Search the Community

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).

Hi. Was taking 4 mg of risperidone for two months. Suddenly stopped taking it for a week (didn't notice any withdrawal). Then took 2 mg for two weeks (approved by psychiatrist). Then took 1 mg for two weeks (approved by psychiatrist). Have not noticed any withdrawal symptoms. Asked psychiatrist if it was okay for me to suddenly go from 4 mg to 2 mg, and then 2 mg to 1 mg. She said it was okay since I hadn't been showing any symptoms. I have read that withdrawal symptoms can surface after months or even a year after you stop taking it. I am not sure what that person's credibility was. I have also read, from a .org website that the withdrawal symptoms are mild and rare. I have stopped taking the 1 mg for almost a week, and I am wondering if I will be alright. I have not noticed any withdrawal symptoms, and I feel like I will still be seeing my psychiatrist for a little while at least. I am also wondering if it is true that withdrawal symptoms can surface months or even a year after you stop taking the medication. That just seems far-fetched to me. Any help is appreciated!

Hi, my name is Aember and I have had severe negative reactions to SSRIs after very fee doses. I have been sick since January 2020 with a mystery degenerative neurological condition that is affecting my ability to think and feel. I am experiencing progressive dementia and confusion. Here is my story: Have had mystery neurological illness since Jan 2020, started with delirium, a flu and then a gastrointestinal flu that woke me up with a pounding heart and nocturnal defecation for months and body temp above 99 -101F. Sleep became interrupted with very vivid dreams and bizarre hypnagogic states. Started hypersalivating. Vision became altered, blurry at distance, slightly photosensitive. Extreme fatigue and bed in early evening, sleeping in and off until noon. Increased red pinpoint angiomas developing all over my body. Gradually became anhedonic in March 2020, unable to laugh or cry. Confusion and anxiety increased. Was put on Seroquel 25 mg end of March 2020, immediately had some involuntary movement so stopped after 1 dose. Switched to Trazodone 2 days later and had an extreme Akathesia episode with involuntary movement, was up for 24 hours pacing and raging internally. The next week was put on Citalopram 10mg for 2 days, immediately got dyskinesia (pill rolling, teeth grinding, twitching, teeth licking, bunny nose) with compulsive behaviour, vision became blurrier and developed horizontal double vision halos, perception of time sped up, switched to 5mg Escitalopram for 1 day, started muscle twitching, became flushed, feverish could not sleep (serotonin syndome?), next day became psychotic and babbling, compulsive, bit myself, could not walk. Hospitalized April 2020, put on respiridone 0.125 upped to 0.25 for 2 weeks. Felt weird hot icy burning in chest and esophagus upon initiating, had issues swallowing, voice got raspier, experienced increased hunger, constant fatigue and sedation, dry skin some teeth grinding and muscle tension on and off, vision worsened further (my left eye is now -1 and blurry, was perfect in December 2019), increased constipation, little change in anxiety, increased social compulsiveness (speaking without thinking). Started lactating. Quit April 29 after tapering to 0.125 mg for 3 days. Since then, I had episodes of dyskinesia and teeth grinding, bunny nosing, cramping in hands and feet, but it's gradually lessening as my body adapts to being antipsychotic free. I am still in a confused state (feel like I am about to pass out, cannot focus) with abnormal sleep emotions (cannot feel happy, cannot work) and decreased intellect (issues with spelling, time perception, planning, focus and my degenerative neurological condition persists as well as the hypersalivation and weakness. I am in bed all day.

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, 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 am 54 years old, and experienced my first manic episode, starting 1st November of last year, requiring a month of involuntary hospitalisation starting 14th November brought on by numerous stressors. I was on Lithium and Haloperidol, from the 15th Nov, then ±900mg Lithium and 0.5mg Risperidone from the 15th Jan . I started tapering the Risperidone from the Feb 16th. My last dose was 0.125mg on 15 March. How long will the withdrawal symptoms last? The reason why I'm asking is I'd also like to know if I am experiencing withdrawal symptoms or bipolar depression? The intense depressive feelings arrive and leave suddenly and unexpectedly, sometimes lasting a few minutes, sometimes a few hours, after which I feel mildly depressed again, which is a general state. I am able to be lifted, for example by gardening, good cooking, humour etc, during this general milder state. I have general anxiety about several factors which triggered the original mania, namely money (increased now, due to difficulty working), accommodation for my and my spouse's ageing parents who are both difficult to work with, those being by far the most major among other stressors. I have found that very carefully-considered and rare - perhaps twice a week - use of Diazepam can also return me to this state from the more intense state. I intended to start tapering the Lithium once I feel more stable and know myself better after this current tapering. I apologise if this has been covered before, but I find reading and writing about my condition extremely stress inducing, which is to say getting to this point has not been easy. I am eternally grateful in advance for the help.

