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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 6 of 6. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by fachad on August 12, 2003, at 2:16:28
Someone I know has been given Risperdal PRN for anxiety. Has anyone here ever encountered this before?
This person has no psychosis or delusions, just plain anxiety, nervousness, she is a "high strung" type.
I'm just concerned that Risperdal too much for garden varitey anxiety.
Any thoughts?
Posted by Dinah on August 12, 2003, at 3:20:29
In reply to Risperdal PRN for Anxiety?, posted by fachad on August 12, 2003, at 2:16:28
I was on Risperdal as needed for anxiety and agitation. It works extremely well for me. It's not for nothing that the antipsychotics were called major tranquilizers. One dose often sets my emotional level back to an acceptable level since anxiety and agitation seem to feed on themselves.
My pdoc has since switched me to Seroquel, but I'm so afraid of sedation from it that I haven't tried it. I still have Risperdal on hand and I still take it if I really need it (very seldom).
Which is not to say there aren't possible problems. Once I was on it for a bit over a week and I think I had a tongue thrusting incident, so I decided not to take it longer than a day or two. And it was while I was taking Risperdal as needed (and without gaining any weight) that I shot into Diabetes II without even being pre-diabetic three months before. There might be a relationship there. But it's hard to tell because I was also under a large amoung of stress at the time which might have elevated my blood sugar.
In short, in my experience it has its risks, but it's darn effective. But everyone responds differently to medications.
(Incidentally, I was on Thorazine as a child for severe anxiety, depression, and what the doctor called sleep terrors. It worked pretty well as a tranquilizer as well.)
Posted by jlo820 on August 12, 2003, at 11:49:52
In reply to Re: Risperdal PRN for Anxiety? » fachad, posted by Dinah on August 12, 2003, at 3:20:29
Could work, but I would try the benzodiazepines (minor tranquilizers) first. They would tend to be more effective on a PRN basis. The antipsychotics, especially the atypicals, often need to build up in your blood so it may take a couple of weeks for them to work - like ADs.
I have heard of using the antipsychotics for this purpose, but mostly for those who are very agitated (manic).
Like I said, I wouldn't consider it a first-line treatment.
Posted by fachad on August 12, 2003, at 13:04:56
In reply to Re: Risperdal PRN for Anxiety? » fachad, posted by Dinah on August 12, 2003, at 3:20:29
What Risperdal dose did you take for anxiety?
How often was PRN for your?
How long does it take to start working after a dose is taken?
> I was on Risperdal as needed for anxiety and agitation. It works extremely well for me. It's not for nothing that the antipsychotics were called major tranquilizers. One dose often sets my emotional level back to an acceptable level since anxiety and agitation seem to feed on themselves.
>
> My pdoc has since switched me to Seroquel, but I'm so afraid of sedation from it that I haven't tried it. I still have Risperdal on hand and I still take it if I really need it (very seldom).
>
> Which is not to say there aren't possible problems. Once I was on it for a bit over a week and I think I had a tongue thrusting incident, so I decided not to take it longer than a day or two. And it was while I was taking Risperdal as needed (and without gaining any weight) that I shot into Diabetes II without even being pre-diabetic three months before. There might be a relationship there. But it's hard to tell because I was also under a large amoung of stress at the time which might have elevated my blood sugar.
>
> In short, in my experience it has its risks, but it's darn effective. But everyone responds differently to medications.
>
> (Incidentally, I was on Thorazine as a child for severe anxiety, depression, and what the doctor called sleep terrors. It worked pretty well as a tranquilizer as well.)
Posted by jlo820 on August 12, 2003, at 13:25:49
In reply to Re: Risperdal PRN for Anxiety? » Dinah, posted by fachad on August 12, 2003, at 13:04:56
>> How long does it take to start working after a dose is taken?
Risperdal reaches peak plasma concentrations in (shortest) 3 hours if you have good metabolism and (longest) 17 hours if you have poor metabolism.
This is one of the advantages of taking benzodiazepines like Valium, Xanax, Klonopin, etc, for anxiety...almost every one of them has a rapid-medium absorption rate and reaches peak levels in 1-3 hours.
Posted by Dinah on August 12, 2003, at 18:16:19
In reply to Re: Risperdal PRN for Anxiety? » Dinah, posted by fachad on August 12, 2003, at 13:04:56
> What Risperdal dose did you take for anxiety?
>
> How often was PRN for your?
>
> How long does it take to start working after a dose is taken?
>
>
>
I probably could count on one hand the number of times I decided to take it since it was prescribed 11/02. Maybe five or six times tops. The longest I took it was a bit over a week. The last two times were just one dose. It looks like I've taken a total of 17 tablets.My dose was .25 mg taken in the morning, because for me it was mildly activating.
It takes rather precisely four hours to work for me. I had usually taken Klonopin before I took the first dose, but Klonopin had nowhere near the calming effect.
It also made me lose my appetite and if anything helped my ability to work, because of it being mildly activating.
I'm sure the effects wouldn't have been the same if I took it continuously. And this is just the way it affected me, I'm sure it's different for everyone. And I did mention the side effects?
This is the end of the thread.
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