Generic Name: Haldol (haloperidol)
For Mania "If you enjoy facial tics, muscle tremors, uncontrollable pacing, rocking back and forth, stuttering, insomnia, extreme restlessness, blackouts, memory lapses, sleeping 14-16 hours a day, and a complete loss of personality, identity, and all emotions then by all means try this med. Since the injection lasts a month, you can look forward to 30 days of these symptoms. I often fantasize about injecting the doc, who gave me this horrible stuff, with a dose and then releasing him out into the world like he did to me."
For Psychosis "Worst drug by far. I ended up in the hospital in 2016 with a dystonic reaction. Maybe it's good for other people but not for me. Yes, I have Bipolar Disorder. Just my opinion, this drug should be off the market and fast."
For Psychosis "For years, my dad had really bad anger issues. He continually kept my mom in turmoil with his fits of rage to the point that one day she had a stroke. It was horrendous. When both of them went to a nursing home, my dad was evaluated and diagnosed as being psychotic. The doctor prescribed Haldol for him and within 3 days, he was a brand new person. He was calm, he laughed, and he was such a joy to visit with. He remained this way until he passed away 5 years later. If he had been given this medicine years before, I feel my mom would have lived another 20 years."
For Psychosis "This medication worked like a charm. There were no negative side effects and I lost about 15 pounds on it. It controlled all my symptoms perfectly, and really helped me with my anxiety, mild psychosis, and depression. I have a PhD and really appreciate how much this drug has helped me during my schooling. I did not relapse after I went off this drug. It has been 4 years since I went off this medication, and I am symptom-free."
For Nausea/Vomiting "They gave me this medicine for stomach pain and all it did was make me lose control physically and mentally. I could not stop moving my arms and legs, and I thought I was going to be put in a rubber room. Scared the life out of me, never again."
For Psychosis "This is going to be kind of long and full of detail. I've been using Haldol for about 3 years now. It basically started when hearing voices got really bad. The combination of Geodon and Abilify DID NOT work. I admitted myself inpatient and got my Haldol. I started on 10mg. It took all the nasty symptoms away. And still does to this day. This is one amazing medicine. I'm at the point with it now that I can barely take 2.5 mg (5mg cut in half) without feeling drugged up though. My body became very sensitive from it. You may gain some weight on this medicine. It does give you the munchies. However, I did Weight Watchers on this medicine and was able to take off some weight. Again, this medicine is downright amazing."
For Psychosis "I have been taking 50mg decanoate every 28 days, and 10mg/day orally for schizoaffective. This has been the most effective medicine I have ever used! (I have tried all the atypicals with no luck except olanzapine and lurasidone.) I have been taking it for over 10 years now. Absolutely no side effects for me, not even weight gain. When I get the shot, I usually take a nap in the afternoon because it makes me sleepy. If I don't take Haldol, I normally get very religious (but a twisted type of religious) and tortured with psychosis, and generally feel awful with bags under my eyes, acting weird, and not being able to sleep - usually landing me in the hospital. Haldol balances me almost exactly, and I am able to program computers, read, and be happy."
For Psychosis "My side effects of Haldol are restlessness and anxiety. The need to move is coupled with the desire not to. Muscle tension and tremors combined with the inability to walk correctly, heavy drooling at the mouth, nausea, and terrible constipation amounting to the inability to have a bowel movement, as well as the inability to urinate without sitting down. In addition, there is the inability to ejaculate."
For Psychosis "My dad started to see things and think things were happening that were not. He was put on Haldol and it works. They were going to slowly take him off it, and when we took his noontime pill away, he got bad again almost right away. This medicine really has worked for him and allowed him to stay home with us."
