Now taking risperidone

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Hi, posting this for our daughther Liz. She is now taking risperidone to handle extreme rage. She has been on it since last Thursday, 1mg, along with 750 of depakote. Aggression and rage are gone. She seems doped up, drunk, stumbles when walking. Today she got up at 11 and went to bed at 6:30, says she was very tired. Appetite is the same, loves to eat, but walks 3-5 miles a day (hope this continues, despite of risperidone). Let us know if you have experience the same on this med. We mentioned the above to the doctor, but says it's too early to tell if the reaction is related to risperidone. He says we should increase it to 1.5mg per day. Liz had bad reactions to Abilify - throwing, hitting self; experienced the Seroquel anger; drank like a camel and had insomnia with Guanfacine. Also took Lamictal, nothing to report here (or don't know), except rage increased when we took her off Lamictal and started on Guanfacine. About two years ago, she took some other meds which made her nails fall off. Off all meds for two weeks, her rage increased to the point where she was hospitalized. Was placed on depakote and risperidone. For now she can't write in here, so I am writing for her. Based on the reaction and the meds history, please post in here if you have experienced the same, i.e. I have read that people who have had a bad reaction with Seroquel do well on Risperidone. But again, most autistic children can't tell us, so I am at your mercy....and if you have a list of ALL the autistic children who participated in trials for Abilify and Risperidone...have them post in here as well...

You didn't tell us how old your daughter is.

Am I correct in assuming she cannot communicate with you about how she feels or what she would prefer? Is se better off on the dose she is on already? In your opinion does she really need more medication than her current dose?

If she is on enough to assist her with her issues and it is causing her a doped up reaction, I would personally tell your psychiatrist that you'd like her to get adjusted to what she is already on before upping the dosage, especially if it is effective enough right now.

How old is your daughter?

Welcome!

I was on rispiridone for a while, and it made me feel dizzy and very weak for the first couple of months. I had difficulty standing for a while, kept feeling the need to sit down. It also made me clumsier, and very very tired. Caused strange dreams as well. On the other hand it helped with psychotic symptoms which I had, and the early side effects wore off. Unfortunately I gained weight, and started lactating, so they had to take me off.

I think rispiridone is a very harsh drug... I don't know how old your daughter is, but I'd be concerned if she's still having side effects after she's been on it a month say, or six weeks.

If she starts developing chestwise sooner than you'd expect, or heaven forbid lactating, she'll have to come off them.

I'm now on quitiapine, which works for me, but is contraindicated for people under eighteen.

The drug is likely to cause extreme weight gain and further breat development in females under twenty years old.

Personally, I dislike the drug so much because it is impossible to be a healthy weight unless eating less then two meals a day, but I need it. I am looking for a healthier alternative.

If the cons outweigh the benefits, or if she gets worse, take her off of it. If she gains too much weight, 20lbs+, you also need to take her off of it.

Hello everyone, Liz will turn 20 in November. Based on the fact that she missed the Depakote afternoon dose on Wednesday, it looks as the doping effect was caused by it. On Thursday she became very sleepy after taking the afternoon dose. We walked and she was alert prior to it. She did not feel like walking at night. Whereas the night before we walked another two miles. Doctor really wants her off Depakote and back on Guanfacine.Coincidentally all the aggression symptoms, irritation and imsonia she experienced after starting Guanfacine are the same caused by a magnesium deficiency. But her tests came back all normal yesterday. I wonder if both depakote and risperidone did interfere with the blood tests. She had it done in the morning, no food, 14 hours after the last dose for eacg. I'd really like for her to be off all meds, but gradually, and with the implementation of behavior theraphy. Will start this next week at a center in Baltimore. The "problem" is that if she is no longer aggressive when things change, then I don't know how theraphy will work..will see next week. Liz is a very good healthy eater. lots of veggies and fruits, ice-cream only on weekends. When she was on abilify she got up to 160 , she is now down to 140, 5' 4''. As much as I don't like risperidone, she seems to be able to communicate her thoughts better and her reasoning is coming out.

risperidone = tardive dyskenisia

I was once on that or something that sounded like it.

It really chunked me up. I'm still trying to lose the weight after getting off it.

Thanks for both replies. We were told to stop abilify due to some sort of tardive diskenesia. Liz did develop some mouth ticks while on it. If you have experience the same, what kind of tics/symptoms should I look for?