Posted by Tomatheus on December 20, 2008, at 22:17:06
In reply to Feeling so strange on Risperdal.... Please HELP., posted by crittercuddler on December 20, 2008, at 17:35:14
> I don't feel like myself at all. Things feel kind of surreal. I am not keeping up with time well. It is very difficult for me to think. The ease at which I can usually compose an email or forum post has just evaporated. It is like my brain is in slow motion. Usually the words just flow and now I am having to spend a lot of time working at composing something. Doing anything intellectual feels difficult. My memory is being affected. Last night I was trying to do research on the computer and I had to keep reading the same stuff over and over again and I still couldn't remember what I just read. This morning I was trying to read the newspaper and I had to keep going over paragraphs again and again because when the story would mention someone's name I had to go back and verify again who it was they were talking about because I was having such a hard time remembering. I feel subdued in this really weird way. I am so uncomfortable with this sensation and it is really hard for me to endure because it has provoked my obsessions related to my mental abilities.
crittercuddler,
What you're experiencing is sedation. It is a common side effect of Risperdal and most antipsychotics. During the month that I spent on Zyprexa (a medication that I took before I became psychotic), I felt the same way that you've been feeling on Risperdal.
I've also tried Risperdal and felt sedated for the first day that I was taking the medication, but the sedation faded after that. It's possible that it might fade for you too if you stay on the Risperdal for longer. Unfortunately, it's also possible that the sedation will persist as it did with me when I took Zyprexa.
I hope you get better results from Risperdal in the long term. I must admit that I'm personally biased against the use of dopamine-blocking antipsychotics for depression because they've tended to make my depressive symptoms worse, but maybe you're among the depressives who stand to benefit from those medications.
Tomatheus
poster:Tomatheus
thread:869903
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20081214/msgs/869953.html