For Dementia "Haloperidol is not for use in psychotic conditions related to dementia. Haloperidol may cause heart failure, sudden death, or pneumonia in older adults with dementia-related conditions. (taken from this website)"
For Nausea/Vomiting "Sometime after my same-day surgery to treat a cancer tumor, I was given some unspecified amount of Haldol through my IV line. I was shocked when I heard I was given Haldol since it is known as an antipsychotic drug with very severe side effects. I had no idea it was ever used for the prevention of nausea and vomiting over all standards such as Zofran. Since I had the same procedure several weeks earlier, I was amazed to define the effects of what I thought was just the anesthesia were so much more severe. I had disorientation, restlessness, anxiety, memory problems, tiredness, sleepiness, constipation, and even some depression. I can only attribute the difference in my reaction to the use of Haldol. It's been about 48 hours since I was discharged from the hospital, and I still don't feel right. My advice to any patient who may be given this drug to treat/prevent nausea and vomiting is to request something else that's much safer. I would certainly never take this again."
For Nausea/Vomiting "Haldol was given to my mother for nausea/vomiting in her final days/weeks of battling colon cancer. Haldol worked great for nausea, but the side effects were horrible. She was not drowsy, she was out! Not coherent, confused, wasn't able to eat, and at times was agitated. Be very careful using this medication. It took two days after stopping the medication for it to leave her system and return to a normal state of mind."
For Nausea/Vomiting "I was given IV Haldol in the ER yesterday along with Zofran, Decadron, and Benadryl for a migraine with nausea. I react terribly to Compazine and Reglan (I feel like I can’t stand being in my own skin, want to climb the walls, etc. Indescribable, really, but awful)! I specifically asked if there was any chance Haldol would cause a similar reaction and was assured it would not. It did. I’m still agitated, unable to sleep, and anxious this morning. I cannot wait until it wears off. Definitely not worth it."
For Nausea/Vomiting "Take this medicine if you want the worst experience of your life! This caused extreme restlessness and anxiety. I felt like I couldn't move, and it was hard to talk. IV causes a more severe adverse reaction than IM or oral form. If you get these meds, make sure you are also given Benadryl, Cogentin, or a benzo to prevent these side effects! I was given Benadryl and Ativan, but they had to give me an extra dose of each because it wasn't helping enough."
For ICU Agitation "My father (now deceased) had a tendency to become agitated when confined to ICU for more than a couple of days. He was prescribed Haldol during one such stay. The medicine had a very negative effect; my father became aggressive. One morning I walked in to find that the staff had strapped his hands to the bed overnight! I complained (loudly) to another doctor and my father was taken off Haldol and moved to a private room. Almost immediately he became the sweet, even-tempered man that I always knew. I tried to keep my dad out of ICU after that."
For ICU Agitation "My 17-year-old son with severe autism was given Haldol during a pediatric ER visit. He is non-verbal and usually has severe anxiety in any healthcare setting. We took him to the ER because he appeared dehydrated after 24-36 hours of nausea, vomiting, and behavioral symptoms that had become more severe. We informed the ER physician that he typically reacts the exact opposite to sedatives than should be expected and recommended one drug that has been effective in the past. A sedative was necessary in order to obtain a CT scan. The physician wanted to use Haldol because it has been effective with kids with autism and could also help my son's nausea. My son had no problem with the nurse setting up the IV, which was not his norm. It did not take long after injecting this drug for him to go from calm, quiet, and lethargic to needing 6-7 adults to subdue him and strap his wrists and ankles to his bed. What a joke!"
For Nausea/Vomiting "I went to the ED for kidney pain and nausea. I have allergies to IV anti-nausea meds but can take them orally. They decided to give me 0.5 of Haldol intravenously. Something inside me was telling me NOT to allow this, but I was so nauseated, and they said it would help. I can take oral anti-nauseous meds, so I was confused as to why I was getting Haldol. The FDA hasn’t approved the intravenous use of Haldol in ER settings. Unfortunately, I found all of this out after the fact. Five minutes after being injected, I got hot flashes and a huge panic attack. Benadryl helped, but my pulse went to 180 bpm and slowly tapered down to 100 bpm-that’s where it stayed until this evening when I’m finally at a normal 86 bpm. It’s been two days, and I’m still feeling agitated and anxious. My advice to anyone being offered Haldol: if an ER doc wants to try to see if it works for you-say no, ask for something safer!"
