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Hello, I had some social anxiety or some form of GAD and so after going to therapy (CBT) for many years ~10 I decided I could also try some medication to better my life. My psychiatrist first prescribed me with Risperdal From 1 July - 4 August 2022 approx. I took 0.25 mg from 4 - 25 August 2022 I took 0.5 mg Afterwards, at the direction of my psychiatrist I also started Escitalopram: From 4 August 2022 - 11 August 2022 5mg From 11/Aug - 16/Aug I took 2-3 pills of 10mg in a very random manner From 17/Aug - 22/Aug I took 10mg Missed a dose at 23/Aug Took 5mg at 24, 25 in an attempt to taper off after reading about all the horror stories I then stopped all drugs (risperdal, escitalopram) cold turkey at 26 Aug This puts me at 20 days after last drug dosage. My symptoms now are : * Very bad sleep: Wake up intermittently throughout the night (e.g. every 2 hours) or wake up very early (after ~5 hours of sleep) * Headaches, fatigue * dry mouth (improving) * Some emotional bluntness and apathy (has improved somewhat) * loss of libido, loss of pleasure in orgasm My question is, would you recommend I reinstate escitalopram at e.g. 1mg to easy my withdrawal? I want to avoid lost lasting symptoms as much as possible of course. Also, are my symptoms also related to risperdal which I took at (I believe) very low dosage? Should I also reinstate that? I should note of course that I wasn't informed about the seriousness of these drugs and the risks in order to make a risk/ benefit assessment. I believed it was like talking ashwagandha for anxiety, only the "scientific" way. All my love

Hi all, found this forum via google searches many a night on how to cope with withdrawals! Like many others on here and I am sure everywhere in the world, I started on on anti-depressant and it just spiraled into larger and larger doses then multiple meds and meds on top of that for side affects. So a general summary was that I went to the Dr around 14 years ago for depression. I was put on Cymbalta 30mg straight off the bat. The side affects were unpleasant but I don't recall specifics of what they were, just that I did NOT like how they made me feel and I stopped them cold turkey. Withdrawals for several months of course, though fairly mild with major brainzaps being the one I most remember. Somewhere along the way I then went onto Mirtazapine. 15, 30 and then up to 45mg over a short period of time, maybe a year or so ramping up? Basically a result of going to the Dr, saying that I wasn't feeling the best on these meds, so they just increased them. I stayed on 45mg for probably 5 years or thereabouts. During that time my personality changed a lot (on retrospection I see how much). I became anxious, paranoid, ALWAYS tired, I started having panic attacks, grumpy, short temper making me snap at people for little, and isolated myself a lot. This went on for years. Each time the Dr would just tell me 'its not a magic pill' and leave it at that. Along the way my marriage fell apart and I moved to a new city. To 'cope' with the enormous increase in anxiety and stress, Dr gave me Olanzapine.... I took maybe 3 doses ever, as that stuff turned me into a zombie. I found a new doctor who I discussed how I felt on Mirtazapine and was switched over to Effexor XR. Ramped up from 37.5 to 150mg in the space of a few months. Generally felt 'good' but then noticed side affects that were persistent, sexual side affects galore, my BP sky rocketed, and hey look my anxiety was still very much around and panic attacks were a semi frequent occurrence. Dr's response was to switch to Paxil - which resulted in a heightened state of anxiety and rolling panic for days until I stopped them completely. Went back onto Effexor, despite the side affects and stabilized. Mirtazipine was then added to the Effexor for 'californian rocket fuel' - still anxious, still having panic attacks.. My BP was now concerning my Dr so was given a Blood Pressure pill, which then became two sets of BP meds, then three. My Blood Pressure still stayed high. Propranolol was added on top to reduce the heart rate and stress on my heart in general. This year was the hardest, I was referred to a psychiatrist, who every 6 weeks would get me to start a different drug. So I went from Effexor to Pristiq 50, then 100mg, Pristiq + Mirt, then onto Pristiq plus Seroquel at night (which made my anger turn into rage), then over to Luvox and some Respiradone and Valium to 'help' with the panic. Luvox basically kept me in a state of permanent nausea for 5 or 6 weeks - the dose was also increased to 100mg. So I spent around 4 months going through a cycle of drug withdrawal and startup over and over. I couldn't cope with being nauseous and feeling awful ALL the time anymore. At which point I had my next appointment with my Psychiatrist who just told me to 'just take half a dose for a few days and then stop them'. I asked that just ceasing any and all anti-depressants after FOURTEEN YEARS on them sounds very dangerous, she just shrugged. So I cancelled any future appointments with that practice, and after much research decided to cross taper from Luvox over to 15mg Mirtazapine and taper down from there. I chose Mirtazapine for several reasons - one was it stopped that permanent nausea everyday from the Luvox immediately, two it was a med my brain and body knew well and would tolerate almost immediately (which it did) and three i knew precisely what I would feel and how it would change me. After around 4 weeks of brainzaps and mild gastro issues as my body cleaned the last of the mix of drugs out of my body, I started to work my way down on Mirtazapine. Have currently gone from 15 > 7.5 > 3.75 with 6 or so weeks between drops. I will stay here until I stabalise again. So far the steps down have been very mild and tolerable (brain zaps for a day or two then fine), so my body is tolerating the 50% drops ok. 10% is recommended here, but so far for me personally its been ok dropping at 50% each time and stabilizing. The only noticeable (and expected) WD would be insomnia. My sleep quality has really tanked. Though interestingly enough despite low doses of Mirt meant to INCREASE your sleepyness, it has had little affect at all. So thats where I am currently at. I'm taking supplements like Vit C, Fish Oil and Vit B in the mornings and the small dose of Mirt at night. From here, I may need to look at a compounding chemist to begin tapering more slowly on the lower dosages, as cutting a tablet into 8th's is getting very difficult, even with a pill cutter. So the methods of diluting in liquids or a compound chemist will be the plan for the taper slow down (if needed) from here and my goal of being drug free hopefully within the year the final target.

