Risperdal: Unleashing Inner Strength and Resilience

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. I was on Risperdal for a brief time. If I remember correctly, it didn’t do anything for me. But that’s just me, it might work for you whatever you’re using it for.

I’ve been on so many meds, I don’t remember them all, but for some reason, I remember Risperdal. Hence, I believe I stopped it for the side effects I was getting, the tiredness.

Consequently, the generic for Risperdal is Risperidone. It has many uses which I will discuss in a little bit. Of course, I’ll also talk about the side effects. Can’t forget that.

1 mg Risperdal

1 mg Risperdal(risperdal 0.25 mg, risperdal 0.5 mg, risperdal 2 mg, 25 mg risperidone)

I stopped taking the 1mg Risperdal because it wasn’t helping me and I wasn’t liking the side effects from it. As a result, it was making me very sleepy. I couldn’t function right.

Some people start out as low as 0.25 mg, or go as high as 25 mg. I’ll get into the side effects a little later.

Accordingly, the dosage is based on your age, medical condition, response to treatment, and other medications you may be taking.

Be sure to tell your doctor and pharmacist about all the products you use (including prescription drugs, nonprescription drugs, and herbal products).

So, to reduce your risk of side effects, your doctor may direct you to start this medication at a low dose and gradually increase your dose. Follow your doctor’s instructions carefully.

Uses for Risperidone

Risperdal for Anxiety

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. Doctors also give antipsychotics for anxiety and depression. Often times after the patient has failed SSRIs.

Therefore, Risperdal is used off-label in the treatment of anxiety. It’s approved to treat generalized anxiety disorder (GAD) and panic attacks in adults.

It’s taken by mouth, typically once to 2 times a day or as directed by your healthcare team.

Risperdal for Bipolar

Risperidone works by affecting chemical messengers in the brain (neurotransmitters) like dopamine.

It does not cure your condition but it helps to keep your symptoms under control.

Risperidone does not work straight away. It can take several days or even months for some symptoms to get better.

Autism and Risperdal

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. All in all, in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD): Risperidone and aripiprazole are the only FDA-approved behavioral medicines for children on the spectrum.

Both are associated with serious side effects. Of particular concern: unhealthy weight gain.

Although, for some children with autism, behavioral therapy isn’t enough to reduce serious behavioral problems such as tantrums, aggression and self-injury.

In some of these cases, parents and doctors turn to risperidone to reduce these problems and enable children to participate in education, social activities and family life – and even achieve a degree of independence as adults.

Risperdal and ADHD

What does Risperdal treat? Risperdal (risperidone) can treat challenges that some kids with autism face, including aggression and self-injury.

Also, Risperdal is prescribed to many children with ADHD, ODD, or DMDD.

Risperdal for Schizophrenia

Altogether, Risperidone is used to treat the symptoms of schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, strong or inappropriate emotions) in adults and teenagers 13 years of age and older.

Meanwhile, Risperidone is medicine that helps with symptoms of some mental health conditions such as: schizophrenia (where you may see, hear or feel things that are not there or you believe things that are not true or you feel unusually suspicious or have muddled thoughts)

Risperdal for Sleep

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. At this point, you can feel sleepy in the first few days of taking risperidone. This should get better after the first week or two.

If you feel like a zombie, and you’ve been taking it for more than a month, you should go back to the doctor and see what else you can do.

With risperidone, some people find it hard to get to sleep. Therefore, if this happens, you can change the time that you take your risperidone each day (if you are taking tablets or liquid). Take it earlier in the day and see if this makes it easier to get to sleep.

If you are on the long-acting injection, talk to your doctor if your sleep is disturbed.

Risperdal and Dementia

Equally important, you should not use Risperdal if you are allergic to risperidone.

Risperidone may increase the risk of death in older adults with dementia-related psychosis and is not approved for this use.

To make sure this medicine is safe for you, tell your doctor if you have ever had:

firstly, heart disease, high blood pressure, heart rhythm problems, stroke or heart attack;
diabetes (or risk factors such as obesity or family history of diabetes);
low white blood cell (WBC) counts;
fourthly, liver or kidney disease;
seizures;
breast cancer;
lastly, low bone mineral density;

Risperdal Common Side Effects

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. Like all medicines, risperidone can cause side effects, although not everyone gets them.

