If my loved one has been prescribed Haldol to help manage their aggression, are there side effects I should know about? Does Haldol tend to increase confusion? Is there another medication that might achieve the same positive effects without compromising my loved one’s level of awareness?
Haldol was one of the earliest psychotropic drugs to enter the market. At its inception, Haldol was intended to be a used as a tool for calming psychiatric patients who were often violent, but otherwise physically healthy. Haldol and its intended functions have evolved since then and it has proved to be a successful drug when used on the right person, for the right purpose, at the right time.
Everyone has a unique physiology and medications often affect individuals differently because of this fact. Just because a medication may be shown to be helpful in one scenario does not guarantee that it will be equally effective across a broad spectrum of people and situations. In a very real sense, the act of finding the right medication for an individual begins to seem like a grand guessing game. There are recorded cases in which a medication, despite its intended purpose, has shown to have an opposite effect on a small portion of the population. This phenomenon, for reasons unknown, seems to be especially prevalent in older individuals.
More often than not, Haldol is prescribed when a patient is experiencing aggressive behaviors combine with hallucinations or delusions. However, if Haldol is taken for an extended period of time, it can have many lasting side effects. If you have a loved one who is currently taking Haldol, and you suspect that they are experiencing some of these side effects, feel free to contact your physician to discuss alternative treatments.
It is also important to consider the fact that Haldol is a drug that tends to build up inside of the individual. Depending on how long your loved one was on Haldol, it could take a few full weeks for it to fully leave their system.
If you are ever concerned about your loved one and their medicinal regiment, do not hesitate to approach their physician. Schedule an appointment with him or her to discuss possible alternatives to your loved one’s current treatment plan. Ask what other medications are currently on the market and their known side effects. Your love one is not restricted to a single choice in prescription -there are many renowned medications that have been developed in recent years to combat aggression and confusion.
If you find that you are not entirely satisfied with your doctor’s response to the situation, you are entitled to seek another opinion. Both neurologists and geriatric psychiatrists are strong resources that will be up-to-date on many of your loved one’s potential treatment options. If a neurologist or a geriatric psychiatrist proposes a new medicinal regiment for you loved one, it is likely that they will start them on the lowest possible dose of the new medication and then adjust the dose as needed.
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