Hello. I am 16 years old. I was prescribed Russian-made Risperidone in order to treat my intrusive thoughts, which were quite concerning to me. I was to start taking Russian-made Risperidone, but I had to start taking Latvian-made Risperidone ("Rispaxol") on 18 May 2022 because the Russian-made one was nowhere to be found. My Rispaxol drug plan was like this: 0.5mg in the morning for 2 days > 0.5mg in the morning + 0.5mg in the afternoon for 3 days > 1mg in the morning + 0.5mg in the afternoon for 2 days > the psychatrist visit (we had to visit him ourselves because he lived in a different city quite far away). I took it for 16 days I took for 8 days, not 16 (see next post providing correction) and it was quite effective - my violent thoughts went away. On 26 May 2022, my parents finally found the Russian-made Risperidone (Rispaxol was nowhere to be found and the pharmacology we used to acquire the drugs was located in the same city as the psychiatrist. After they contacted the psychiatrist, he approved me taking the drug while also upping the dosage to 2mg since I reported that Rispaxol is losing its efficacy. I stopped taking Rispaxol and took the Russian-made Risperidone for 26-27 May 2022. These two days were hell for me - I couldn't sit still and had an irresistible urge to move. My parents contacted the psychiatrist again and he told us to abruptly discontinue the drug, which I did on 28 May 2022. The next six days marked a very rough withdrawal. I felt completely empty and paranoid, I couldn't eat anything and felt like my touch on reality was slipping away (although that might be due to me reading about Risperidone witdrawal symptoms on the Internet and being extremely anxious about them). I was in such a horrible state until 9 June 2022, when we found a Horvatian-made Risperidone ("Risset") and the psychiatrist told me to begin taking it with the same drug plan in an attempt to relieve the withdrawal symptoms. I'm very scared for myself. Am I doing the right thing by starting Risset or should I discontinue Risset and simply wait out the withdrawal? I think I should note that my psychiatrist didn't warn me about the withdrawal at all

Hello, Im 24 years old, in february i had an psychosis and was put on 6mg Risperdal a day. In the first month i felt nothing from the medication but in the second month i experiencend wirred conditions like my brain was melting.... since this time i lost all my Feelings interests and sexuality.... i cant even watch tv or read a book, the only thing i can do is starring at the wall all day...its awful. its the 4th month im off risperdal and still there is no change in my condition.... im thinking about suicid all day and had a lot of attempts. I really need a recovery story beside charliebrowns because i think his symptoms werent as bad as mine.

Hi all, I appreciate this page. I recently decided to taper off of Risperidone by reducing the dosage by 5-10% per month. I got an oral solution manufactured that way. I had previously thought of making my own solution but found that Risperidone is not soluble. (Please correct me if I’m wrong.) Anyway, I stored the oral solution provided by the pharmacy in the fridge at 37 degrees Fahrenheit. However, the bottle says it should be stored at around 68- 70 ish degrees Fahrenheit. Has anyone had the experience of storing their medication at this temperature and not experiencing any difficulties?

Hello, I am a mom who is helping her 16 year old son (under the guidance of his psychiatrist) to taper off psychotropic medications. He has a complex medical history with cancer and narcolepsy and mood issues. I am not sure what, if anything, his current meds are doing for him given how long he has been on them and how much he has changed in that time. He is currently doing very well and is in full agreement on trying to reduce/stop the medications. After 2 previous disastrous attempts to taper him off Risperal in the past (done in the traditional, much too fast way), I was able to help him taper off Risperdal this past year. He started at a dose of 1 mg (taken as .5 mg morning and evening) in June of 2017. As outlined on this site, I reduced him monthly by 10% of the current dose for around the first 7 months and then was then able to speed up the time between reductions (because my son was doing very well and asked me to speed it up!). He has now been off Risperdal for 5 months, doing well, and I would like to try and taper him off Celexa. His psychiatrist is in agreement with tapering him off. Although the psychiatrist (a brand new once as my son's old psychiatrist left his practice this summer) had never heard of the 10% reduction method, he is supportive and wrote a prescription for liquid Celexa so that I can give him a combination of pill and liquid during the taper. I have the liquid and I can start at any time, but I am feeling very nervous! I thought it might help to discuss my plan here. I also have a few questions. My plan is to, as I did with the Risperdal and is recommended here, reduce the dose by 10% of the previous dose. I have the 10 mg/5 ml Celexa solution and 10 mg tablets. My son's current dose is 30 mg, so he takes three 10 mg tables each morning. Here is my reduction schedule for the first few months, starting with his current dose of Celexa, and the combination of tablet and liquid I will give him 30 mg: 10 mg tablet + 10 mg tablet + 5 ml liquid (this is his current dose - just to be extra cautious I will give him a few days at this dose because of the change to a combination of liquid and pill) 27 mg: 10 mg tablet + 10 mg tablet + 3.5 ml liquid (I will have him stay at this dose for 1 month provided everything is going well) 24.3 mg: 10 mg tablet + 10 mg tablet + 2.15 ml liquid (again, 1 month at this dose) My first question has to do with how precise to be with rounding off dosage amounts. I have a 5 ml and a 1 ml syringe. The 1 ml syringe is divided into hundredths, so I can get precise, but do I need to? I did with the Risperdal taper, but I started at 1 mg, so I needed to. For example, the third reduction, rounded to the nearest hundredth of a mg, is a dose of 21.87 mg. So, for this reduction I could give him two 10 mg tablets and .94 ml of the liquid. Or, I could round up to 22 mg and give him the two tablets and 1 ml of liquid. Any thoughts on precision of rounding would be appreciated! My second question is what would be a good drink to mix the liquid Celexa into. I put the Risperdal into a very small amount of milk. I am thinking of using milk again. Thank you!

