marketed as tablet, capsule, extended release and injectable, per the FDA's National Drug Code Directory. Each form is dosed differently — follow the label for the exact product you were prescribed.

Is there a generic chlorpromazine?

Yes. Our catalog lists 1 generic chlorpromazine product alongside the brand versions. A generic has the same active ingredient and must meet the FDA's bioequivalence standard; it usually costs less. Ask your pharmacist which one your plan covers.

Has chlorpromazine been recalled?

The FDA's Enforcement database lists at least 5 recall records whose product description mentions chlorpromazine. The most recent: Major ChlorproMAZINE Hydrochloride Tablets (Sep 12, 2025). A recall applies to specific lots, not to the drug as a whole — check the record for the affected lot numbers.

Cite this page

APA: pharmaranks. (2026, July 24). Chlorpromazine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands. https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/chlorpromazine
MLA: “Chlorpromazine: uses, dosing, side effects & brands.” pharmaranks, 24 July 2026, https://pharmaranks.com/drugs/chlorpromazine.

We summarise public FDA and NIH sources — for a clinical claim, cite the primary source we link to as well.

Sources: FDA openFDA drug label, National Drug Code Directory, and Enforcement (recall) database. This page reproduces public FDA data and is not medical advice. Dosing is set by your prescriber.

Read the full FDA label for chlorpromazine on DailyMed (NIH) ↗.