Studies have shown that older adults with dementia (a brain disorder that affects the ability to remember, think clearly, communicate, and perform daily activities and that may cause changes in mood and personality) who take antipsychotics (medications for mental illness) such as haloperidol have an increased chance of death during treatment.
Haloperidol is not approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the treatment of behavior problems in older adults with dementia. Talk to the doctor who prescribed this medication if you, a family member, or someone you care for has dementia and is taking haloperidol. For more information, visit the FDA website:
haloperidol
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Haloperidol comes as a tablet and concentrated liquid to take by mouth. It is usually taken two or three times a day. Take haloperidol at around the same times every day. Follow the directions on your prescription label carefully, and ask your doctor or pharmacist to explain any part you do not understand. Take haloperidol exactly as directed. Do not take more or less of it or take it more often than prescribed by your doctor.
Your doctor will probably start you on a low dose of haloperidol and gradually increase your dose. Your doctor may decrease your dose once your condition is controlled. Be sure to tell your doctor how you are feeling during your treatment with haloperidol.
Haloperidol may help control your condition, but will not cure it. Continue to take haloperidol even if you feel well. Do not stop taking haloperidol without talking to your doctor. Your doctor will probably decrease your dose gradually. If you suddenly stop taking haloperidol, you may experience difficulty controlling your movements.
Tell your doctor promptly if any of these side effects occur: muscle spasm/stiffness, shaking (tremor), restlessness, mask-like facial expression, drooling. Your doctor may prescribe another medication for you to take with haloperidol to decrease these side effects.
In Canada - Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to Health Canada at 1-866-234-2345. Precautions Before taking haloperidol, tell your doctor or pharmacist if you are allergic to it; or if you have any other allergies. This product may contain inactive ingredients, which can cause allergic reactions or other problems. Talk to your pharmacist for more details.
The risk of QT prolongation may be increased if you have certain medical conditions or are taking other drugs that may cause QT prolongation. Before using haloperidol, tell your doctor or pharmacist of all the drugs you take and if you have any of the following conditions: certain heart problems (heart failure, slow heartbeat, QT prolongation in the EKG), family history of certain heart problems (QT prolongation in the EKG, sudden cardiac death).
Many drugs besides haloperidol may affect the heart rhythm (QT prolongation), including amiodarone, dofetilide, pimozide, quinidine, sotalol, procainamide, macrolide antibiotics (such as erythromycin), among others. Before using haloperidol, report all medications you are currently using to your doctor or pharmacist.
Do not flush medications down the toilet or pour them into a drain unless instructed to do so. Properly discard this product when it is expired or no longer needed. Consult your pharmacist or local waste disposal company for more details about how to safely discard your product. Images haloperidol 5 mg tablet
Data from animal experiments indicate haloperidol is not teratogenic, but is embryotoxic in high doses. In humans, no controlled studies exist. Reports in pregnant women revealed possible damage to the fetus, although most of the women were exposed to multiple drugs during pregnancy. In addition, reports indicate neonates exposed to antipsychotic drugs are at risk for extrapyramidal and/or withdrawal symptoms following delivery, such as agitation, hypertonia, hypotonia, tremor, somnolence, respiratory distress, and feeding disorder. Following accepted general principles, haloperidol should be given during pregnancy only if the benefit to the mother clearly outweighs the potential fetal risk.[18]
Haloperidol is excreted in breast milk. A few studies have examined the impact of haloperidol exposure on breastfed infants and in most cases, there were no adverse effects on infant growth and development.[28]
During long-term treatment of chronic psychiatric disorders, the daily dose should be reduced to the lowest level needed for maintenance of remission. Sometimes, it may be indicated to terminate haloperidol treatment gradually.[citation needed] In addition, during long-term use, routine monitoring including measurement of BMI, blood pressure, fasting blood sugar, and lipids, is recommended due to the risk of side effects.[29]
Other forms of therapy (psychotherapy, occupational therapy/ergotherapy, or social rehabilitation) should be instituted properly.[citation needed]PET imaging studies have suggested low doses are preferable. Clinical response was associated with at least 65% occupancy of D2 receptors, while greater than 72% was likely to cause hyperprolactinaemia and over 78% associated with extrapyramidal side effects. Doses of haloperidol greater than 5 mg increased the risk of side effects without improving efficacy.[30] Patients responded with doses under even 2 mg in first-episode psychosis.[31] For maintenance treatment of schizophrenia, an international consensus conference recommended a reduction dosage by about 20% every 6 months until a minimal maintenance dose is established.[29]
The decanoate ester of haloperidol (haloperidol decanoate, trade names Haldol decanoate, Halomonth, Neoperidole) has a much longer duration of action, so is often used in people known to be noncompliant with oral medication. A dose is given by intramuscular injection once every two to four weeks.[32] The IUPAC name of haloperidol decanoate is [4-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-[4-(4-fluorophenyl)-4-oxobutyl]piperidin-4-yl] decanoate.
