Posted by med_empowered on July 30, 2005, at 7:12:46
In reply to Re: Haloperidol (Haldol), posted by Declan on July 30, 2005, at 4:29:23
yeah...i get really upset when i read about the continued use of higher-range doses of haloperidol and other "old-school" neuroleptics. Apparently, one of the big problems with the older neuroleptics--and one reason why the "atypicals" seemed so attractive, especially when they were first introduced--is that doctors (particularly in the UK and the US, it seems) had/have a tendency to be really heavy-handed with them. Thus, it seems that haloperidol given @ 4mgs/ a day *MAX* (most people can take less--I read a study where 2mgs got good results) can give pretty good control of positive symptoms and a bit of help with some negative symptoms. However, as ed_uk pointed out, there was/is a tendency to sometimes RX haldol well into the double-digits...10,15,20mgs...as part of *standard* treatment; I shudder to think what dosages the "treatment resistant" were given. Thus, today, when Thorazine is used you often see RXs for a 300mgs or so for acute mania/acute schizophrenic psychosis...20, 30 years ago, it wasn't entirely uncommon to see 700mgs, sometimes dosages exceeding 1,500mgs RX'd. Also, its kind of scary to realize that for a long time, neuroleptics were "discovered" when the investigational compound showed signs of *neurotoxicity* (especially Parkinson's-like symptoms and reduced motor activity) in animals...the old-school antipsychotics were identified not through a specific effect on psychosis, but through their neurotoxic effects on test animals. Now that's crazy.
poster:med_empowered
thread:535356
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050728/msgs/535562.html