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

I am seeking advice about tapering off of Risperidone. I am a medical doctor (the irony), and my doctor informed me I can go straight from 1mg Risperidone to 0 mg but my experience of coming straight off was that I still had difficulties with withdrawal effects for weeks afterwards, mostly tingling in my legs and head and insomnia. After about 4-5 weeks the agitation was so bad that I resumed the Risperidone (I did not know that it would be worth resuming at a lower dose, again the guidance was not there). I would appreciate some advice about how to go about this when my medical team do not believe in tapering. I am seeking out an alternative provider to try to get some support generally but wanted to discuss here too. I have taken Zopiclone and Lorazepam occasionally as adjuncts but was always concerned about their addictive qualities so have not included below as they were quickly stopped. My history is as follows: - 10mg Aripiprazole 3 weeks March 20 2020 - April 17 2020- 15mg Aripiprazole 1 week April 17 2020 - April 24 2020 (had bad akathisia so was switched)- 2mg Risperidone April 24 2020 - July 3 2020- 1.5mg Risperidone July 3 2020 - July 17 2020- 1mg Risperidone July 17 2020 - August 7 2020- 0 mg Risperidone August 7 2020 - September 10 2020 (under the advice of my doctor)- 1mg Risperidone September 10 2020 - Present

I'm on risperidone and have been since late October of 2015. I had many tests done and nothing showed up for any mental illness but that I have extremely high anxiety. The doctors said because they could not find anything wrong with me that I have to stay on this medication for at least 6 months so as of this, these past few weeks I have been cutting back on the meds. I am now taking half of a 0.5 mg pill once a day at bed time. I had total anhedonia for a month, my face was feeling very mask like and all I could do was lay around doing nothing, I had lost my personality and was not able to be present at all or focus or enjoy anything for even a minute except when i would get to sleep and it was hellish to live like that. But I began speaking with a former pharmacologist now herbalist who told me how to cut down on the meds slowly enough to stop symptoms. He also told me to start taking L- tryptophan one pill twice a day and Ashwaganda one pill once a day. After about a week and a half of taking these suppliments consecutively, I began to feel a lot more normal again. I now have emotions, they are not as vibrant as they were before the meds but they are back and I can feel them. I feel a world of difference on these supplements. Since then I have been to a naturopath and she checked my serotonin levels and said I am deficient so I should start taking L-tryptophan 4 times a day. I have just began this today so I will keep posting on the out come of that and if I feel any more changes. I have currently started lactating which means I am infertile for now and my sex drive is totally zero. This is what is very much scaring me at this point. I know my d2 dopamine receptors are being blocked by the meds because they are a dopamine antagonist. And I know dopamine is the primary desire chemical. I also know that in order to feel love and bond we must have both dopamine and oxytocin firing together so that the signal is received for both of these chemicals at the same time but since my receptors are blocking dopamine the dopamine signal can't happen and there for I feel no deep love connection or sexual desire... I know this might sound silly and trivial but I am a virgin never had my first kiss yet never had a boyfriend and I really want to experience first love and the excitement that comes from kissing and making love. I do want to have kids of my own some day too. All I can find online are stories of people who still take this drug or have taken it and are now off it but have no sex drive at all saying they are ruined for life. this really scares me and as of now I feel no sexual or any other exitment what so ever. At least I can laugh again and my personality is coming back, I keep telling myself but still I need to know. Will sex drive and sexual pleasure come back and if so how long will it take for it to return to its normal levels? As of now I have no desire at all and I feel nothing like attraction for anyone. please let me know what to expect ... I need some hope!

I've been on Risperidone 0.5mg twice daily for two weeks to assist with anxiety and insomnia from starting an SSRI (prozac). Funnily enough it has actually been causing insomnia so go figure. Will I need to taper or am I ok coming off cold turkey? I understand there are dangers surrounding cold turkey but I am coming off after a very short period of time. Thanks in advance.