For Psychosis "I've been on Haldol for 5 years. I have schizophrenia. This is the only drug that has worked over the period of having this illness. I don't feel I will ever be symptom-free, there's no magic pill, but since being on this, I've been able to manage things much better than before. Really great. I don't like the possibility of the involuntary muscle disease (can't remember what it's called), but I will take that risk to have this benefit."
For Psychosis "This was the worst experience I had in my life. I had hallucinations, and my b/p was 206/126. It was given IM in the hospital and then again at the treatment facility. I wrote a letter in my room in case they found me dead. I fought the nurse not to give me another one."
For Psychosis "Ah, I have a mixed review of Haldol. I started it years ago for psychosis. I've been on many different antipsychotics, and for me, the older typical ones work better than the newer atypicals. For a while, I was so sick I was on both Haldol and Thorazine. That combo really helped a lot. After years of 15 mg of Haldol a day, I developed pseudoparkinsonism. I would shake, I had trouble walking, I couldn't write (couldn't form the letters with a pen), and I was drooling all the time. My doctor told me I wasn't allowed to drive for 6 months. Eventually, it got to the point that my neurologist began to question the pseudoparkinsonism diagnosis -- she thought I was developing actual Parkinson's disease. I think I'm done with Haldol."
For Nausea/Vomiting "Was given this in the ER for nausea. It killed the nausea, sure, but I was so anxious! I felt as though if I stayed in that hospital bed another second, I was going to go crazy. When I was released, I raced home and took Xanax to try and combat the anxiety. It's been about 26 hours since I was injected, and I still have the urge to move and run around, like restless leg syndrome. I'd rather just be nauseous!"
For Nausea/Vomiting "I got rushed to the ER for nonstop vomiting. I was vomiting for over 10 hours until I finally decided to go to the hospital. They gave me 2 injections of Zofran but unfortunately, I was still vomiting. Then they gave me a dose of Haldol which finally stopped my vomiting. My horrible stomach cramps were gone as well. I was able to get the best possible sleep. When I woke up, I felt like a million bucks. Haldol definitely saved me!"
For Nausea/Vomiting "Went to the ER after experiencing chest pain following advice from my surgery nurse. While being there, I mentioned being slightly nauseous. I am extremely allergic to most anti-nausea medications, going into anaphylactic shock, so I was given Haldol. Immediately after injection, my heart began beating faster and my anxiety level flew off the chart. Every muscle in my body wanted to move and spasm, I was practically vibrating in the bed. Seeing as it was only days after having my abdomen cut into, it was pretty intense. It was the closest I have ever felt to being out of my mind. I had to be given another medication to counteract the effect of the Haldol in my system."
For Mania "I took this once 4 years ago, NEVER took it ever again because I had the worst side effects ever. I was on vacation at the time and I took it because of my manic episodes. I felt soooooooo sleepy yet so restless in my legs and extremely panicky. I had the worst panic attack in my life, screaming my head off at the uncomfortableness in my legs, squirming around like crazy in bed and pacing back and forth. Finally I took a bath and I realized my eyes were yellow! I almost fell to the floor but I made it to the bed and I slept from 7pm to 12pm the next day and even then I was still a zombie. Later that day the side effects wore off and I was able to enjoy my vacation again. Now I'm on a different medication. NEVER AGAIN will I take haldol because it messed me up"
For Psychosis "Very very effective. Would recommend. Helpful medicine for psychosis and mania. Helps with delusions and paranoia and voices and all that comes with a psychotic episode. Only down side is a feeling of anxiety and having to move around and can't sit still for too long when on this med but it is a very effective medication."
