swordiebrom: risperidone / Risperdal

[Gridley]

Please keep us updated on how you're doing.

[Gridley]

One other thought.  I know the links you sent on brain shrinkage and atrophy due to antipsychotics are concerning.  But cold turkey has some some very negative aspects.  You are, as many of us often are, in a place between two bad choices.  It is your decision, but in case you are open to a more cautious taper of risperidone, I encourage you to Google survivingantidepressants.org risperidone cold turkey before you make a final decision.

[swordiebrom]

still going slow, no withdrawal thus far

[swordiebrom]

On 2/19/2018 at 5:04 AM, Gridley said:

One other thought.  I know the links you sent on brain shrinkage and atrophy due to antipsychotics are concerning.  But cold turkey has some some very negative aspects.  You are, as many of us often are, in a place between two bad choices.  It is your decision, but in case you are open to a more cautious taper of risperidone, I encourage you to Google survivingantidepressants.org risperidone cold turkey before you make a final decision.

will the side effects of risperidone dissappear such as darkening of skin once i stop taking the medicine?

[Gridley]

Generally, the lower the dose of a drug, the more the side effects diminish.  

 

I notice you are down to 2mg risperidone.  Remember, the lower your dose, the slower you should taper, either with smaller reductions or longer holds.

[swordiebrom]

On 31/03/2018 at 9:39 PM, Gridley said:

Generally, the lower the dose of a drug, the more the side effects diminish.  

 

I notice you are down to 2mg risperidone.  Remember, the lower your dose, the slower you should taper, either with smaller reductions or longer holds.

https://www.quora.com/Can-antipsychotics-leave-you-permanently-tired

will i be permanently tired?or will it recover

[Gridley]

You will recover.  It will take some time.

[swordiebrom]

16 minutes ago, Gridley said:

You will recover.  It will take some time.

at what mg would you suggest me jump off the medicine?

[Gridley]

It is really an individual decision, depending on how your system has been responding to your taper.  I would say certainly no higher than .5mg and preferably lower.  Again, I would urge you to taper more slowly.  

 

Please read this link:

When to end the taper and jump to zero?

[swordiebrom]

On 4/5/2018 at 3:27 AM, Gridley said:

It is really an individual decision, depending on how your system has been responding to your taper.  I would say certainly no higher than .5mg and preferably lower.  Again, I would urge you to taper more slowly.  

 

Please read this link:

When to end the taper and jump to zero?

converted to 40 mg lurasidone and stopped cold turkey since there's no lower doses, no withdrawal thus far. will supplement makes me recover faster?

[Gridley]

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). I don't think they will make you recover faster, but many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

 

 

[swordiebrom]

6 hours ago, Gridley said:

 

We don't recommend a lot of supplements on SA, as many members report being sensitive to them due to our over-reactive nervous systems, but two supplements that we do recommend are magnesium and omega 3 (fish oil). I don't think they will make you recover faster, but many people find these to be calming to the nervous system. 

 

Magnesium, nature's calcium channel blocker 

 

Omega-3 fatty acids (fish oil) 

 

Please research all supplements first and only add in one at a time and at a low dose in case you do experience problems.

 

 

 

so they help with the withdrawal thats it?

[Gridley]

Yes, they help with the withdrawal.

[jamesbond747]

gridley why would you replace one risperidone antipsychotic tablets with another higher dose 40mg antipsychotic tabs?They both do the same work of reducing dopamine and sirotin hormones in body.You didn't feel withdrawal coz you just change same work meds with different name.I really suggest to taper/reduce dosages of your new psychotic tablet slowly for one year and stop trying new psychotic tablets.Our body is not supposed to be on antisychotics.I have learnt after having taken risperidone is that its just social misguidance that leads us to antipsychotics.

[ChessieCat]

I've merged your new topic with an existing topic:  withdrawal-or-relapse-or-something-else

 

[swordiebrom]

My anxiety happens suddenly after 3 -4 months off 80-40 mg lurasidone, i did a fast taper of 1 month. What's the dosage to stop medication from tapering and after reading up on withdrawal and relapse, it seems that my symptoms are relapse instead of withdrawal?

[ChessieCat]

When to end the taper and jump to zero?