I'm brand new to this site. I have been on the ride of psych drugs since my late teens. I started with sertraline, which I went off of cold turkey after six months. I self-medicated with drugs and alcohol for the next decade. Was put on paroxetine at age 29. Went off quickly when I became pregnant. I went back on paroxetine in 2012 and was on it for six years. It didn't help much, I gained a ton of weight and had decreased sex drive. In 2018, I went into crisis and began a horrific journey of medication chaos for the next two years. I can list all of the drugs I was put on, but not the length of time or dose for each: venlafaxine, fluoxetine, risperidone, escitalopram, bupropion, propranolol, trazadone, aripiprazole, lithium, lorazepam, lamotrigine, and a variety of other nonpsych drugs to counteract different side effects from these drugs. In the late summer of 2019, I began to taper off all medications with the assistance of my psychiatrist. I took my last dose of psych meds on November 17, 2019. I've been med free for over nine months. My mental health continues to be very difficult, but I am glad that I'm not compounding these issues with the torturous effects of psych meds. I know that psych meds seem to offer relief to some people, but they made things worse for me. I now work as a Peer Wellness Specialist to help others living with mental health challenges navigate their recovery. I'm just seeking connection to others who have had similar experiences with psych meds, as well as looking for more information to help others who decide to go off meds or need support with the meds they are on. Thanks for being here!

Hello. I pray you are all doing well. I have recently been lurking on this website, looking for other people with a similiar experience as to mine. I am asking for help and advice in regards to my brothers recent situation. My brother had been sectioned in the beginning of this year. He came home one day and was acting different. I later realised that these were delusions. He was unwell for a week and had gotten better for a week then the following week he became unwell again but this time he was quite aggressive. He would get angry easily. He was very emotional and would get really upset sometimes over a small thing or easily irritated. I guess you could describe him as being manic at this time. He also said his heart would start beating fast randomly and he felt like he was having a panic attack. My family decided he needed to go to the hospital as he was very much out of control. He went to the hospital and was alright there but he kept walking and wouldn't sit still, he would do this at home as well, always doing some sort of exercise. He got upset at the hospital and broke the fire alarm and the doctor had called the police on him. He got arrested, stayed in the cell overnight and the next day they decided to section him under the mental health act. He was put on 10mg of Olanzapine at first, then he was switched to risperidone 0.5 after 2 or 3 days. With 5mg Olanzapine and up to 2 mg of Lorazepam a day as PRN. Even though it was PRN the staff said that he needed PRN everyday. He was put into seclusion a couple of times, it was horrible for the whole family, we just wanted some help, not for him to be snatched from us. We finally were able to get him home after 28 days. We were given 6mg of risperidone, PRN and procycldine as his medication because his hands were shaking. At home he was good although I noticed that during the day he would get a bit hyper, say he doesn't feel good. I would then give him the lorazepam and he would calm down. The nurse would visit us at home and she told me to stop using the Lorazepam and give him Olanzapine instead, if he needed it. So thats what I started doing, big mistake. As soon as I stopped the Lorazepam he became unwell, kept walking around, felt agitated, a lot of anxiety. I then used Olanzapine to calm him down. he would get like this a lot and I realised that its akathisia. I think from the risperidone. He would come upstairs at night saying he cant sleep and he needed something to help him. I thought that this was withdrawals from the Lorazepam or Olanzapine that was given to him in hospital as PRN. I then called the doctor and he said lorazepam has been out of his body for two weeks so it must be his illness returning, he told me to put his risperidone up to 7mg. I tryed doing that for 3 days but it made him feel worse. I put him back on 6mg. I told the doctor that I wanted to switch from Risperidone to Olanzapine because it wasnt helping and he would feel restless half an hour after taking it. The doctor told me to put him on Olanzapine 5mg and to reduce his risperidone by 2mg every 4 days. I got him down to 3mg of risperidone at this time. It was then that I found this site and saw the 10% taper method and I realised that I cant just cut off his Risperidone as he had been on it for 6 weeks already. I have now got him on 2.25mg of Risperidone from yesterday but the problem is that he has also been on 3.75mg Olanzapine for a month since coming home. He is already been complaing about being stiff and he sleeps 14 hours a day and has gone quiet, he stopped making conversations and rarely laughs like he used to, since being on Olanzapine. I also suspect that he may have Seretonin Syndrome or toxication from the risperidone because he displays symptoms when i up the dose of the medication. Hypomania, restlessness and agitation. I dont know what to do, I want to get him off Risperidone as it makes him agitated, his muscles twitch, his hands used to tremor and gives him akathisia unless he has a benzo. But I also want to get him off the Olanzapine because he gets really tired during the day has stopped talking to my dad, they are so close, and I dont want him to lose his emotions forever. He cant stay on two antipsychotics. The side affects outweight the benefits. Should i ask the doctor for a benzo or something to help the akathisia. Should I also taper the Olanzapine at the same time? How much percent can I taper his medication by and how often, can I taper 10% Risperidone and 10% Olanzapine? Can i taper more often than every month? Thanks so much, if you managed to read all of this.

