Severe Hypoglycemic Reaction with Haloperidol: Report of a Case
GEORGE KOJAK JR. M.D.1,
MAURICE J. BARRY JR. M.D.2, , and
CLIFFORD F. GASTINEAU M.D.2
1 Resident in psychiatry, Mayo Graduate School of Medicine, University of Minnesota, Rochester, Minn. 55901
2 Sections of psychiatry and of medicine, respectively, Mayo Clinic and Mayo Foundation
A 77-year-old woman without previous glucose metabolism disorder received electroshock treatment for severe agitated depression, after which she experienced prolonged "postshock" confusion and paranoid delusions. A trial of haloperidol in gradually increasing doses resulted in severe hypoglycemia. Her symptoms disappeared with the intravenous administration of glucose, and within two days after haloperidol was discontinued glucose metabolism returned to normal.