Moderator note: link to benzo forum thread - Miko789: Xanax withdrawal/tapering Hi, I'm new to the forum, I have some questions I want to ask. My doctor prescribed effexor for depression, in 2009. Now I'm free of symptoms and I managed to come off with withdrawal symptoms though. That's with the antidepressant. Now I'm on Risperdal consta from November 2013 and seroxat 10mg. My doctor prescribed with risperdal consta 3,3mg/day long acting injection every two weeks. From February 2015 he lowered the dosage to 25mg/every 2 weeks equals 1,66mg/day. I tried to lower the seroxat 10mg but after 40-45h I have withdrawal symptoms vertigo, dizziness. Is it possible to cut down seroxat? How about the Risperdal consta (long acting injection). Has anyone tapered off completely without withdrawals? I read about the 10% harm reduction procedure to taper off and I'm going to tell my doctor and follow. thanks in advance

I was put on Latuda because I told the psychiatrists at the mental hospital that I was depressed after a season of drinking that brought me to the hospital for detox. They insisted on focusing on my depression instead of my drinking withdrawl. So they put me on my first anti-psychotic. I wasn't clinically depressed and it didn't have anything to do with my bi-polar but my drinking. When they released me from the hospital Latuda was so expensive that my insurance had a hard time approving it and I ran out of my perscription from the mental hospital. So I felt totally uneasy and unsafe. I called the police on myself. And I felt so unsafe that I thought I might take the gun away from the police officer. I have never felt so out of control from a drug withdrawl in all my life. I didn't even know I was in anti-psychotic withdrawl. But from only taking the drug for one week I was permenately altered in my brain chemistry. I have been on ant-psychotics ever sense. I had to go to another mental hospital right away because I told the staff at the medical hospital that I was so unstable in so many words. So I went to another mental hospital and they put me on Risperidal. Taking risperidone quickly took away my homicidal and suicidal feelings. Feelings I had never had up until the Latuda incident. So I took 1 mg of Risperidal for years then switched to 40 mgs of Geodon for 1 year and now I am titrating down on my own initiative to .375 mg of Riseridal every day. I hope to get to .300mgs at the end of December but it is so hard to cut the pills right to know how many miligrams you are taking. My withdrawl is significant but because it is a low dose reduction it isn't severe. I was angry a lot on Geodon but because Risperidal is a heavier sedative I can take less than I did before durring this switch from a more stimulating and anger inducing antispsychotic which is Ziprasidone (Geodone) for me. Thanks for listening. Have a great day. If you have any questions let me know.

I am on an untenably high dose of risperdal. My life force is being sapped away. I once many years ago abused risperdal as a sleeping pill and shot up to 12 mg from 4. I have been advised by my p-doc to taper .25 mg every 2 weeks. But I hit 10 mg and something in me gets jonesy and I am up again to 14 mg, Doing it too fast. Need to keep slow and steady. Would appreciate any tips from those who understand. These drugs are addictive. I have all the time in the world but don't know how long my body can take it.

