Haloperidol

Haloperidol can help treat psychotic symptoms and some severe acute distress. In substance-related care, its purpose, safety limits and the illness being treated need to remain clear.

Haloperidol is an antipsychotic medicine. It can help with symptoms such as hallucinations or strongly held false beliefs in particular clinical conditions. It may also be encountered in acute substance-related care. A prescription does not by itself establish a lifelong diagnosis or mean that addiction has been treated.

In dangerous alcohol withdrawal, antipsychotics may sometimes be added to other treatment for persistent hallucinations or delirium. Haloperidol is not a substitute for treatment that protects against withdrawal seizures and should not be relied on as the sole treatment for alcohol-withdrawal delirium. Sudden confusion needs immediate medical help, whatever its suspected cause.

New intense restlessness, muscle spasms, stiffness or involuntary movements needs prompt clinical review. Difficulty breathing or swallowing, collapse, or high fever with severe stiffness and altered awareness needs emergency medical help. These can be signs of serious medicine effects or another urgent illness.

Haloperidol can affect heart rhythm, alertness and movement. The care team needs to consider other medicines, heart conditions and particular vulnerabilities such as Parkinson's disease or dementia with Lewy bodies. Do not independently change or stop treatment; urgent adverse effects need immediate assessment, and routine changes need a clear plan.

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