Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol.

Abstract

INTRODUCTION:

Haloperidol is a dopamine receptor antagonist used to treat patients with psychotic disorders. Especially at high doses, haloperidol carries a higher risk of extrapyramidal symptoms (EPS) compared to second-generation antipsychotics. Few cases of haloperidol misuse are found in the medical literature. Case Presentation. We describe a patient with schizophrenia who smoked marijuana mixed with crushed haloperidol tablets. After the smoking of cannabis and haloperidol, the patient presented to the emergency department (ED) with suicidal ideation, psychosis, and acute dystonia. With the administration of intramuscular diphenhydramine at the ED, the dystonia resolved in less than an hour. To our knowledge, this is the first report on haloperidol misuse by smoking.

CONCLUSION:

Clinicians should be aware that patients might misuse prescribed antipsychotics via unconventional routes, potentially combined with other substances.

• Authors: Angeline Pham, Joo-Young Lee, Christopher W T Miller
• Journal: Case reports in psychiatry (Case Rep Psychiatry) Vol. 2021 Pg. 4177263 ( 2021) ISSN: 2090-682X [Print] United States
• PMID: 34635875 (Publication Type: Case Reports)
• Copyright: Copyright © 2021 Angeline Pham et al.