Scared for my life after stopping Risperidone

Post Reply New Topic

I stopped Risperidone several weeks ago, which I had been taking for almost 10 years. Since then, I have barely slept, lost about 15 pounds, am developing wrinkles under my eyes and near my mouth, my skin is all blotchy, and I am seemingly always menstruating. It also doesn't help that I have severe GERD and an unidentified lung infection that's been plaguing me for over a year. I sleep like 4 hours a day if I'm lucky and my weight is scaring me bc I've still been having my meals, just more normal sized instead of large ones. I also feel very depersonalized and feel as if "my eyes are in my thoughts instead of looking outward." I stim and rock all day, often fantasizing about celebrities, sex, or imagined scenarios and make believe people or fictional characters. I go on Tumblr and write and read fanfiction for 17 hours a day and have barely left the house in 8 months. If I don't go to school soon, I will lose my insurance. I am also developing a ton of new Tourette's like tics, including clicking in my throat every time I breathe, as well as involuntary spontaneous laughter or smiling. I often run around and jump up and down or dance in public without realizing it. I have also been stuttering and tapping my fingers on everything. My germophobia and other paranoid issues are coming back, and last night I was seeing shadow people moving around in my room and I was imagining telling them to move things and knock them over so I could have telekinesis. Please help!

Was the risperdall for OCD? I had a lousy experience with it for that. Why did you stop taking it? It sounds like it was helping you.

I hate to say this, but this probably really isnt the place to ask. This sounds like the type of problem that you really need to take to a qualified medical specialist, whoever that may be. Probably whoever gave you the prescription. It seems that it's a pretty strong medication (and just outright STOPPING a strong med you've been taking for a long time can cause all SORTS of crazy stuff), and really, just going for info on the internet, be it this forum or somewhere else, probably isnt the best idea.

^ I agree.

Please consult your medical specialist about this. If the specialist treating you now doesn't think its an issue then get a 2nd and 3rd opinion from other specialists. Remember, doctors are people too and therefore there are good ones and lousy ones.

Chances are they may give you a different medicine or have you take your old one in decreasing doses to 'wean' you off it over time.

^^^

Definitely.

You CANNOT quit that stuff cold-turkey. It seriously messes with your head.

You coming off it sounds a lot like me on it-- not a good situation, and not something you should handle on your own. You need to talk to the doctor NOW.

I actually tapered mega slow. & I don't have a doctor anymore.

Okay, hi, you can do some positives right now. I think writing and creating is a good activity, but 17 hours a day is a bit much. And I'm a writer, and I still read far more than I write which I think is fine. Anyway, consider branching out. For example, http://www.alternatehistory.com/ is a really imaginative site, there's before 1900 and after 1900 and some other sections. It might be somewhat more educational than just pure fanfiction. One of the moderators is somewhat overbearing. I mean, what it is, is what it is. If you happen to get kicked off, just come back with another user name.

On doctors, I recommend a generalist like an internist or family practitioner. And you can do some good stuff in the meantime. Maybe a little more high calorie food. Now, GERD is the more serious acid reflux, right? I have that, too, perhaps not as bad as you do. One over-the-counter worked okay, now I think I'm taking the generic Zantac which works better.

With school, I love the idea of pre-studying. If it is cheating, it's entirely legal cheating and all kinds of professionals do their own versions of pre-studying. I think it's very positive. Just don't show off too much in class. And be open to casually helping other students, again without bragging or showing off. If asked, maybe say something like, I've had a chance to look at this before. I have a bachelor's degree in psychology which I got at age twenty-eight, plus I've taken a ton of classes post-baccalaureate status. And I've only taken the quote-unquote full-time "normal" load of 15 hours twice, and both times were very stressful. I do much better taking 12 hours. And honest to gosh, when I was doing taxes and working at H&R Block about five years ago, for purposes of classifying for the earned income tax credit and for several other taxes purposes, 10 hours at an university was considered a full-time load.

As far as germophobia, tics and what sounds like it might be OCD. Something I think you have a right to know about is PANDAS, which is both serious and easy to treat. It's just taking prophylactic antibiotics. I think it's almost a free roll. It's the theory that your body's own antibodies to strep attack and inflame the brain's basal ganglia. Ouch. Yeah, that's the serious component . . . but easily treated. Some doctors are skeptical about the whole thing, but I don't know why since it's so very similar to the Syndeham Chorea component of rheumatic fever. Or, they might say age 18 is too old. Maybe for an initial attack, but certainly not for subsequent attacks. And even for rheumatic fever, people can get the initial attack at somewhat older ages.

I'm scared to come off Sertraline. Before I went on this I was really depressed and was heading towards a nervous breakdown, and when I went on Sertraline I noticeably felt much happier in myself and my mindset improved too, and it worked surprisingly quick (within 2 days after taking the first one!) I've been on them for 6 months and although I'm told that antidepressants do not work wonders, no kidding, these antidepressants have actually worked wonders. Since I have been taking them, I have felt like a whole new person, having fewer outbursts and being able to control my emotions and just feeling more normal.

It's a pain in the arse having to take one every night, but it's still worth my while. But I'm scared to come off them though. I am even more happier than ever because I now have a boyfriend too, but I still feel that I will start to have doubts about myself if I came off the antidepressants. I know I'm not so lonely and isolated as I was, but I still know that I'm prone to anxiety which can lead to feelings of depression, so I feel like I should just stay on them.

double

I was um...a very violent and disturbed child, so to speak.

You can take Risperidone as an 8 year old, weight gain is a side effect of it so the weight loss may be expected.

Doctors prescribe stuff when they shouldn't on a fairly regular basis. And some mental health professionals are directly abusive. And the profession as a whole doesn't do enough about it.

In my fifty-one years on this planet, I have personally sought help from four psychologists and one psychiatrist. One of the psychologists was kind of alright. The other four, including the psychiatrist, were just plain lousy. Other people here at WP have had better experiences. But I do think it's helpful and freeing to realize that for depression and anxiety, a person can see a regular doctor like an internist or family practitioner. Especially since the medicine is trial and error in a respectful sense anyway. Plus, it is often important to taper off as you have done.

One person who helped me was a speech therapist. I also talked about other things with her. She lightly pitched a couple of ideas and some advice but her ego wasn't all caught up in her being "right" and that seemed to make the whole thing work better. I've also thought about Asian practitioners, like people who teach Tai Chi or a certain type of body work. That might be expecting too much. But I am pretty down on western mental health people.

I'm not a doctor, nurse, or the like, but, the brain does partially adapt to that class of drug when you take it for a long time. So, if you go off it suddenly there will be a rebound effect -- that is, for a while it will be like you're taking the opposite of the drug and will have symptoms of things that the drug is used to treat. Anti-p drugs basically block a dopamine receptor and the 'opposite' (not a perfect analogy at all) would be like a stimulant, like d-amphetamine. So it makes sense that you'd be twitchy and OCD-ish. Even a person with no disorders would be like that after suddenly stopping risperdal.

That rebound effect should go away after a while, but it would probably be a lot easier on you to reduce the dosage slowly rather than stop all of a sudden. Of course, you should talk to you doctor about that.

you should talk to a docter and realize you want to quit mortal fear is not an acceptable side effect of medication... also maybe its best not to talk to a psychiatrist but to a regular docter psychiatrists are insane.

I would suggest going back on the Rispiridone. Why did you decide to wean yourself off it?