Has anyone noticed a difference in effectiveness between haldol and abilify? Has anyone switched off from haldol injections and their symptoms gradually returned?
Haldol is a very effective and potent drug. I would not be surprised if the Abilify doesn’t quite match up to it in terms of effectiveness.
I have been on both.
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Yeah I live with my mom and she was switched from haldol injections to 10 mgs of Abilify. She kept calling to increase the dose, but the psychiatrist says keep things the same. Im the only one here to observe how things are going because my dad and her are separated. I’ve noticed that she first says she’s feeling more anxious, then she stopped watching movies and tv altogether. For the past three days she has been acting a bit unusual and withdrawn. She stopped eating much, forgot to take her diabetes meds this morning I Had to remind her. She got tearful and I asked her what’s wrong she said I was thinking of stephen hawking. i feel bad like she needs more joy in her life. But she seemed a lot happier and together on haldol. It’s been about a couple months since she switched to the abilify and Im worried Im going to lose my mom again. She was stable consistently for 5 years on Haldol. I don’t know why the psychiatrist agreed to take her off of it but I don’t know how to approach my mom and tell her this. Even though she thinks haldol sedated her or affected her memory, she’s forgetting things all the time now. She is spacing out constantly and turning the tv on to watch a movie then turning it off or switching the channel.
I think because I am on Abilify she thought it would effect her the same way but we have always had different symptoms and I don’t know why the psychiatrist thinks because both my mom and I Have a type of schizophrenia it means the same treatment will work for both of us. My mom was out of touch for several years before she was able to get help, she completely lost all touch with reality. Her illlness is more severe than mine I know it is but I have schizophrenia too so this is really hard for me being her advocate. I’m scared that they won’t listen to me and I don’t exactly know how to bring it up.
I had been on the Haldol injection for a few years, and they were starting to reduce my dose. During this time I was taking a lot of ephedrine and caffeine. I was also doing moderate exercise. The combination really pushed me over the top. I got out of hand. I felt good though, like I had just taken three Tylenol 3’s. I ended up in the hospital.
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Sorry for the difficult situation, hope it improves quickly. Sometimes unfortunately the doctors don’t seem to understand their patients’ distress and don’t adjust the medication as it should. Maybe if it’s you who call the doctor it would be easier to explain what you’ve noticed, how her behavior changed since the switch.
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Thank you for sharing your difficult experience. My mom agreed that she should go back on Haldol; she isn’t herself lately but she’s ok. I hope that the psychiatrist listens and understands when she brings it up because it’s hard for her to communicate sometimes. No tv today, I made lunch so that cheered her up, bought some tea and trying to remain cheerful even though the future seems too unpredictable.
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