As haloperidol is a high-potency typical antipsychotic, it tends to produce significant extrapyramidal side effects. According to a 2013 meta-analysis of the comparative efficacy and tolerability of 15 antipsychotic drugs it was the most prone of the 15 for causing extrapyramidal side effects.[26]
Treatment is mostly symptomatic and involves intensive care with stabilization of vital functions. In early detected cases of oral overdose, induction of emesis, gastric lavage, and the use of activated charcoal can be tried. In the case of a severe overdose, antidotes such as bromocriptine or ropinirole may be used to treat the extrapyramidal effects caused by haloperidol, acting as dopamine receptor agonists.[citation needed] ECG and vital signs should be monitored especially for QT prolongation and severe arrhythmias should be treated with antiarrhythmic measures.[18]
Haloperidol is a typical butyrophenone-type antipsychotic that exhibits high-affinity dopamine D2 receptor antagonism and slow receptor dissociation kinetics.[49] It has effects similar to the phenothiazines.[20] The drug binds preferentially to D2 and α1 receptors at low dose (ED50 = 0.13 and 0.42 mg/kg, respectively), and 5-HT2 receptors at a higher dose (ED50 = 2.6 mg/kg). Given that antagonism of D2 receptors is more beneficial on the positive symptoms of schizophrenia and antagonism of 5-HT2 receptors on the negative symptoms, this characteristic underlies haloperidol's greater effect on delusions, hallucinations and other manifestations of psychosis.[50] Haloperidol's negligible affinity for histamine H1 receptors and muscarinic M1 acetylcholine receptors yields an antipsychotic with a lower incidence of sedation, weight gain, and orthostatic hypotension though having higher rates of treatment emergent extrapyramidal symptoms.
The bioavailability of oral haloperidol ranges from 60 to 70%. However, there is a wide variance in reported mean Tmax and T1/2 in different studies, ranging from 1.7 to 6.1 hours and 14.5 to 36.7 hours respectively.[2]
The drug is well and rapidly absorbed with a high bioavailability when injected intramuscularly. The Tmax is 20 minutes in healthy individuals and 33.8 minutes in patients with schizophrenia. The mean T1/2 is 20.7 hours.[2] The decanoate injectable formulation is for intramuscular administration only and is not intended to be used intravenously. The plasma concentrations of haloperidol decanoate reach a peak at about six days after the injection, falling thereafter, with an approximate half-life of three weeks.[59]
The concentration of haloperidol in brain tissue is about 20-fold higher compared to blood levels. It is slowly eliminated from brain tissue,[60] which may explain the slow disappearance of side effects when the medication is stopped.[60][61]
Haloperidol is a high potency first-generation (typical) antipsychotic and one of the most frequently used antipsychotic medications used worldwide.7 While haloperidol has demonstrated pharmacologic activity at a number of receptors in the brain,10 it exerts its antipsychotic effect through its strong antagonism of the dopamine receptor (mainly D2), particularly within the mesolimbic and mesocortical systems of the brain. Haloperidol is indicated for the treatment of the manifestations of several psychotic disorders including schizophrenia, acute psychosis, Tourette syndrome, and other severe behavioural states.16 It is also used off-label for the management of chorea associated with Huntington's disease and for the treatment of intractable hiccups as it is a potent antiemetic. Dopamine-antagonizing medications such as haloperidol are though to improve psychotic symptoms and states that are caused by an over-production of dopamine, such as schizophrenia, which is theorized to be caused by a hyperdopaminergic state within the limbic system of the brain.9
Interestingly, in vivo pharmacogenetic studies have demonstrated that the metabolism of haloperidol may be modulated by genetically determined polymorphic CYP2D6 activity. However, these findings contradict the findings from studies in vitro with human liver microsomes and from drug interaction studies in vivo. Inter-ethnic and pharmacogenetic differences in haloperidol metabolism may possibly explain these observations.3 2ff7e9595c
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