In july I was diagnosed with psychosi due to ptsd. I was in an abusive relationship. I started the resperidone 3mg in july and I am supposed to be tapering off in June, and Im a little nervous about the withdrawal and other things. Im just curious has anyone been successful in tapering off risperidone? All I have read are horror stories. I am supposed to taper off this drug and I wont be put on any other drugs, and I was just curious if anyone has come off risperdone without being put on any other meds? Are you able to feel emotion again? Did the psychosis return? Did the mask-like face go away? Will I return to normal I guess is my question.

Hi, I am fairly sure that I have raised the average of this group significantly -- I'm 79 years old. I am writing this for my same-aged wife who does not use computers or any other modern technology. She had a bad experience when her inept psychiatrist took her off of Ativan cold turkey last fall. Even after another doctor restarted the drug, she continued to experience terrible withdrawal symptoms, including deliriums. 2.5 months into the ordeal she became psychotic (the exact diagnoscwas "Depression with psychotic thoughts") and was started on 0.5 my. of Risperidone, eventually increasing to 1, then 1.5 mg. I should note that she has suffered from depression for decades and has been on medication for years (Mirtazepine). It has been little help the past few years. Since starting on Risperidone she has essentially disappeared: she is another person. She takes no pleasure in anything, appears heavily sedated most of the time, has terrible, terrible memory problems, and has all but lost her voice. And while the psychotic symptoms have pretty much completely disappeared, she is still terribly confused much of the time. Here I should note that she has been on Ativan too, 1.75 mg. since starting Risperidone, 1 mg. before that (i.e., since it was restarted mid November after a month going CT thanks to above mention stupid psychiatrist). We saw an addiction med specialist last week to start a taper of Ativan and Risperidone. He did some tests and told us that therecis probably an underlying dementia. There is no doubt that my wife's memory definitely resembles that of a person with dementia, but it started after she began taking Risperidone. I asked about this, but I did not get a satisfactorily reply from him. He created a tapering schedule for both Risperidone and Ativan. Ativan was switched to Clorazepam in liquid form, and we received a 90-day taper schedule which gradually reduced the dosage every five days. She had used Ativan for many years on and off, then regularly for about two years. The taper for Risperidone is for 20 days (she has been taking it for eight weeks now). From 1.5 mg. to 1 mg. for ten days, then down to 0.5 mg. for another ten days. After that she is to stop taking the medication. She started the Risperidone taper last Wednesday and the Ativan taper on Saturday. While I am so exhausted by this ordeal that it is hard for me to always be sure of my observations, it seems to me that my wife has gotten worse since seeing the specialist. It is like she is in a trance much of the time, weak and with little ability to initiate talk or activities. He memory is shot, she has some delusions and she needs help with most everyday activities. Finally she spends an inordinate amount of time doing things like brushing her teeth (20 to 30 minutes) and she exaggerates the time needed to do even the simplest activities. Again, all of this has gotten worse and worse since starting Risperidone, and slightly worse since starting the taper. The psychotic thoughts are gone, however. I would be so grateful to receive any comments or advice, especially regarding the harrowing effects of Risperidone. Has anyone ever been in anything resembling this condition on that drug? Thanks so much

