A member asked:

I hope that this question is not too simplistic to be answered. if an 88 year old, very unwell pt is administered 2 mg of haloperidol for delirium over a 14 hour period then how long would it take for the medication to completely "leave the system"?

3 doctors weighed in across 2 answers
Dr. John Gaffney answered

Specializes in Psychiatry

Haldol (haloperidol): Haloperidol has a half life of 18 hours ... So the effects of this medicine will mostly be gone by this point. But the general rule of thumb is that a drug is completely out of the body if you take the half life and multiply by 5. So, 90 hours is the answer. Hope that helps!

Answered 10/13/2015

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IT depends on the: patient's kidney excretion/clearance and liver function. It also depends on under what circumstances the 88 year old person received haloperidol, and how (intra muscular, oral or intravenous). It depends on when the patient was given that dose, if he had also been on other antipsychotics or psychotropics such as benzodiazepines, hypnotics, etc.. So there is no easy answer, but 1 day is reasonabl

Answered 1/22/2017

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