Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol

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 med...

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Main Authors: Angeline Pham, Joo-Young Lee, Christopher W. T. Miller
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Wiley 2021-01-01
Series:Case Reports in Psychiatry
Online Access:http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4177263
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author Angeline Pham
Joo-Young Lee
Christopher W. T. Miller
author_facet Angeline Pham
Joo-Young Lee
Christopher W. T. Miller
author_sort Angeline Pham
collection DOAJ
description 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.
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series Case Reports in Psychiatry
spelling doaj-art-42160e9e501e44dda42c745fe9824d3e2025-08-20T02:37:51ZengWileyCase Reports in Psychiatry2090-682X2090-68382021-01-01202110.1155/2021/41772634177263Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked HaloperidolAngeline Pham0Joo-Young Lee1Christopher W. T. Miller2Department of Psychiatry, University of Maryland Medical Center, USADepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland Medical Center, USADepartment of Psychiatry, University of Maryland Medical Center, USAIntroduction. 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.http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4177263
spellingShingle Angeline Pham
Joo-Young Lee
Christopher W. T. Miller
Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
Case Reports in Psychiatry
title Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
title_full Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
title_fullStr Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
title_full_unstemmed Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
title_short Acute Extrapyramidal Side Effects from Smoked Haloperidol
title_sort acute extrapyramidal side effects from smoked haloperidol
url http://dx.doi.org/10.1155/2021/4177263
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AT jooyounglee acuteextrapyramidalsideeffectsfromsmokedhaloperidol
AT christopherwtmiller acuteextrapyramidalsideeffectsfromsmokedhaloperidol