Hello all, I'm happy that I have found this forum as I'm quite desperate regarding what's going on with me. And fascinated. Fascinated by the effects of these so-called "anti-psychotics". About me: 28 years old, male. I was in a psychiatric hospital due to a paranoid psychosis where I was given Risperidon, and potentially Haldol. All I do currently is laying all day in bed and just read about the effects of neuroleptics. If I had feelings, I would say I am ashamed of myself but somehow there is "nothing" left to make such a statement. I can't seem to care as it feels as if my dreams and my will were erased, my brain functions smashed with a hammer. Are there any tenured forum members which went through something similar? My story below: I. Medication: 10.8 - 17.8: ? (To receive from hospital) 17.8 - 20.8: 6mg Risperidon / day, as per hospital recommendation 21.8 - 04.9: 2-3mg Risperidon / day 5.9: cold turkey II. Symptoms: 10.8: psychosis, got into hospital 11.8: blackout, no memory (potentially after being given something) 12.8 - 17.8: constant dizziness, a friend described that I looked like as if I was on opiates (super high) when he was visiting me 17.8: out of hospital, 17.8 - 19.8: severe pain when swallowing food (just for a few days), hyperactivity as if high on something 20.8 - 23.8: extreme appetite, 4h sleep, fever like symptoms 23.8 - 30.8: declining appetite, extreme emotional up and downs (sometimes crying, constantly smiling in a dumb way when I was in a meeting), Akathisia, panic attacks 1.9 - 10.9: extreme Akathisia, panic attacks, insomnia, no appetite or thirst 10.9 - 10.10: suicidal thoughts, panic attacks, slow sleep stabilization, no appetite or thirst Current status: As of 10.10: new normal - anhedonia, extreme passivity (everything has to be done forcefully), normal sleep length but no quality sleep, still no appetite or thirst (I survive of a coffee and two slices of bread per day), executive brain function defects (attention, language, strategic thinking, ...) 30.10: strange nighmare (see III.3) --- "Appendix": III. Regarding sleep (approx as of 1.10) 1. General: I don't seem to have a gradual falling asleep / waking up phase. It seems to happen abruptly now. 2. Dreams: mostly of memories when I was a child / teen) 3. sometimes vivid nightmares which seem to serve to wake me up, e.g. I had an extremely disgusting nightmare (30.10) and when I still wasn't waking up, the nightmare got distorted as if a TV show gets interrupted due to a malfunction, I literally saw a red square which blocked the "nightmare show" and seemed to cause a full stop to everything, like an emergency break - that was the moment when I woke up, I felt that my complete left arm was numb. Moved around and fell asleep again. IV. Emotions Generally no emotions, lost my passions (music, art). Though I can "revive" memories sometimes when I force myself to listen to music. Summary: I seem to be sitting in a prison now. My intellect is still (kind of) there but the (1) tools which it used to create things and the (2) the drive (my dreams and goals) to become active are all deleted now. Additionally, day by day, I seem to care less and less about the fact that I was stripped of my highest brain functions. If this continues, I will not care about anything in a few months. --- I am not in a suicidal state, just trying to analytically contemplate my options. I went through some topics here but as I doubt that there is an escape from this state + taking the cognitive and emotional decline into consideration, it kind of makes me feel as if I have a limited time frame to act before I become a completely empty human shell which is utterly unable to make decisions and do anything goal-directed. Must I try to learn to accept this "new normal" or is there any way to at least kind of come closer to who I used to be? If I must accept this, is there any medication which could kind of being emotions? Thank you

Hi all...... I am new here. Searched google 'how to recover from risperidone' and found this site. I don't know how things work here, but I am sharing my experience. I was misdiagnosed with Bipolar disorder and took the medicine for 3 months. The details of the drugs are in my signature. Its been almost two months since I quit the medicines cold turkey. I am now suffering from withdrawal symptoms. Sexual dysfunction, ie.. no sex drive which is driving me crazy. I watch porn, but not able to get excited now. I am deeply depressed. Suicidal thoughts are coming to me thinking about my life. I have just completed graduation in B.tech in engineering. I was not able to write the final exams well because of memory problems, no interest to study, which was during my medication period. Now i am thinking what I will become in life, I can't function properly as a human being. In the morning I feel like sleeping more. I feel tiredness while trying to become active after waking up. So after breakfast I lay in bed again. In the evenings I will become more active till I sleep. Is this normal? Will I be able to lead my normal life back? If so how much time will it take to recover? Reply please........ I am in need of help.

I want to get pregnant in April 2022 and would like to start tapering from Risperdal .50 mg and Trazodone 50 mg. My psychiatrist sent me a new Risperdal prescription for .25 mg which is the lowest dose. If I start to take this starting January 17 for how long should I take this before I start to take it every other day? and how and when I should stop completely? Please advise. I got a second opinion but would like to know the best approach from someone who have successfully tapered before. I’m a bit nervous about the taper. Thank you

I have now been off all medication for 3 years 1 month 6 days..... I got off of benzos first then tapered off of Risperdal and finished the taper on September 12th 2017. It has been a long hard road but I would like to report that I am almost back to normal. I think if I quit smoking cigarettes I will be 100% and completely back on track in life. While I was on medication I had anxiety and paranoia so bad I couldn't leave the house or talk to anyone and ended up on disabilities from it in my mid 20s. Now I am on track to become a Youth Minister at a large church and have 0 problems talking to people or public speaking. I actually initiate conversations and go out of my way to talk to people now and help people out whenever I can. The biggest key to my recovery was God. He put me on this path and let me know it was for a reason even though I didn't believe it at all and thought I was going to snap and end up back on medications MANY times during the first couple of years. When I first came off the medications I slept like 2 hours a night most nights for months on end and had to learn to reframe distressing thoughts and feelings as a temporary nuisance for long term gains. I also went from 240 pounds to 145 pounds in a matter of less than 3 months which shut down my gall bladder that I had to have removed. I became gluten and lactose intolerant due to all this and have had to completely change my habits but I don't miss my old habits at all. If you want to survive don't stick to the same things you have been doing day in and day out. Pay close attention to your sleeping habits and what you eat or do to see if anything is causing issues. DO NOT use any supplements of any kind and be VERY careful about using literally anything that can have a mental effect on you even exercise. I can still go into mild waves if I overdo it by doing too much work or exercising too much. My only lingering symptoms are massive fatigue and nerve pain that comes and goes but I know all my triggers now and sometimes do them anyway and just accept the consequences. But even those symptoms are becoming less and less and there is hope they will vanish one day. I hope this message helps anyone out there who thinks all hope is lost, because there is a light at the end of the tunnel as long as you stay diligent about just accepting that there is nothing that can speed up the process and just do what you can to make it day by day. Link to Razmuk's Introduction Topic: Razmuk: getting rid of Risperdal