Admin note: link to benzo forum thread - StuckOnMeds: Reinstatement of Clonazapam Fair warning: my journey revolves around PMDD (my menstruation cycle). If this is not your cup of tea, turn back now. Hi! I'm so happy to be here! Here's the short version of my story... I was misdiagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder when in fact I had PMDD. At first, the symptoms were bearable, but after my last child, everything changed. Suddenly, I was not able to make myself or my children food, not showering, not able to pick my kids up from school. Not only that but my self-esteem was shot and anxiety soaring, and I had about one week a month where I could gather myself back up and try to heal before everything started all over again. This went on for over three years. I was completely broken. During all of this, my Psych started throwing meds at me to see what would stick. Unfortunately, nothing would work, and I ended up on 6 meds for depression and anxiety. Finally, I had had enough and approached my Psych and my Gyn about a full hysterectomy and BSO (ovary removal) to stop the fluctuation in my hormones. By this time I had tried all methods of care ranging from DBT to exercise, birth control to relaxation techniques, and so much more. Anyway, I had the surgery, and I felt (and feel) amazing. Like I had been missing out on living. Unfortunately, I was still stuck on all six meds. And so began the titration. I began titrating risperidone at the beginning of 2015. It is important to me to get off this med because I believe it to be the most dangerous. I started at 1 mg, and currently, I am at 0.18 mg. I am taking a break on my titration but intend to jump after my summer vacation and be done with this demon of a drug once and for all. Here is a list of my other meds: Morning: Zoloft 200 mg Wellbutrin XL 300 mg Lorazepam 0.5 mg and 0.375 mg ( also take around 3 pm) Night: Clonazepam 1 mg Trazadone 50 mg Risperidone 0.18 mg (liquid) StuckOnMeds

Can anyone Help me with how to taper my daughter off Risperidone please. shes only been on it for 10 weeks and first reduction has seen an improvement what next with doctors meeting coming up 17th Dec 2019. thanks Rob Tapering Risperidone. 3mg Risperidone for 6 weeks 2.5mg Risperidone for 4 weeks (till 17th December) 8th October 2019 3mg Risperidone prescribed. 19th November 2019 .5mg reduction to 2.5mg (Positive effects) 17th December 2019 (Want further reduction and tapering plan in place) Psychotic Event 20th August 2019, In France on Holiday before going to Italy for completion of University degree, was to return home for Christmas 2019 to New Zealand. Lead up to Event Previous 2-3 years build up of stresses boy friend, University studies. late night parties working at bar. 6 months prior to event Stresses even greater with overseas trip planning and organization and having to achieve b+ average grades. Key stressors immediately prior to event. Break up with boyfriend, afraid of boyfriends mothers actions. Lots of alcohol and lack of sleep. Time line. 20th August 2019 call for help. Phone calls and paranoia close to being admitted in France. Looked after by friends and slipped some mild anti anxiety pills. Paranoid and little sleep. 27th August 2019 Dad Arrives in France. Need to bring her back to NZ as soon as. Paranoia no sleep and very distressed. Mild sleeping pills and anti anxiety pills from gp but said he cant help. 7th September 2019 Arrived back in New Zealand. Condition worsening. 10th September 2019 Hospitalised. Tried with a medley of drugs until psychosis was interrupted with Risperidone 3mg showing real improvement from 8th of October. 2019. 8th October 2019 3mg Risperidone 15th October 2019 released from hospital. Side effects stiffness flat no spark. 19th of November .5 mg reduction in Risperidone from 3-2.5mg per day. Benzatropine taken for 5 days to see affect improved side affects. But reduced meds seems to have the same affect and Benzatropine no longer taken. 10th Of December Today. I has improved with the drop in dose and is showing signs of improvement. She sleeps 12 hours a day movemnets are slow and sluggish and she is flat without much spark. Stable and well doing exercise, staying with family, working as painting helper with dad 4-5 hours a day 5 days a weelk. Has had no anxiety, strange thoughts disrupted sleep or paranoia feelings at all and is talking lucidly about her experience. Both her parents would like to see her tapered right off Resperidone safely (and obviously as quickly as possible but fully aware of the risks) 17th December 2019 next meeting with Doctor when we will be requesting a tapering program and reduction till zero

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.

Please I smoked few puffs of weed today and I had a very strange feeling . Seem like my body as been disorganized , like the whole of me is scattered . Seem like my body is been rearranged and it lasted for few minutes and I went back to my spoilt state. My neck muscles, ear rib cage or seem like coming to place and I have tinnitus now . Im sorry worried . Please anyone had this sort of feelings ? July 18 started risperidone 1m/1m=2m Stop when I was feeling weird reinstated due to withdrawal about 7 time with 3 months and 2m 5nights then quit cold 🥶 turkey 🦃 My life is hell had just 30mg altogether please I need help

