Risperidone for Aspergers Sensory Issues?

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Does anyone have any experiences with this? I've booked an appointment with the psychiatrist at my local Aspergers Clinic (well, team. Part of a general Learning Disabilities clinic, but anyway). I tend to pick up a lot on light touches (which drive me crazy) and little sounds, as well as various textures. Loud/noisy* (*hard to explain..) sounds are acutely uncomfortable for me. So, yeah, usual aspie stuff. I was wondering if anyone's had experiences with this and Risperidone? What about the side effects? I've heard it can reduce your libido and sap your energy to do things, but that with some people it can result in more energy being freed up from sensory issues.

So, yes. I'd appreciate hearing people's experiences on this. Sorry for the rambly nature of the post, it's 4am here.

I have sensory issues as well and I tried it for a few days but couldn't tolerate the side effects. It made me feel like my normal stream of thought was being suppressed, it was an awful feeling. I also slept all through the first 2 days of being on it, it literally knocked me out. I had my psychiatrist take me off it right away. Although I have heard that it works wonders for some people, I was just very sensitive to it.

My sensory issues are pretty bad but I would probably never touch Risperidone, too many side-effects.

My son was put on low dose risperidone for his extreme sensory issues. The benefit it gave him was the only reason he was able to be mainstreamed. It was also after risperidone that he began to communicate. He developed severe tics after a few years and was taken off. He has been OK without it since then. I think the risperidone eased his sensory issues enough to get him past some initial developmental milestones.

I'm on it for bipolar, and it seems to help with other issues too. Having said which it does have side effects, I'm waiting on a blood result to find out if I have to come off it or not.

My son had to have blood tests done every six months to check his liver function because of it.

They're checking my prolactin levels.

Should I get them to check my liver as well? I had a liver check up when they first put me on lamotrigine. This is my third month of rispiridone.

Thankyou for your replies, everyone.

I'm starting to think that with all these side effects I'd rather just stay over-sensitized..

Not sure if its the same thing... i was put on risperdal when i was 13, all it did was make me gain weight, just like the zyprexa, i never felt the benefits of any prescription medication, so i stopped taking them when i was 14.

The most immediate effect of respiridone that I had was one of tremendous relief because I stopped hallucinating and having paranoid thoughts intruding at all hours of the day and night. But I have gained two stone, and am now lactating (I've not been pregnant for over fourteen years). If I could come off it without starting to think that my electrical appliances are bugged, or that I'm guilty of something terrible which I can't remember then I'd do it ... but I really do need something to help with the other problems I've been having.

It's not approved for sensory integration disorder. The only reason they give it to people with autism is that it's approved for extreme rage in autistic people... you know, the kind of meltdown where you hurt yourself and anyone within arm's reach? Yeah. It's basically a major tranquilizer.

Now, granted, a tranquilizer can help some people. Thinking more slowly, having less energy, and processing less information from your environment can be beneficial. But I've seen far more people hurt than I've seen helped by Risperdal.

If your child tries it, you HAVE to remember that being "better behaved" or "easier to handle" is not the same thing as learning better or being happier. In many cases, the meltdowns may decrease; but so does the ability to learn. That's not a good trade-off to make until the meltdowns are so bad that you're not learning anyway.

I'm on Risperidone, for psychosis.

I was on Risperidone years ago and it was like a magic pill. I felt happy, energetic, full of ideas and new projects. I would describe it as being "unfrozen."

I have no psychotic symptoms at all, so it wasn't prescribed for that, just for anxiety and depression.

I had no side effects. The downside was that it only worked for a couple of months and then stopped working. I'm on Abilify now and it had a similar effect in the beginning, though less pronounced.

Most people don't react to Risperidone this way. Meds are very different from person to person.

I was prescribed it a few years ago in what my mom told was in doses used for psychotic people for what the doctor said was early onset schizophrenia. Apart from completely disagreeing with that, the side effects scared me enough that I never took it. I thought that doctor was pretty unprofessional.

Jacoby, how long did it take for the symptoms to subside, when you'd stopped taking it?