Hi Everyone, I'm glad this site exists. As it says in my title I'm trying to eventually come off all psychiatric medications that I'm on. I currently take: 0.375 mg Risperdal (after about 1.5 years at 2 mg) 50 mg Lamictal 100 mg Zoloft Right now I am trying to taper off of Risperdal. I just spoke to the compounding pharmacy today and should have the liquid form in three or four days for more precise tapering. My history: I entered therapy when I was 18 as a senior in high school in February 2010. I started taking Welbutrin, then added Zoloft, then stopped taking Welbutrin. In the summer of 2012, after my sophomore year of college, my psychiatrist let me decrease my dose of Zoloft from I think 100 mg to 50 mg. In March 2013, I was admitted to a mental hospital and put on Lithium, Risperdal, and Cogentin, and my dose of Zoloft was increased to 100 mg. In December 2013 I came off the Lithium cold turkey. I think I stopped taking the Cogentin (meant for shakiness/muscle spasms) then as well. So from December 2013 to June 2014 I only took 2 mg Risperdal and 100 mg Zoloft. In June 2014 I was suicidal and put on 50 mg Lamictal. In August 2014 I graduated college (George Mason University in Fairfax, VA-- Northern Virginia) and returned to the Philadelphia, PA area where I'm from. I'm currently enrolled in a Dialectical Behavioral Therapy program here. I meditate daily and that has helped me a lot. If you have any questions about me feel free to ask! Thanks for reading!

Hello ! I was given an Asperger Disorder + Transient Psychotic Depressive episode as a young adult while being under huge stress related to work/studies and a dire financial situation all while living abroad in a foreign city. At first i was given psychiatric medication to "clean-up" my thought process of delusional content and calm my severe anxieties. The doctors who started my medication were clear you're going to take this medication for a number of years then you'll go back to your normal life. This "going back to normal life" never happened due to my actual psychiatrist ,who did the 2->5 Phases The medication reduction was a "success" at every step : Risperdal 4 mg +Abilify 30 Mg : 9 Months Switch to Abilify 30 Mg : 6 Months Abilify 15 Mg: 9 Months Abilify 10 Mg: 9 Months Abilify 5 Mg: 35 Months today i'm 100% healed,no trace of any delusional thought and no hint of depression i'm as in good mental health as one can be but i struggle everyday due to medication as my cognitive abilities are strongly reduced (even during illness i could read a novel in an afternoon now it takes me several days to finish a 500-page book and i can't enroll in classes as even my ancient writings look like chinese to my dulled mind ) My actual dose is the" very low" dose of Aripiprazole 5 mg (he insists on that) for more than 3 years and no amount of discusssion with the psychiatrist would change his mind as he unconsciouscly thinks my mind,like all his patient's minds are irreversibly broken,even now he seriously says to me that Asperger disorder is included into psychotic illness hence treatment (which is WRONG but i have no power to overturn his harsh opinions) This very low dose is sufficient to crush my ability to write and read computer code and to complete university work the only thing i can do i some basic reading and i depend on my aging parents for a living (if one of them dies i'm on the streets) I want to go further in life and continue my studies but i am given no chance. I need all your help and data on Abilify 5 mg withdrawal . Tomorrow i'm going to see a new psychiatrist,wish me luck !

How long does it take to completely recover from risperdal consta? I switched from risperdal consta to latuda end december 2017 but I must still be affected by it, since I'm still impotent (I got this condition while on risperdal consta).

hello guys, that's my story (coming from Italy, sorry for bad English): I was suggested in October 2014 to take Risperdal 1mg/day for my social anxiety and paranoia...took it for 23 days from November, that day I suddenly felt a great fear of death and a 'strange void' in my head. From that moment (23 November 2014) to present day I have had no emotions, I have lost all my interests, my mind is empty now (very slow thinking), I speak few times only to answer a question, I have no energy or motivation so I'm lying down on my bed all the day. Before taking Risperdal I had some issues with social anxiety and paranoia, but I loved going to gym, walking, thinking freely, reading and gaming. Now I don't have any desire, I also experience discomfort when eating or taking a shower. I read many posts about this like-being dead existence after taking risperdal. Please help, also jim24 your story is similar to mine, please update me on your situation...I will do the same.

Here is a question for everyone who has used anti-psychotics (especially athletes): Have you experienced poor blood circulation after using anti-psychotics? please reply with your experience in decent detail. I myself am an athlete and after i took risperdal, my blood circulation dramatically weakened, i was much less vascular and could barely experience a muscle pump after working out; I recovered from that side effect after a rough 14 months. later i took abilify and the same exact thing happened, poor circulation, less vascular and of course fatigue in the gym. after bloodwork, the only thing that was abnormal was prolactin (it was high after risperdal and low after abilify).

