Risperidol

JulieB46

Has anyone’s Loved one had significant side effects with this drug, and if so, what were the side effects?

jmlarue

Google Risperidone instead of Risperdal. WebMD has info on side effects. It can cause increased confusion. Has your DH recently started taking this med or is it something new that is being suggested?

Ed1937

From drugs.com -

Common side effects of Risperdal include: agitation, akathisia, anxiety, constipation, dizziness, drowsiness, dystonia, extrapyramidal reaction, nausea, rhinitis, and weight gain. Other side effects include: abdominal pain, sialorrhea, skin rash, tachycardia, and xeroderma. See below for a comprehensive list of adverse effects.

JulieB46

He started taking it in February, instead of Seroquel. It was due to increased hallucinations for hours at a time. I just wondered if his decline and urinary incontinence might be as a result of the switch, or if it just the next stage of his ALZ.

QuincyLF

Hi Julie B46.  My father was prescribed risperidol (low dose, 0.25mg) about a month ago for his aggression/anger - and we just took him off.  He didn't have any major side effects - other than pacing non-stop.  He would almost do a light jog around the house - all day.  Simply could not sit still.  Our neurologist advised last Friday to take him off and see if there was an improvement.  Since he's been off the past few days - he paces, but not to the great extent he did before.  Doc said anti-psychotic meds such as this may cause "akathisia" - an inability to sit still and restlessness.  Just something to keep an eye out for.

ImMaggieMae

My DH has been taking Risperidone since this past September. It was prescribed for agitation and obsessive/compulsive behaviors that often went on all night, things such as cleaning his glasses, brushing his teeth, etc., over and over and over again. He ended up in the hospital where they prescribed the Risperidone. It worked very well until recently, so they upped the dosage. Today was the first day of increased dosage, so hard to say how much it’s improved. It’s hard to tell if there are side effects because as the disease progresses, it seems there is always something new. I hope the higher dose works. So far today he seems a little calmer. It helped him to sleep all night from the beginning, and he wakes up alert in the morning.

jfkoc

While it is not a go to med and has lots or warnings connected to it sometimes it is what works and is worth a try. My husband took .25 and it was the only thing that helped.

JulieB46

Thanks, I will be aware.  It seems like he is either pacing or asleep in his chair.

ImMaggieMae

If anyone has more experience with this drug, or information about it, I am very interested. It’s the one thing that quickly made a difference for my DH back in Sept. The doctor in ER recently upped the prescription from 1mg per day to up to 2mg per day as needed. She said that was still a low dose, that younger people with other conditions are often on much higher doses. Still, all of the warnings for people over 65 or with dementia are frightening.

FTDCaregiver

My wife has early-onset FTD along with anxiety disorder, she's in her late 50s.  Bad experience with resperidol, increased agitation, was like she was connected to a live wire...went almost 2 days without sleep after coming home from the hospital.  Pulled her off it altogether and replaced with a combination of drugs including Seroquel, Trazadone. Her neurologist, psychologist and I all agreed to address her severe anxiety as her presenting condition.  Still a struggle, but she's done much better.

Buggsroo

My husband is on it. I decided to stop giving it to him at night because he would wake up every couple of hours and pace up and down like stink. I noticed he doesn’t pace as much, he gets it in the morning and I have noticed that it has taken care of some of his more aggressive behaviours like yelling inappropriate things, making strange noises and being combative.

DJnAZ

My wife's geriatric neurologist prescribed risperidone this week to address her mood swings and occasional aggressive behavior. She just began taking it yesterday so time will tell. I'm very interested in the experience of others as that information gives me things to watch for the next few weeks.

Ernie123

I can add my experience to this thread. About three years ago my DW, then in late stage 5, was becoming increasingly paranoid and delusional. The only medication she was taking was Escitalopram for anxiety.  For example, she would occasionally not recognize me as her husband but see me as an intruder and try and force me from the house, yelling and hitting me, very upset. A prescription of Risperidone toned down the intensity of her responses greatly. But she often didn’t recognize our home of fifty years and I, a stranger in her mind, was often a trigger for her upset.  These behaviors were more than I could manage alone and were the main  reason she needed to be moved into a MC facility two years ago. She remained on a low dose of Risperidone but her paranoia continued to grow. Eg. She would hide in her closet because people were coming to get her. Her psychiatrist changed her medication to Olanzapine. The results were amazing. Within a couple of days she calmed down, was happy, smiling. She would still have confused delusional thoughts but not experience the emotions and fear she had before. So now she takes Olanzapine regularly and Risperidone is just used PRN on a bad day with agitation which happens occasionally. 

Overall, my experience has been both medications are effective with no adverse side effects. They have given her a measure of peace and calm instead of irrational panic and fear. But adjustments in dosage and type of medication is an ongoing process. The psychiatrist’s nurse can log into her chart remotely and monitor the daily notes entered morning and evening by the PSWs. If there is a pattern of concern it can be addressed as needed. This has happened three times in the last two years. Having the ongoing care of a geriatric psychiatrist has been key to her well being and, as a result, mine too.