[swordiebrom]

26 minutes ago, ChessieCat said:

When to end the taper and jump to zero?

Aren't there supposed to be different dosages for different types of medication? like for example, effective dose for schizophrenia for risperidone is 2-4 mg while for lurasidone is 40-120 mg

[ChessieCat]

SA prefers to think in terms of "lowest effective dose", so the dose that works best for a person, not "therapeutic dose", which is an arbitrary term the drug companies use.

 

As an example, a person who cold turkeyed their drug from a "therapeutic dose" and experiences withdrawal symptoms may become destabilised (their CNS becomes sensitised).  If the person starts taking the same "therapeutic dose" which they had previously taken it may be too much for their destabilised system, whereas a very small dose might be enough, ie "lowest effective dose".

[swordiebrom]

1 hour ago, ChessieCat said:

SA prefers to think in terms of "lowest effective dose", so the dose that works best for a person, not "therapeutic dose", which is an arbitrary term the drug companies use.

 

As an example, a person who cold turkeyed their drug from a "therapeutic dose" and experiences withdrawal symptoms may become destabilised (their CNS becomes sensitised).  If the person starts taking the same "therapeutic dose" which they had previously taken it may be too much for their destabilised system, whereas a very small dose might be enough, ie "lowest effective dose".

shouldn't that still be different for different medication though? like 20 mg of lurasidone might be equal to 2 mg of risperidone whereas 2 mg of lurasidone might not be equal to 2 mg of risperidone and also i can't tell if i am suffering withdrawal or relapse or do i even have a mental illness to begin with since doctors said that one can have psychosis without any mental illness.

[swordiebrom]

On 2/10/2018 at 4:53 PM, nz11 said:

Please dont panic but the answer is yes, ap withdrawal reactions  can include that.

It is possibly misdiagnosed as ...wait for it...'schizophrenia'. 

You seem to be coming out of this with no issues so far anyway. So there is no need to panic. Okay you are putting on weight but hopefully when you get off the drug that will reverse itself.

 

How do you know if its a withdrawal symptom or relapse of any mental illness that i have? i suddenly started being delusional again and having some anxiety despite being fine 6 and 3 months off the drug before switching to another drug and getting off it. One of the thread on the forum says that it can be a relapse. So am i having psychosis or suffering from withdrawal? Seems like the psych drug does help me quite a bit.

[ChessieCat]

SA doesn't make diagnoses.

[swordiebrom]

is it possible for withdrawal to occur only after months of being off medication? like i feel totally fine for the first few months then suddenly i dont feel good

[ChessieCat]

Yes, it's called delayed withdrawal.  When I cold turkeyed citalopram I felt great for a few months and then bam, I got hit with what at the time I thought was the flu, with aches and pains and was bedridden for 2.5 weeks and lost 8kgs because I couldn't eat.  However there was no fever with it.  It wasn't until I saw the Joseph Glenmullen withdrawal symptom list that I put 2 and 2 together and realised that it was in fact withdrawal.

 

do-withdrawal-symptoms-always-show-up-right-away-delayed-onset

 

The same thing can happen with people who are doing a fast taper.  They can be fine for a while and then it catches up with them.

 

[swordiebrom]

3 hours ago, ChessieCat said:

Yes, it's called delayed withdrawal.  When I cold turkeyed citalopram I felt great for a few months and then bam, I got hit with what at the time I thought was the flu, with aches and pains and was bedridden for 2.5 weeks and lost 8kgs because I couldn't eat.  However there was no fever with it.  It wasn't until I saw the Joseph Glenmullen withdrawal symptom list that I put 2 and 2 together and realised that it was in fact withdrawal.

 

do-withdrawal-symptoms-always-show-up-right-away-delayed-onset

 

The same thing can happen with people who are doing a fast taper.  They can be fine for a while and then it catches up with them.

 

it looks like a relapse in that situation, i went back to the doctor last time and they thought i have schizophrenia

[Altostrata]

What do you mean, "i dont feel good"?