Please I smoked few puffs of weed today and I had a very strange feeling . Seem like my body as been disorganized , like the whole of me is scattered . Seem like my body is been rearranged and it lasted for few minutes and I went back to my spoilt state. My neck muscles, ear rib cage or seem like coming to place and I have tinnitus now . Im sorry worried . Please anyone had this sort of feelings ? July 18 started risperidone 1m/1m=2m Stop when I was feeling weird reinstated due to withdrawal about 7 time with 3 months and 2m 5nights then quit cold 🥶 turkey 🦃 My life is hell

Last year in April/May I was diagnozed with a psychosis / schizophrenic disorder. My symptoms were accustic hallucinations (hearing voices) as well as severe paranoia and suspicion. I thought people in the workplace and also in public were spying on me and engaging in conspirations against me. I started to shut down my shades in the apartment and changed my wlan password every day. I came to a state of absolute mental exhaustion when I wandered through the city without having any orientation at all and being a danger to myself. Luckily I agreed to see a doctor who put me into a psychiatric clinic (after my consent) where they treated me with risperidone (the first four weeks with pillls and then with the risperidone consta injection). In the beginning they accidently overdosed me (they also admitted to that) so that I could not function anymore at all, was constantly salivating huge amounts and got problems with my jaw which they tried to short-term fix with Akinon. After two to three days the negative side effects were not so severe anymore, but I got significantly numbed down. Five to eight days after my submission my symptoms (hallucinations/paranoia) were gone and I was relieved from the clinic around four weeks after submission and continued to go there only during daytimes for another two months. In December last year I shifted back to oral medicamentation (4mg risperidone per day, 2mg in the morning and 2mg in the evening) because my new psychiatrist said that I dont have any compliance issues and I am more flexible this way. The shift was not so easy, I was mostly tired for about a month or so. After that and under supervision of my new psychiatrist I was gradually tapering down the risperidone over the last months (February through now). The first step was shifting down from 4mg to 3mg, then from 3 to 2 mg, then from 2 to 1,5mg and finally from 1,5 to 1 mg with always waiting four weeks until the next step of tapering down. Except fro the second tapering down phase (3mg to 2mg) where I got very tired for about two to three weeks I was withdrawal symptome free. However, risperidone numbs me really down, I am not so much emotionally engaged anymore, being around people exhausts me. Before I was working out a lot, but I just feel it is not worth the effort. I also experience a TD in form of my leg moving up and down when I am sitting down and having my legs crosssed. Except for the TD I dont know whether the symptoms all come from the medicine or are also partly induced by the negative symptoms of my psychosis. The buildup of the psychosis was really heavy, it came to the point where I did not trust anyone anymore, including my family and significant other and was completely exchausted (psychologically and physically). However, ever since I am down to 1mg I am generally feeling more awake now. I can take care of my life and of myself and also work fulltime. I still have concentration issues and cognitively I am not where I was before, but I can function quite well (I just lack motivation and excitement for a lot of things). I read from quite some people that the lower the dosis, the more functions I would be getting back. But I also experienced the windows and waves pheonomena. There are hours when I am doing extremely well and others when I am just blue and lethargic. Now, I have been on 1mg for six weeks now and my psychiatrist said I can taper down by 0,25mg. However, I also got pregnant about six weeks ago, which changed my life a lot, also to the degree that I am more careful about anything. I spoke with my psychiatrist about it because of the impact of neuroleptica on the fetus. Whereas Quetiapin is generally given to women who are pregnant as risperidone could have a slightly higher negative impact during pregnancy, my doctor advised me not to change the medicine becasue the higher risk is not to a high degree and switching neuroleptica might result in more complications (withdrawal symptomes from risperidone, adverse effects of Quetiapin, etc.). But when he told me to reduce my risperidone by 0,25mg, which did not sound like a lot, I was trying to get more information about it from forums such as like this, where people constantly pointed out the danger of cutting down on the medicine too quickly. That is also why I chose to sign up here and engage in discussions to learn from one another. In general with risperidone, but especially with my situation I have a couple of questions, and maybe someone with similar experiences can share with me. 1) Regarding pregnancy-induced morning sickness, I throw up occasinally. Now I also wait until 10 o clock to take my medicine, until the biggest wave of neausa is gone, but there were one or two times where I had to puke two hours after I took the risperidone pill. In this respect, does anybody know how long it takes until the substance has fully absorbed by the body? 2) Would you advise taking the medicine once per day instead? The prescription says you can do it either way and so did my psychiatrist. He pointed out that so far it has worked, so why not stick with it. I read that when it comes to lower dosis it might be easier to split the dose up to two dosis a day, but 1mg is not so low yet. It would make things a lot easier, but I dont know about how to transition (how long should the transition period be and whether or not to start shifting the morning dosis (completely or in parts) from hour to hour over several days). It would be great if there is someone out there who has experienced the difference between one and two dosis a day. 3) With focus on tapering down I am thinking about shifting to the liquid version of risperidone. Do you know by experience whether the 1mg/1mL solution dillutes, so that I can drop 1mg/1ML into lets say 10mL of water and take out 9,5mL to get to my dosis of 0,95mg. Does anyone know if this tapering technique works especially for the risperidone liquid because it seems that some compounding pharmarcists do not share the same opinion. 4) While my pychiatrist said it is good to reduce my dose, I also read that withdrawals (e.g. drugs) have a negative impact on the fetus as for shock (rule of thumb: if the mother feels fine, the baby feels fine). The past days was the first time I read that after tapering down it is not necessarily the original symptoms that come back, but rather withdrawal symptoms. So I try to be really careful here, because I dont see a big difference between the impact of withdrawal systoms of different substances (be it drugs, antidepressents, neuroleptice, ect) on pregnancies. Therefore, the question is whether or not it would make sense to keep everything status quo over the time of the pregancy and then start tapering down again in the next year or whether it would be more beneficial to start already tapering down. Regarding all the aspects I know that I involve my psychiatrist and dont do any "experiments" on my own, particularly with the special situation of my pregnancy, however it would be extremely helpful to learn from your experiences of other sources (links, etc.) you might know because even though I have the feeling that I get along with my psychiatrist really well and he wants to minimize my medication as much as possible, it seems that also his knowledge has limits. My gynecologist knows about everything, I have a biweekly appointment for check-up on possible issues and I looked up a clinic nearby which specializes on neonatology as for this speical situation. Last but not least, I apologize for the mediocre English in my posts, but I am not a native, so I hope it is ok. I am happy to keep you posted and cannot stress enough how much hope and strength this forum has given me already throughout the last couple of days. Best wishes, Sunny

