Does anyone know of research done on the use of haldol in the elderly?  Does
short-term use of the drug ever produce long-term side-effects after
the use of the drug?  My grandmother recently had to be hospitalized
and was given large doses of haldol for several weeks.  Although the
drug has been terminated, she has changed from a perky, slightly
senile woman into a virtual vegetable who does not talk to anyone
and who cannot even eat or brush her teeth without assistance.  It
seems incredible to me that such changes could take place in the
course of just one and one-half months.  I have to believe that the
combination of the hospital stay and some drug(s) are in part
catalysts for this.  Any comments?

--

I've seen people in their forties and fifties become disoriented and
demented during hospital stays. In the examples I've seen, {*filter*} were
definitely involved.

My own father turned into a vegetable for a short time while in the
hospital. He was fifty-three at the time, and he was on 21 separate
medications. The family protested, but the doctors were adamant, telling
us that none of the {*filter*} interact. They even took the attitude that, if
he was disoriented, they should put him on something else as well! With
the help of an MD friend of the family, we had all his medication
discontinued. He had a seizure that night, and was put back on one drug.
Two days later, he was his old self again. I guess there aren't many
medical texts that address the subject of 21-way interactions.

I don't mean this as a cheap shot at the medical profession. It is an
aspect of hospitals that is very frightening to me. Docs seem to believe
that, because they have close control of you, it's quite all right to
take your bodily equilibria into their own hands. That control reduces
the chance that the patient will make a mistake, but health care
providers can make mistakes too, and mistakes can be deadly under those
circumstances.

I grant you that sometimes there's no choice. Nevertheless, I suggest
you procure a list of the {*filter*} your grandmother is getting, and discuss
it with an independent doc. Her problems may not be the effect of HALDOL
at all. HALDOL may have been used validly, or it may have been
prescribed because OTHER medication confused her, and because the
hospital normally prescribes HALDOL for the confused elderly.

Just my opinion,

-Larry (obviously not a doc) C.

No wonder he became confused!  With so many {*filter*}, it is almost impossible
to know which one is causing the problem.  And because some {*filter*}
potentiate the effect of each other, they can make the side effects
all the worse, and even dangerous.  (kinda like mixing {*filter*} and
antihistamines!)

Unfortunately, doctors prescribe {*filter*} to treat the side effects of
the {*filter*} a patient is receiving.  If one drug they are taking causes
the patient's {*filter*} pressure to go up, many times an antihypertensive
is prescribed instead of re-evaluating the need for the original drug.
This is why many older {*filter*}s are trying to take a dozen or so {*filter*}
at home!!!!

I fully agree.  In addition, she proably should be examined by another
doctor who can re-evaluate the need for the medications she is taking.
I can't remember the guidelines I either saw in a text or heard during
a lecture, but any elderly {*filter*} who is receiving medications should have
the need for the drug re-evaluated regularly.  If her current physician
is unwilling to do this, find one who will.  Either check the phone
book for a physician who specializes in geriatric medicine or gerontology,
or contact a physician referral line or the American Medical Society.
By finding a geriatric specialist, he (she) will more likely be in tune
with the special needs of elderly {*filter*}s and maybe can help.

 Speaking from experience, one doesn't need {*filter*} to become disoriented
during hospital stays. I was in hosp for 5 days in late Jan; what with
general noise at all hours of night, staff coming every time I turned over,
or whatever, to check me out, I didn't get much sustained sleep at night.
Spent days groggy & dozing, and all it was from my perspective was that I
was TIRED!

   BobM - Let's *REINVENT* hospital organization!s

Haldol, one of the wonder {*filter*} that works wonders.  If you're a carrot that
is.
***************************************************************************
Henry Dunham (Chip) EMT-D, NREMT
Coordinator of EMS Operations
Houston Field House EMS

***************************************************************************

: I've seen people in their forties and fifties become disoriented and
: demented during hospital stays. In the examples I've seen, {*filter*} were
: definitely involved.

: My own father turned into a vegetable for a short time while in the
: hospital. He was fifty-three at the time, and he was on 21 separate
: medications. The family protested, but the doctors were adamant, telling
: us that none of the {*filter*} interact. They even took the attitude that, if
: he was disoriented, they should put him on something else as well! With
: the help of an MD friend of the family, we had all his medication
: discontinued. He had a seizure that night, and was put back on one drug.
: Two days later, he was his old self again. I guess there aren't many
: medical texts that address the subject of 21-way interactions.

I saw the same thing happen to my father, and I can more or less validate your
take on hospitals.  It seems to me that medical science understands precious
little about taking care of the human machine.  {*filter*} are given as a
response to symptoms (and I guess that makes sense since all the studies that
validate the effectiveness of those {*filter*} are based on a narrow
assessment of the degree of particular symptoms).  But there seems
to be very little appreciation for the well-being of a person
outside of the numbers that appear on a test.  I watched my dad
wither away and lose huge amounts of body fat and muscles tissue
while in the hospital.  There is something a little crazy about a
system in which there is more attention paid to giving you every
latest drug available than there is attention paid to whether you
have had enough to eat to prevent loss of muscle tissue.  It is
really, really bizarre.    

--

I agree with eveerything you've said, Larry. I *am* a doc, and regularly fight
battles with colleagues over medications, especially in the sedative area. It
never ceases to amaze me how many doctors' response to a serious
side-effect is to treat it with another drug, rather than withdraw the drug
causing the problem, or replacing it with another preparation if ti's
essential...

Call me a nihilist if you will, but physicians cause as many problems as they
solve in some places...

The Wisp.