Hyponatremia with Olanzapine - A Suspected Association

Hyponatremia is a rare, yet potentially life threatening complication of antipsychotics. Here, we report a case of a 45-year-old female diagnosed with schizophrenia who developed hyponatremia soon after addition of olanzapine to the existing treatment. This prompted us to evaluate the relationship between hyponatremia and olanzapine, as timely management is crucial. Naranjo algorithm established a "probable" causal relation between olanzapine and hyponatremia. Possible etiological reasons of this clinically significant and life threatening adverse event have been discussed. We report the case and the literature focusing on hyponatremia as a possible adverse event of olanzapine. Medical illnesses are often ignored or missed in patients with psychiatric disorders either due to patients' inability to report complaints or non-serious attitude of physicians towards such patients. A high index of suspicion should be kept while dealing with this probable complication.