Hello. About 6 months ago I was hospitalized and put on risperdal against my will. I was diagnosed as bi polar and given the medication over the course of 21 days, beginning with a pill and ending with two injectables. I was scheduled for a third injection three months after being released, but as the symptoms were impossible to cope with, my psychiatrist put me on abillify instead. After less than a month, I discontinued the medication completely cold turkey and I haven't been back to see him since. Here are some of the symptoms I've noticed for the past 3 months since discontinuing the medications. -akathisia -mild gynecomastia -emotional flatness -inabillity to read or retain information ( I used to read about a book a week before the medication) -increased joint pain -terrible anxiety and agoraphobia -erectile dysfunction and an empty sex drive/diminished orgasms -severe weight gain Anyways, a whole myriad of symptoms began to occur, but my main concern is permanent neurological impairment or alteration caused from this medication. I've read that these medications are actually neurotoxic, that they shrink the brain or even cause brain cells to die, all sorts of terrible stuff like that - and I'm terrified. I don't know what to do or how to cope. Is there anybody out there with similar experiences? If so, how long has it taken you to recover, if you recovered at all? I feel like I've basically been lobotomized. I'm only 23, and I couldn't imagine living life like this without some hope of getting better. Any help is appreciated. Thanks for listening.

I began tapering risperdol Feb 2017. It's been about 6 weeks now. I taper 5% every week. My original dose was 1mg each night. I am now at .70mg. I have no physical symptoms but the mental symptoms are the same as the side effects only much worse. The side effects are derealization, severe brain fog, severe depression, emotional flatness and what feels like lowered I.Q. I am sleeping fine and my appetite is good. I didn't gain any weight while on this poison and instead lost quite a bit. I have been taking risperdol for 3 years. I started at 2mg and lowered the dose to 1mg about one year ago. I was told by my pdoc that I could go off of it and I jumped at the chance. He tapered me way too fast and I think I experienced a psychosis or extremely high anxiety. I reinstated at that time. (I hope this post makes sense. I'm not thinking too clearly.) My question is, will these side effects start to diminish while I'm tapering? Will this start to go away as I am ingesting less and less drug? I've read many horror stories online and I'm really reaching for some success stories. I'm very afraid that these side effects will last long after the taper is complete. I am so depressed and do very little but sit on the sofa. I have to force myself to do anything and I have no interest in anything at all. Nothing brings me joy and I cannot feel love anymore. I don't laugh and I don't cry. I am zombie like. It is completely miserable. I've lost everything since I started this med. I've made very bad choices and lost my relationship, my job and my home. I am now living with my grown daughter and her husband. Without them I'd be homeless. Any advice would be very much welcome and appreciated. Thank you.

Hello everyone, I have been diagnosed with Schizophrenia after a self injury episode. Currently on AP 4mg Sizodon (risperidone) at night with 50mg Chlorpromizine (Thorazine / Largactil). I have lots of side effects like tiredness, sleep only for 6 hours, feel weak and shaky all the time. Morning and afternoon I have to take (2x day) 1 tablet Parkin (trihexyphenidyl hydrochloride). It's been 4 months since am on medication. I want to taper off medicines. That's the reason why I joined this forum. Any help is greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Hello, Does anyone have experience with tapering off Risperdal by alternating doses.? I'm on 4mg now and an Ayurvedic doctor told me to alternate 4mg one day, 3mg the next, then 4 the next and 3 the next day. I'll be doing this for 6 weeks then go from 3mg to 2mg every other day.3, 2, 3, 2. I can't find anything online about this type of tapering. Please explain if you have any experience. Thank you!

I have been on 3 mg of Risperdal for 13 years due to drug induced psychosis for meth. I decided to finally try to get off the med and have been tapering since December. I did 0.25 mg per month for 4 months but when I hit 2 mg insomnia kicked in for a couple weeks so I waited it out for 2 months and this time went down 0.10 mg for this month. It has been 5 weeks since my last taper and my only real symptoms are fatigue, feeling completely brain dead, and occasionally my vision feels all strange kind of like a very mild acid trip. I am sleeping 9 hours a night and everything is calm I just feel completely flat emotionally, brain dead, and tired for the most part. Would it be better to continue the taper or just hold since my symptoms aren't unbearable but they are just frustrating?

