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swanny297 · Posted: February 04 2009, 11:57 PM Post subject: Risperdal - Questions

Hey gang

I have a couple of questions and need some opinions.

Evan has been on vyvanse (30mg) for his ADHD for about 6 months and was doing awesome, well it has stopped working, or his body has become imune to it. We have switched and starting using risperdal because his behavior has turned to more aggressive behaviors. We have been using the liquid for about a week now and we give him .25ml in the am and .25ml in the evening (liquid) - he is sleeping better now than he ever has, but his morning dose pretty much renders him a zombie for the day at school, he wants to sleep and when he is not sleeping he is exhibiting the aggresive behavior again. Should we consult about using a different stimulant during the day and using the risperdal at night for sleep issues? What are your experiences, and how long does the "sleepy" effect last for? It seems we have lost our Evan during the day on this medication.

Thanks
Clint

Tom · Posted: February 05 2009, 6:17 AM Post subject:

If the sleepiness hasn't gone away after a few days then I would look at something else for the day time. We found that the Risperdal hasn't helped much with the aggression but it has helped with the stimming behaviors.

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lespring · Posted: February 05 2009, 8:18 AM Post subject:

It took Angela about a month to get past the sleepiness. It did WONDERS for her aggressive behavior. Absolute wonders!

Evan is on a really tiny dose. Either it needs to be increased, or maybe Risperdal isn't going to work for him.

Dr. Capone's says it's VERY common for meds to work for 2 or 3 months and then completely stop working. (I was relieved to hear this, since we'd been through about every medication there was!!!!) He said keep track of the ones that do work, even in only for a few months, because you can go back to them later on.

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ecki · Posted: February 05 2009, 12:53 PM Post subject:

We give Kayla .5 ml at night, instead of splitting it up .25 in the AM and .25 at night. It seems to still work by daytime, since she's really improved at school.

Although Risperdal didn't have any effect on Kayla's sleeping.

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lauraincanada · Posted: February 05 2009, 7:41 PM Post subject:

(Delurking.. Hello!)

My oldest is 7.5 and is on the autism spectrum (not ds). He has been on Respiridal for nearly a year now. We started off on a very low dose of .1 mg, twice a day (morning and night). He was very very sleepy for roughly 3 weeks, at which point he started to perk up again. We increased his dose over the past year to .3 mg twice a day. We've been at this dose since November or so.

We noticed a *tremendous* change nearly immediately. Previously, Cameron had meltdowns, rages, and violent episodes where he would kick, scream, hit, throw and bite anyone in reach as many as 5-6 times *per day*, some of which would last as long as 45 minutes to 1 hr at a time. He was being sent home from school repeatedly and we were at our wits end here at home as well, as I had also new baby! On Risperidal, the tantrums decreased as the dosage increased. At first, it went down to once per week and now it has probably been more than a month with *no meltdowns or aggressive behavior at all*. I mean... WOW! Like a totally different kid. No side effects to report here at all.

I would inquire with your Dr. about the sleepiness, and perhaps ask about upping the dosage if you're not seeing the tantrums/aggression decreasing. But in my experience, the sleepiness is short lived and once you ride that out, Risperidal is WELL worth it.

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moody216 · Posted: February 06 2009, 12:52 PM Post subject:

We split the morning dose because he seemed sleepy...so .5 in the morning, .5 in the afternoon, and .25 at night. The sleepiness did go away...just took a little while.

Also, I want to mention, it takes Nick 4 weeks when his risperdal is increased or decreased (which is what is going on now) to see the effects of the change.

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momofrussell · Posted: February 06 2009, 2:46 PM Post subject:

Russell was groggy for almost two weeks, when we first started... so we cut back the AM dose and and the PM dose in half.. that was the ticket! Then when it evened out the other way, we upped the night dose... and now we are back to the original dosage that was too much... but it's also been a year or so....... So, my suggestion wouldn't be eliminating a dosage together but possibly tweaking the dosages.

A.

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KatieB · Posted: February 20 2009, 7:07 AM Post subject:

I'm going to send the Psych an e mail, but what do you guys think? Wonder if Mattys risperdal dose should be changed. We went to Maine 3 days ago to my sis, he was great that day, but Weds he did something bad, so I reprimanded him, time out, apologized, move on. He was hysterical from that point on, 11am. Everytime I, my sis, her kids, Ashley spoke to him about anything, he would burst into tears and have to be consoled. this went on for 4.5 hrs. After he snapped out of that, he was off the wall, ADHD was shinging through, physically aggresive, non stop yelling, excessive laughter, no control. He was on quite the emotional rollercoaster last Weds.
Katie

moody216 · Posted: February 20 2009, 7:59 AM Post subject:

We had to change Nick dose a few times but ultimately decreased it way down because he developed a tic...another story...but I would wait a few more days or a week or soemthing to see if this continues...we all have bad days, maybe he did too.

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