When taken in heavy doses, regularly it can really numb the mind. But I can say that I rarely felt anxiety while on it. Mostly just depression because I couldn't think.

im just coming off it now but its a good anxiety killer and can help you sleep at night. personally i dont feel that it is that harmful except you will put a bit of wieght on with it anfd its almost impossible to lose it when on it hence the going off it.....im trying to come down 10kg

My son, age 12, was on it for 4+ years - very low dose - 3 times a day. It truly managed his mood disorder fairly well. His doctors and i became concerned w/longterm use and we've begun switching him to Lamictal. Now I'm regretting the decision to switch him. Lamictal may be better for his body, but I don't think it's working as well for him, and he doesn't think so either.

He was also on Zoloft and we've got him off that as well. I don't know...everyone's different, but his very low dose may have been absolutely ok for him.

I think it'll depend on the dsage, jax8620. And maybe what other meds are used in conjunction w/it?

Namaste,
Trish

I started taking it for agitation and sleep but stopped recently. It made me too groggy in the mornings.

I had been on it for several years, along with two other meds. The weight gain bothered me, so I started a diet/exercise program to help. It can, in some people cause the depression to worsen though, and being BPII, I was always depressed. I stopped it myself, aabout a month ago, and seem to be less depressed. It could be just wishful thinking on my part though. I haven't told the doc I dropped it. As a matter of fact, I dropped my Zoloft too, as that can worsen depression.
You could go to webmd and read more about it. Rainbow

Hey, Rainbow! thanks for the heads-up. I was thinking of asking my son's pdoc about putting him on a low dose of wellbutrin. anyone doing that?

The biggest side effect of Risperdal is that your body is unable to cool it self. Be especially careful if you are playiing sports, work in a plant, etc... If that is the case then you will need to switch medications. My friend almost died (he worked in a heat treat plant) because of the inability to cool issue. His doctor never approached it or asked what kind of work he did. Look out for yourself. I wish you the best. Julie

I take .25mg's once a day and have gained 13 lbs..but it has calmed my raciness..am going to go off it because of the weight gain

TruGem,

Thank you for the info about the body's inability to cool itself. My son's pdoc just told us to keep him out of alot of sun. I guess i should have asked more questions.

My son did so well on it for 4-5 years, and he's struggling on the Lamictal. His pdoc just called me back and said to begin increasing him back on the risperdal and keep our appt. on Nov. 1.

Jax, my best to you!

Namaste,
Trish

I have never heard of risperdal being used as "take it as you need it" anxiety medication. It's an atypical anti-psychotic and yes it can help with anxiety, the main way it is administered is in certain dosages over a period of time so the mind can acclimate to the medication. It's meant to change the ways that the neural pathways work to change how the mind deals with things. These type of meds take time to build up to proper dosage in the system to be able to achieve that balance that the mind is needing to be effective.

To me playing with any atypical anti-psychotic on a "need to" basis seems a little careless, as the full benefit of the med will never be reached and has a chance of throwing the system into more of a chemical imbalance than it already is. I would really look into having your PDOC check into alternative medications to serve the purpose of controlling your
anxiety before continuing along this path.