Had many psychoses. I’m on 0.8mg of haldol now and I’m doing mostly fine with this amount… Can work, live alone, be social and happy, but still slightly blunted/cut off and with some milder positives and negatives at times. Had a few bad moments or weeks the last 1.5 years, but generally I’ve been well.
But…my psychiatrist said, that this amount of meds isn’t even clinically effective in adults - this amount of meds does nothing against psychoses in adults, according to her. I’m confused - does that mean I could just as well stop?
Don’t worry, I won’t just stop. But I’m confused by what they say. It seems kind of weird that they say this does nothing, while I feel it does take the edge off symptoms and blunts good feelings. What does it mean if she says it is not clinically effective?
Thanks. I do feel at bad times this dose makes exactly the difference between real relapse with going to a ward and getting anxious at times, but being aware enough to manage symptoms by getting help and raising meds for a bit.
Yes, I see. Well, she say she trusts me with deciding on the dose, but I was sad about being on meds and they said it is not even a clinically effective dose. Maybe she just wanted to say something to make me feel more at ease with taking meds. It does seem to be close to a therapeutic dose though. And for me it’s working exactly right… so I’m not stopping.
Everybody is different. You’re probably just very sensitive to the medication, and that’s why a lower dose works well for you. I’m treatment-resistent, so i end up taking 2 different AP’s to stop having psychotic episodes. I’ll be switching to clozapine soon. I say, if it works for you, keep taking it. It is good that you’re managing well on this dose.
Yes, I’m sure. There is a liquid version of haldol, drops. One drop is 0.1 mg. It’s quite good for people who want to withdraw from AP or lower the dose, since you can do it so gently, with such tiny steps, that it is much safer and causes less withdrawal symptoms.
My wife only takes 0.32mg Haloperidol a day, it is enough to stop her pseudo seizures.
I would need to take 10 times that amount to have a good effect on me.
It may be that your doctor doesn’t think it’s necessary. Maybe he thinks you’re obviously not getting a good effect from your current dose. But you could ask him anyway if he could do a blood test on you to check your levels of Haldol. There’s a small chance that you are a slow metabolizer and that your serum levels are higher than your dose would suggest.
Oh, yes, they talked about that “slow metabolizer” thing when I was in the clinic, because they saw such a fast and strong impact - both positive and negative - from small doses of meds. They never measured it. I will ask!
My doctor told me 40 mg of Geodon (my old dose) wasn’t clinically effective, so I stopped it. I figured it was just placebo, and I would be fine. This was a disaster. I ended up back in the hospital and took months to stabilize again. Now, I need 80 mg of Geodon to have the same level of stability as before.
Everyone reacts to meds differently. If your current dose is working, don’t rock the boat.
It does seem to be close to a therapeutic dose though. And for me it’s working exactly right… so I’m not stopping.
It’s quite good for people who want to withdraw from AP or lower the dose, since you can do it so gently, with such tiny steps, that it is much safer and causes less withdrawal symptoms.