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Re: question to those who tried risperdal and lamictal » iowamoo

Posted by klein on April 27, 2014, at 8:38:05

In reply to question to those who tried risperdal and lamictal, posted by iowamoo on April 26, 2014, at 22:43:14

> Currently taking .25 risperdal.
> My problems are anger and mood issues mainly.
> Risperdal keeps me level headed and keeps me from shooting off my big mouth and hurting others and arguing.
>
> I'm a bit concerned about taking it though long term. The psych Dr. Thinks I should try lamictal since I'm worried about risperdal.
>
> My question it's for those that have tried both how they compare in how they control these things I have and how you generally felt like numb, weight gain, side effects etc..I really hope to hear a lot of reviews and thanks!

If it's helping with the anger problems, why are you worried about taking Risperdal long term?

I've taken both meds. Strangely enough, the Risperdal actually triggered very violent anger in me.

I took Risperdal (0.5 to 1mg) for 3 months to control uncontrollable racing, obtrusive thoughts that were -presumable- being caused by the psychoanalytic therapy I was doing at the time. The analyst himself recommended consulting my doc. The Risperdal worked very well for this but after a couple of months I began to experience extreme, explosive anger along with episodes of violence / rage - 100% unlike me, I'm very laid back and rarely get angry, and certainly not to that extent. My doc whisked me off Risperdal and the anger vanished.

I didn't get numb emotions from Risperdal... except for the anger of course.. maybe my emotions were a bit muted, a bit like SSRI-induced emotional anesthesia, but nothing major.

Weight gain was minimal. It was slightly activating, but I could still sleep at night. No other side effects I can recall. Overall I wasn't too impressed, but it did help the racing thoughts while I was having them.

I took Lamictal years ago for anxiolytic effect and to stabilize my depressive mood a bit, augmenting Lexapro and benzos:

IME it worked very well for mood issues... and for just about anything, really. Anxiety, depression... I felt great, I found it to be very effective. I only dropped it because I got a rash during a long vacation and, as I was going to be unable to see a doc for several days, I freaked out.

I assume that, with it being a very potent mood stabilizer, it could very well help with your anger.

As for side effects: Other than the malignant rash thing (which is, in practice, very rare - my rash turned out to be just a random, unrelated rash) Lamictal's profile is quite tolerable. I felt "off" for a day or two when I started it and each time I raised the dose, but it was no biggie (and eventually well worth it)

At 100mg I got noticeable hair loss (taking folic acid solved the problem), tiredness (so I switched to PM dosing and slept like a baby, waking up very refreshed).. The main issue that DID bother me was that I developed cognitive difficulties, I started to have a very bad work recall problem and my grammar (which is bad enough already) was completely shot. As you can see, I usually ramble, well the emails I wrote while on Lamictal were downright incomprehensible.

Lamictal was completely weight-neutral for me.

Definitely no numbness. In fact, I felt peaceful and collected.

Very good anxiolytic too, with it being an antiepileptic I quit my benzos without a hitch.

Now I want to start taking it again, lol.

BTW, I'm still unclear as to why you're worried about Risperdal. You could always try its active metabolite Invega (paliperidone) which is quite similar to Risperdal and supposedly has less side effects (less weight gain, less anxiety)

OK, I hope this helps :) Good luck - keep us posted.

ps I really do feel for you and your anger problems and I hope that your next step will help.


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