Autism / Autism Spectrum Support Group

My son displayed no side effects of this medication. They say for a lot of kids it does cause weight gain and on a CBS or NBC news program they did see were some children grew breasts (Boys). And I have had good results with it but I have heard after a couple of yrs the medication does no twork, But my son was walking around like a zombie . And now he is off of it with his behaviors betterhe will listen now so it did its job but he was only on it for 9 months. Hope that helps

i have not personally used it but i have a read a story by a boy that used to take it and he gained a heap of wait and become addicted to taking it. Read up about it and remember what works for one doesn't always work for another.
see if you can do a trial on it before deciding to use it on your son.

We have used Risperdal (the brand name for risperidone) for my son twice. The first time was four or five years ago, and we were told we were using it mainly for our 'sleep issues' (he wasn't sleeping enough). When we first started using it it worked really well, but we kept having to up the dose to maintain the effect and by the end of a year it stopped working and we stopped using it.

We recently stopped using another drug called Seroquel (the generic name is quetiapine) for behavior issues adn are switching back to risperidone (Risperdal), but we haven't finished adjusting the dose yet. We are seeing some good results so far and not the side effects we had with Seroquel, but it is too soon to tell if we will get the level of benfit we need this time. We did experience some weight gain when we used it the first time - but we had that with the Seroquel too.

Good luck.

i was informed about the weight gain. my son is currently on adderall but due to other health issues, his dr and i are going to try this and wean him off the adderall.

I JUST went to the Dr. yesterday cause I weaned Eli off Risperdal thinking he needed the adderoll instead. They said that even though he seemed hyper there is a differnce between that and being repetitive which has to be treated with the risperdol. So now we're back to that but with an extra dose. I still feel it's hyperactivity honestly. The good thing is that my son never did gain a lot of weight. He was hungry but always ate healthy.

well, the adderall is causing my son to have a rapid heart beat so we will go to the risperdal which does not cause any tachacardia.

my son is so picky about what he eats that i'm not worried about the weight gain. i just felt that it was time to try something else since he's been on adderall for awhile now.

Risperdal was first approved as an antipsychotic drug and has only been approved to treat symptoms of adult schizophrenia. It is important to acknowledge that the FDA has warned that the safety of risperdal for children has never been established. Doesn't it bother you that you have to keep increasing the dose to get the desired effect? The FDA is constantly recalled or issuing warnings for APPROVED use of drugs meaning what was deemed safe with limited/compromised studies has since been established as UNSAFE. If the saety of a drug that has NEVER been approved for children is a question I would avoid it. But I dont think children should be on speed (adderall, ritalin) either. I mistakenly put my child on adderall and found there were behavioral and lifestyle things we could do for her that gave us great results and gave her skills for life. We are currently using homeopathic remedies for my autistic son with great results. Check out this site: http://www.homeopathyhouston.com/ They are capable of treating via phone as well.

well, like i said medicine is a personal choice. i chose it because i tried without and he was miserable. we also use some things such as epsom salt baths and various supplements as well as socialization training., pt and ot.

since starting the risperdol, i can tell you his speech is slower, he's making better eye contact, his echolalia is slowing down.

every child is different. i have friends who do both medicine and homeopathic treatment. medicine is a personal choice and it was a choice that was best for my son not for me and yes it did bother me to increase the dose which is why i took him off the adderall.

Actually Risperdal was also the first approved drug to treat symptons of autism also. I have my son on Risperdal and it was a hard decision to make and one that is also an individual choice. Lets face it no one wants to put their child on any kind of medication but sometimes it deems necessary. In my case it was either try something or my son would not be where he is today. Sean has not as of yet had any side affects with Risperdal. Like I said for my family it was necessary to do something, Sean refused to leave the house or do anything in school and was hitting more than I would care to discuss. Sean very rarely hits and is doing very very well. Hugs and I hope the transition to risperdal goes well for you Julie. If you need me I am here for you. Hugs Denise

This stuff is evel, take it from some one who has used it.