[swordiebrom]

Just like anxiety into insomnia which then gives me feelings of paranoia thinking that my surroundings are sending me sublime messages. so if my symptoms like anxiety starts coming after 6 months off medication, it's not a withdrawal but a relapse?i am really scared, i hate the medicine but i also hate relapsing , i just wished the doctor misdiagnosed and i have just a simple psychosis. I do get angry from time to time from playing games,I hope thats what people experience and not just patients with schizophrenia

[swordiebrom]

@Altostrata help please, there are cases like risperdalhater who goes into another psychosis when hes off meds, my doctor also told me that nobody likes to be on meds but going off meds might risk a relapse if i have schizophrenia and only 10-20% do fine without meds within a year

[Altostrata]

People experience symptoms called "psychotic" in a continuum. Everyone's experience is different. Some people can learn to manage their symptoms without drugs, or with very low doses of drugs. You don't have to go completely off.

 

Please see the Hearing Voices Network https://www.hearing-voices.org/

 

Here is a doctor in Singapore who is familiar with the Hearing Voices Network and may be able to help you find support so you can live with minimal drugs https://drkclee.com/hearing-voices/

 

Are you taking only 5mg lurasidone now? When did these odd feelings start?

[swordiebrom]

@Altostratathanks for replying, my symptoms comes suddenly when i was 25, i didn't/don't hear any voices or see anything, just weird thoughts and strong inappropiate emotions after my year of crash diet of 500-700 calories and some heavy stress occur.The weird feelings and emotions/thoughts start at the start of the year then my parents admitted me into the hospital. If i start with 80 mg lurasidone at the start of the year, how long would it take to taper off it mathematically following the 10% reduction a month tactic. I am currently at 5 mg lurasidone so i was wondering if i am going too fast since i just go from 80 -> 40 -> 20->10->5 taking 40 in march/april and just stopping at that, then felt some anxiety and took 20 by the end of may and 10 by the start of june and at the end of june i reduced it to 5 mg. I tapered 4 mg risperidone last year from december of 2017 to 0 mg at june 2018

 

Weird thoughts like some messages online are trying to send me special messages or what people say are referring to me. No any form of hallucination.

[Altostrata]

It might be a good idea to hold now at 5mg lurasidone for several months at least and talk to a therapist such as Dr. Lee about why you think there are hidden messages to you online.

 

You may be able to manage those thoughts so they are not troublesome, which will give you a lot more confidence about yourself.

 

Please remember they are just thoughts, they can pass like clouds in the sky.

 

Good job on reducing lurasidone to 5mg! Please let us know how you're doing.

[swordiebrom]

The emotions gets very strong and I tend to have insomnia while those things happens which makes the situation worse. So if I took 80mg lurasidone at the start of the year I should only try to stop taper in about 14 months?

[swordiebrom]

@Altostrata how long do you think I should hold the medicine at 5mg before reducing further and do you think it's a low dose enough to stop?

[Altostrata]

With the symptoms you have now, I would not go off 5mg lurisidone, you may end up in the hospital.

 

Read this again, please:

On 6/29/2019 at 1:06 PM, Altostrata said:

It might be a good idea to hold now at 5mg lurasidone for several months at least and talk to a therapist such as Dr. Lee about why you think there are hidden messages to you online.

 

You may be able to manage those thoughts so they are not troublesome, which will give you a lot more confidence about yourself.

 

Please remember they are just thoughts, they can pass like clouds in the sky.

 

Good job on reducing lurasidone to 5mg! Please let us know how you're doing.

 

You need to talk to someone like Dr. Lee to build up your ability to manage your symptoms before you go off lurisidone completely.

[swordiebrom]

@AltostrataI don't have any symptoms now, i was talking about last time when i tried going off my risperidone at 4 mg tapering down to 0.75 mg in 6 months, then i only started having those symptoms after 6 months being off medicine without any symptoms in between. 

 

I think that was a relapse as said by the doctor because withdrawal is supposed to start immediately after stopping medicine, not 6 months after stopping medicine. I don't have a family issue of mental illness and all my relatives are clean. Maybe i should follow the doctor's order and take the medicine for life since its keeping me stable

[Altostrata]

If you don't have any symptoms at 5mg, that's good.

 

You may be able to get by with less, or zero, if you taper carefully enough. Your decision what you want to do. You can stay at 5mg lurisidone for life if you wish. You've come a long way from 80mg.