Haldol has saved my life, Is there long term effects from staying on the Haldol?

I'm new to this so bare with me. Here's a little history about me. I was diagnosed with Bipolar II about seven years ago, and diagnosed with OCD eighteen years ago. Looking back I know the OCD has been an issue since I was a child and I was misdiagnosed with the depression for several years until I was finally diagnosed with the Bipolar disorder. I have had horrible luck with medications and psychiatrists as well until recently. I'm allergic to Abilify, Zyprexa, Zoloft, Saphris, and now Lithium. All of these medications have caused my tongue and throat to swell up.

I believe I have finally met the right psychiatrists. I have only seen him two times, but I feel a good vibe off of him. I was finally correctly diagnosed with not having Bipolar II, but Bipolar I with mixed episodes. He doesn't give me the " this medicine should have worked for you" and " I don't know what else to do for you" comments.

I haven't talked to many people that have Bipolar, but I seem to be manic most of the time with every now and then going into a two to three day depression. My recent manic episode went on for about four months. When I'm manic I want to snap at people verbally and I can't seem to sleep even though I have been on the medications. During the mania I pull out my hair and pick at my scalp, and certain sounds drive me crazy angry. It is so frustrating.

I recently came off of Seroquel because my sugars and triglycerides were thru the roof and became pre-diabetic and am on medication for it. I had been on Seroquel for a few years and was up to 400 mg when I came off of it. It was pure hell for me with the withdrawals. I could not sleep, I was shaking, and was going from cold to hot every few minutes. I was taking Lunesta, herbal sleep-aid, Restoril, benadryl, and nyquil and would only sleep about 3 hours. I missed so much work during this time. All of this was before I recently switched doctors. My new doctor prescribed me Saphris and then Lithium which I found out I was allergic to.

I went on Haldol recently and this is the best I have felt in my entire life. I have only missed one day of work in the past three weeks. I always seem to miss work, so this has been a victory for me. The last time I saw the doctor he said he was going to switch me to Latuda the next time I see him. When I last saw him the therapeutic effects had not yet occurred yet, so I thought going to the Latuda would be the best thing. I don't want to come off of this Haldol, I feel so good right now. I am terrified to switch drugs, what if I have another allergic reaction? Also, what if it doesn't work like the others in my long list of medications over the years? I also have lost 22 lbs since I came off of the Seroquel and went onto the Haldol. I want to lose another 30 lbs. Even though weight isn't the biggest issue here, it's my mental status that is important. I have tried to look up information on if there is a long term affect from being on Haldol, and I can't find anything. I see my doctor in a few days so hopefully my question can be answered, because I would rather be on the Haldol. Sorry this is so long.

The biggest concern with long term use of haldol is the risk of movement disorders, especially tardive dyskinesia. The newer antipsychotics are less likely to cause this, but they cause weight gain and metabolic problems, so there can be serious problems with both types of meds. But sometimes the risk of side effects is worth it if it gets rid of symptoms and makes your life better. If you are going to stay on haldol long term make sure your pdoc does periodic AIMS testing on you - this is the abnormal involuntary movement scale. This will pick up movement disorders early so that you can prevent serious problems like TD. Glad to hear you found something that works! Terrible to be allergic to so many meds

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