Posted by Christ_empowered on August 17, 2016, at 15:52:59
In reply to Risperdal... feeling weird, posted by busub on August 17, 2016, at 9:48:27
hi. .5mgs is a low dose of risperdal, but...its still a neuroleptic.
risperdal is the less "atypical" atypical. It tends to elevate prolactin, sometimes a whole lot. Weight gain, metabolic problems; higher rates of twitches, tremor, long term movement problems.
Having said that...low doses do help a lot of people with mood problems.
Your reactions to risperdal may or may not get better. Doctors will usually tell you to stick it out for however long and then see how it goes. Sometimes, they'll throw additional medication(s) your way for the adverse reactions.
Neuroleptics--aka major tranquilizers, aka antipsychotics--tend to flatten emotions. They often cause problems with concentration and sedation. Sometimes, they cause akathisia, which is a sense of inner restlessness. Akathisia can be mildly unpleasant, or it can drive violent behavior.
Sometimes other add on drugs can do what low dose atypicals do, without as many problems. Buspirone and remeron come to mind. I think they're both also cheaper than risperdal.
Neuroleptics do help some people with depression. That's been the case ever since Thorazine came out. Some people just can't tolerate them, even at low doses.
If risperidone helps, but the adverse effects are too much, you might consider a different neuroleptic. A lot of the newer ("atypical") ones are generic now, so cost is less of an issue. Sometimes the older ones help at low doses, too...and a lot of those are super cheap. At low doses, the older ones often get the job done with less weight gain, diabetes, etc.
I hope this helps.
poster:Christ_empowered
thread:1091398
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20160713/msgs/1091400.html