I have been on respiridone for about 10 years. Been reducing over list 12 months. It's so hard. Has anybody else successfully come off it?

Hey everyone thanks for reading. I was wondering if anyone recovered from large doses of antipsychotics. I was put on 4mg risperidone from November until about 2 weeks ago I stopped taking it here in May. I was also on the largest dose of abilify for a couple weeks. I've been extremely messed up since November and I have pain in my body,heart I'm completely non functional, unemployed now and I have pressure/pain in the side of my head. It's hard to explain how awful I feel and lifeless I am now. I was put on such a high dose because I got drunk one night started hearing voices and made the mistake of going to the hospital. They diagnosed me with schizophrenia but the voices went away a month ago and I wish I just would've kept it to myself instead of getting treatment for it. Are there any other high dose antipsychotic quitters out there? Do you think I will get better? I miss working and having a normal life/feeling normal.

New to the community. Joined after reading Schizor's (forum member) story. I'll try & make this short. Hospitalized twice. (For "psychosis"). Once for a month in psych ward (Oct - Nov 2016), second time for a few weeks. (Feb 2017) For the first time, forced to take Risperidone & Abilify. Approx 10mg. After complaining it was gradually decreased down to 1mg. Upon release from ward, through trial & error, stopped one drug, tried the other & vice versa. Eventually went cold turkey off both drugs. Second hospital stay was given a shot of Invega. It seems you guys know the drill .... Zombie like feeling, loss of balance, stomach pain, pounding headache, face numbness, involuntary muscle movements, aches, sore eyes, insomnia etc ... After constant arguments, battles & calls to local pharmacists ... Decided to go off the drugs cold turkey. Again it seems you guys know the drill .... After constant nights of bad withdrawals ( a few weeks or so), kinda - sorta made it through only to still have major insomnia, lack of motivation, no energy, weird thoughts, sensitivity to lights & noise, jerky movements, aggression, a bit of sexual dysfunction & so on. Ladies & gents ..... What now ??? I feel exactly like Schizor did. Only wanna sleep but can't really, only wanna eat but don't feel satisfied, lack of emotion & stone cold thoughts, loss of character etc ..... On top of all this I have legal issues & may face jail time. A nightmare is almost an understatement when it comes to these drugs. It's also caused me to become completely paranoid of any doctor diagnosis, (psychosis !?? ... More like psychosis induced) psychiatrist, hospital, medical help of any sort. Thanks for reading (if ya did).