Most, if not all, of us on here keep notes or track symptoms, progress and tapering schedules. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could combine them all in one big AI database and have it spew out the statistically significant data? Until that comes to fruition, I wanted to share some patterns that I have tracked with my daughter’s anti-psychotic tapering progress over the last two years. Maybe others have seen similar patterns? Or can share their noticeable patterns on the specific days or weeks when they occur from a drop in dose/ taper time frame. So often in the throes of withdrawal agony we look for a way to ‘fix’ our current situation. We ruminate whether we should up dose, taper down, throw a supplement at it, add a different med …. In the hopes of making the current “pain”, better. Pretty much I have thought of all those things except throwing in the kitchen sink in an attempt to ‘make it stop’ for her. As it is often cited and discussed here on Survivingantidepressants.com, learning how to cope using non-drug techniques during these times is the best strategy. Can knowing when you are in the middle of something awful, that what you are experiencing is actually a typical pattern others have gone through and will eventually subside…be of benefit to help ‘ride the wave?' I vote, "yes it can." The pattern that I have noticed for my daughter, Glo, is what I call the “Week Three Phenomenon.” This phenomenon became more apparent as her dose became lower. Probably because she was pretty much ‘zombified’ on the higher doses and it was only when her level of alertness improved and just overall feeling better occurred that the ‘down patterns’ emerged more clearly. Week Three Phenomenon occurs between day 15 and 22 after a taper. It shows up as Emotional Spirals, (typically Anger Spirals), Crying Spells, Agitation and increased Insomnia. Week one and Week two have their share of symptoms but typically not these. Actually those weeks have more physical symptoms and less emotional symptoms. Additionally there is more “calm” in week 2. So one might think, “Ahh I made it through the rough parts of that taper” and then boom….not so much. But then by week 4…pretty much on cue for day 22 or 23…the calm returns. Maybe this is Windows and Waves but maybe it is actually repair work going on from the drop in dose. Maybe there is really a methodical way the brain heals and it impacts certain areas of the brain in succession (the amygdala, hippocampus, frontal lobe perhaps)? Similar to the old fashioned arcade Pinball Game only the “ball” pings the same areas of the brain in a repeatable fashion after a taper? I am certainly only a mother observing my daughters behaviors and actions through this process so, no expert am I. Nor do I really know what she is feeling as she does not talk much any more. However, I can count on these emotional spirals showing up on week 3 like clockwork. The other pattern I see relates to Menstruating Females. This pattern is most discernible when one is having regular periods. Glo went from amenorrhea in the beginning to irregular periods then to regular but shortened periods. But every month when she is regular her symptoms go ‘off the charts’ during ovulation. They last about 24 to 36 hours and occur mostly 14 days before the start of her next period. She has ramped up pacing (I am assuming akathisia), chewing/jaw tension, agitation, insomnia and decreased level of alertness/communication. This same pattern emerges 24 to 48 hours before she starts her period. So what happens if my sweet beautiful daughter is in Week Three of a taper and ovulation or her menstrual cycle arrives? Well, if the general public, doctors or psychiatrists were around they would lock her up in a psych ward and “med her up” (to refer to words by @puthappinessfirst) Fortunately, I will not let that happen. It is comforting to me to know these are patterns and that there is always calm after these storms; usually in the form of increased healing. She is better now than she has been at any time on this medication. She still has much healing to do. I still have patience to learn. But we are getting through to the other side of being on this poison. Peace to all who taper, Glosmom