Moreover, these common side effects may affect up to 1 in 10 people. Call your doctor or pharmacist if these side effects bother you or do not go away:

Adults:

•Firstly, muscle stiffness, muscle tightening, difficulty with movement (25%)

•Extreme sleepiness (11%)

•Restlessness, trouble remaining still (9%)

•Fourthly, tremor (6%)

•Dizziness (6%)

•Nausea (5%)

•Lastly, repetitive movements, abnormal postures (5%)

Children:

•Firstly, extreme sleepiness (up to 56%)

•Dizziness (up to 16%)

•Nausea or vomiting (up to 16%)

•Fourthly, stomach pain (up to 16%)

•Muscle stiffness, muscle tightening, difficulty with movement (up to 12%)

•Heartburn (up to 10%)

•Lastly, sore throat (up to 10%)

What does RISPERDAL CONSTA do?

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. This medication is given by injection into a muscle (upper arm or buttocks) by a health care professional.

It is given as directed by your doctor, usually once every two weeks. At length, to reduce irritation from the injection, your doctor will alternate between the left and right side with each dose.

When you first start this medication, it may take at least 3 weeks before this medication starts working.

At any rate, during this time, your doctor will instruct you to take another medication by mouth. Follow your doctor’s instructions carefully.

Dosing Information

Usual Adult Dose of Risperdal Consta for Schizophrenia:

So, long-acting IM Injection:
Initial dose: 25 mg IM every 2 weeks
-Titration dose: May increase to 37.5 mg or 50 mg if needed; dose titration should occur no more frequently than every 4 weeks as expected drug release starts 3 weeks after injection.
-Maximum dose: 50 mg IM every 2 weeks

Usual Adult Dose of Risperdal Consta for Bipolar Disorder:

What should I tell my care team before I take this medication?

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. They need to know if you have any of these conditions:

Firstly, dementia
Diabetes
Difficulty swallowing
Fourthly, have trouble controlling your muscles
Heart disease
High cholesterol
High levels of prolactin
Additionally, history of breast cancer
History of irregular heartbeat
History of stroke
Kidney disease
Liver disease
In addition, low blood counts, like low white cell, platelet, or red cell counts
Low blood pressure
Parkinson’s disease
Seizures
An unusual or allergic reaction to risperidone, paliperidone, other medications, foods, dyes, or preservatives
Pregnant or trying to get pregnant
Lastly, breast-feeding

What other drugs will affect Risperdal?

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. Hence, taking Risperdal with other drugs that make you sleepy or slow your breathing can cause dangerous or life-threatening side effects. Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures.

Tell your doctor about all your other medicines, especially:

firstly, blood pressure medication;
carbamazepine;
clozapine;
fluoxetine (Prozac) or paroxetine (Paxil); or
lastly, levodopa.

This list is not complete. Emphatically, other drugs may interact with risperidone, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Not all possible drug interactions are listed here.

Risperdal drug interactions (more detail)

Risperdal Cost

Quantity	7 tablet
Dosage	1 mg
Per Unit^*	$2.48
Cost^*	$17.35

Quantity	Per unit	Price
60	$1.41	$84.38
100 (10 x 10 each)	$0.34 – $1.34	$34.00 – $134.30
500	$1.27	$633.50

Important: When there is a range of pricing, consumers should normally expect to pay the lower price. However, due to stock shortages and other unknown variables we cannot provide any guarantee.

Sum It All Up

Risperdal: unleashing inner strength and resilience. So, you have to be very careful when taking Risperdal because of the interactions with other meds-even over-the-counter meds.

Risperdal is a med that will make you very sleepy at first, but that will fade after a while. But for me, it never stopped. I was sleepy during the duration that I took it.

It’s not that it didn’t work, it’s just that I was a zombie. Undoubtedly, it made me that tired (kind of like Effexor did to me).

So, I hope you learned some valuable infor about Risperdal and will decide on how to proceed (or not) with it in the future. Until next time…

Articles About Risperdal

-How Long Risperidone Takes to Kick In (Plus, Answers to 4 More Risperidone FAQs)

https://www.goodrx.com/risperidone/how-long-to-kick-in

-Risperidone Tablets

https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/drugs/20391-risperidone-tablets

-Risperidone Provides Better Improvement of Sleep Disturbances Than Haloperidol Therapy in Schizophrenia Patients With Cannabis-Positive Urinalysis

https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/pharmacology/articles/10.3389/fphar.2018.00769/full

Have a Good One,

Cindee Murphy, One Voice In The Vastness Of Emotions

“There is no medicine like hope, no incentive so great, and no tonic so powerful as expectation of something tomorrow.”– Orison S. Marden

“Always laugh when you can. It is cheap medicine.– Lord Byron

“Writing prescriptions is easy, but understanding people is hard.”– Franz Kafka, from The Country Doctor

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