Hello. I am twenty years old and had been on antidepressants since I was ten. From then on through my teenage years, all I knew was I needed to take my medicine . Once I was diagnosed with high-functioning autism, my pediatrician referred me to a neurologist. The neurologist then put me on respiradone and strattera. I don't remember if I had any behavior problems or not, but my neurologist told me I would have to be on medicine for the rest of my life. I stayed on those two meds until I got into high school. My first two years of high school, I couldn't stop crying. I cried day and night. My neurologist put me on celexa. When that didn't work, my neurologist told me he could no longer help me and referred me to a psychiatrist. I saw the new psychiatrist my junior year of high school who told me I had depression and anxiety that needed to be treated. I was taken off respiradone and strattera and put on pristiq and adderall. When pristiq wouldn't work, I was switched back to celexa. So it went on, switching back and forth between antidepressants. There were so many different ones I can't remember many of them. Every time I asked my psychiatrist if the next time it would work, he assured me it would. There was no chance to talk when I saw my psychiatrist. It would result in a new prescription every time. During my senior year, I helplessly slept through every class, sometimes falling out on the floor asleep. I had a good school counselor who allowed me to pass because she knew it was the medicine and I got plenty of sleep. I also cried uncontrollably almost every day in front of everyone and it was very humiliating as I would stir up a lot of attention. My senior pictures of me showed a person with a puffed up and swollen face. I was switched to lexapro again and stayed on it my whole first year of college. Then the crying returned. During my second year, I was switched to Abilify for depression. I still trusted my psychiatrist as he again promised me it would work. Out of all my experiences with antidepressants, there is nothing that could ever have compared to this. As soon as I took the first dose of Abilify, my brain signaled to me something was very, very wrong. I began receiving no sleep. My psychiatrist put me on trazadone for that, but when I took it, my body fell completely limp, my heartbeat slowed down to almost nothing, and I went numb while my body shut itself down. I stopped it after two nights. Meanwhile, with abilify, I began spending all my time obsessing over things I would normally never touch. I believed I was an alien hybrid sent from outer space to save the planet. I also believed the human race are all aliens in disguise. Then I started going mad. I didn't want to be a human anymore. I wanted to be a supernatural creature with otherworldly capabilities. This was all extremely terrifying to me, but I couldn't stop myself. I lost my common sense as I believed these nonsensical theories. My mind was overpowering me with racing thoughts such as these listed. I couldn't think clearly. I was almost always in a state of rage. Reasoning had left me. For reasons I do not remember, I stopped Abilify by myself cold turkey. My psychiatrist had told me before that I never needed to worry about tapering because the antidepressants I took were all in the same family. He never mentioned stopping completely. Withdrawal symptoms didn't show up until a week later. My psychiatrist told me they would last 15 days. They were relatively minor, and I didn't worry much about them. However, nothing could have ever prepared me for the horror I underwent next. Every horror I could have never imagined bestowed me over the course of a month. I received no sleep. I was very lucky if I got one hour. The nights soon got from bad to worse. I developed REM sleep disorder. I was unable to tell the difference between being awake and asleep. As my mind was drifting, I jumped up in the air, screamed, swung at the air, and thrashed violently all over. In addition, my head would suddenly snap up and I would shout melancholy indistinguishable language and suck in sharp breaths. I was aware of everything, but I had no control over it, and it was very disturbing to me. Then came the uncontrollable muscle movements. My lips drew up on the sides, my mouth gaped open, my lips puckered and pouted, my teeth bared, my tongue stuck out, my neck extended, my eyes bulged, my eyebrows rose and lowered, my hands flapped, my arms swung, my knees jerked, my head jerked side to side, and my fingers extended. Shouts, grunts, moans, and gasps escaped my mouth. Several weeks went by as more horrendous symptoms appeared. Every day I was a zombie. I could only do basic human activities. I had no awareness of the passage of time. At night while drifting off, a dark shadowy presence swept over me. I was aware of where I was in real time while drifting, but I sensed a sudden danger. I jumped up alert every time. I heard a voice I believed to be God's telling me why I was like this and what I needed to do. It spoke to me relentlessly for days. When this occurred, an otherworldly and overwhelming sense of peace filled my every being. But it was always soon replaced by a terror so surreal I could not function. During this time, I could "see" my brain and I believed I was in control of what I allowed to be let in. After four days of this, I ordered the voice to "Get out!" It did and did not come back. Right after this, a veil suddenly covered my mind and I was disengaged from reality. I had no sense of where I was and I had no connection with my parents. I was always mad, crying most of the time, and my head was always jerking. I saw my psychiatrist for the last time two months ago. The doctor who had been nice to me all this time suddenly turned mean. He told me he refused to see me unless I got on medicine. By this time, I had found this site and many other websites about withdrawal. I knew I wanted to try living a better life and I was not backing down. I never took the newly prescribed anti psychotic he prescribed me. A week later, my parents, exasperated with how I was doing and on their last straw, called my psychiatrist. My dad told the psychiatrist I had read on the internet how long the withdrawal really is and the doctor spoke with me on the phone. My psychiatrist told me that the withdrawal symptoms I was describing were "all in my head" because the medicine would already be out of my system now six weeks later. He told me I needed to get on medicine right now because "I needed help". He told me my quality of life was not as good without the medicine. I was in another rage episode by this time, and unlike me, I confronted him. I said "Well why are a lot of these the same symptoms I experienced during the so-called withdrawal time?" He said he didn't know and preceded to ask me was I on drugs. I was in disbelief that anyone would ask such a thing. I have not spoken to that psychiatrist since. I am dealing currently with a lot of physical and mental symptoms but none I would describe as severe as that horrible nightmare of a month. (That month just happened to be timed perfectly with my Christmas break.) My mouth, head, and fingers jerk, but never as exaggerated as they were the first month. I dealt with extremely numb fingers, feet, and ankles up until two weeks ago. My ankles at times felt like they were hanging by a single nail. My feet, bluish-green, were so numb and swollen I had no feeling and shooting pains shot up my legs. I was extremely dizzy for so long. My gp told me I have low blood pressure. I started having panic attacks. Anxiety crept over me for no apparent reason. I cried a lot. I felt hopeless. I am dealing with apathy, anhedonia, akathisia, and cognitive problems. My memory has not been well during this whole time. I am not aware; I'm just wherever I am. I have lost perception of sight, hearing, and touch. I do things I'm supposed to do because I know that's what I've always done. I cannot connect feelings to memories; I have to rely on pictures and journals from over the years. I had to look back in my journal to refresh my memory of this whole experience which I happened to write down. I have been disconnected with myself...it was worse in the beginning. I would look at pictures of myself and couldn't connect that it was me. The whole first month of withdrawal my face was so puffed up I thought my skin would fall off. Sometimes things look bigger or smaller than they appear. My thinking ability is limited. I went to my gp again three weeks ago and I was low on vitamin D. I am currently on iron medicine, vitamin d supplements, allergy medicine, and multivitamins. Although the numbness has gone away, I am extremely faint and have weak tremors every day. At night I'm miserably exhausted. My heart is always beating fast and hard. I get chills and my body tenses up. I'm not sure if I should be concerned about any of this. I cold-turkeyed Abilify four months ago. I have managed to keep my grades up in college since then and so far have maintained a perfect attendance. Some days are harder than others, but I try to count my blessings as I've heard stories far worse than my own. I am only beginning to understand what I am dealing with. The last thing I would want is to ever take another antidepressant and hinder this process. I feel like I have a real sense of myself now and I feel more in control. I have no idea how long this will last or if it will ever go away but I try to maintain a positive attitude about it as things slowly get better. I have faced the fact that I can't change my past but I can certainly shape my future. I apologize for the long story. It is difficult to get my thoughts together.