Rankmann45: My small story

[Rankmann45]

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

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by ChessieCat
added correction

[Rankmann45]

21 hours ago, Rankmann45 said:

I took it for 16 days and it was quite effective - my violent thoughts went away.

 

Issuing an important correction here - I took for 8 days, not 16. Miscalculated a bit, sorry

 

MOD NOTE:  CC - correction has been added to Post #1.

 

Edited June 11, 2022 by ChessieCat
added note

[Altostrata]

Welcome, @Rankmann45

 

On 6/10/2022 at 12:54 AM, Rankmann45 said:

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.

 

This sounds like the new brand of the drug might have been stronger than the prior one. You might have avoided this reaction by reducing the dosage of the new drug.

 

I am sorry you then went through 6 days of withdrawal until you found a different brand.

 

As peer support, we cannot tell you if you should continue to take the drug. Any of these drugs may bring about withdrawal if you go off them too fast. Risperidone also other risks, among them movement disorders (tardive dyskinesia) that may become permanent and metabolic disruption leading to diabetes. You should read up on the risks (US information here) and decide if the benefit of the drug for you outweighs the risk.

 

If you want to go off risperidone, it needs to be carefully tapered. Here are Tips for tapering off risperidone (Risperdal)

 

Please let us know how you are doing.

[Rankmann45]

So I'm set to take Risset for 17 days, until 25th June 2022. My psychiatrist went on a vacation and left me a new drug plan, which looks like this:

 

0.5mg in the morning + 0.5mg in the afternoon - during the first 4 days

1.0mg in the morning + 0.5.mg in the afternoon - from the 5th day to the 11th day

1.0mg in the morning + 1.0mg in the afternoon - from the 11th day to the 17th day

 

Risset has been very sedative - I feel as if my emotions are there, but they are very suppressed. I also started to constantly pucker my lips and I feel the same urge to move, but it's a lot more restricted now and I only feel it in the morning before it eventually dies down as the day progresses. We are considering switching to Rispaxol, since it was a lot softer on my nervous system.

 

@Altostrata How could I taper off from such small dosages when the psychiatrist cancels the drug? We don't exactly have pill cutters or digital electronic weight scales here.

 

[Altostrata]

If I were you and feeling those excessive effects of the drug, I would not increase the dose beyond 0.5mg + 0.5mg. Is the objective to make you a zombie with a movement disorder at 16? Merely for intrusive thoughts? This is a drug usually prescribed to people dangerously psychotic.

 

For tapering, see Tips for tapering off risperidone (Risperdal)

 

As this is a site for going off drugs, I cannot advise you further on your drug regimen. Please let us know when you want to do off your drug.

[Rankmann45]

20 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

If I were you and feeling those excessive effects of the drug, I would not increase the dose beyond 0.5mg + 0.5mg. Is the objective to make you a zombie with a movement disorder at 16? Merely for intrusive thoughts? This is a drug usually prescribed to people dangerously psychotic.

 

@Altostrata The thing is, I chose to visit him because I was afraid of my intrusive thoughts. They were quite violent and spiraling out of control at the time we visited the psychiatrist (I thought that I was about to snap very soon), and these drugs help me to reassert control over my thoughts to a certain degree. I wasn't dangerously psychotic, but I was afraid that I will become dangerously psychotic.

 

Now I'm just very scared about the numerous side effects and the second withdrawal that might begin if I do not carefully taper it off. To make the situation even worse, I am temporarily unable to report my overall condition while on the drug to my psychiatrist because he went on a vacation, so the only thing I have left is this forum. 

 

One last question: in your opinion, what should I do if the 0.5mg + 0.5mg dosage is the one that causes such excessive effects at the moment? I apologize for asking explicit medical advice, but I am at a dead end here  

[Altostrata]

9 minutes ago, Rankmann45 said:

One last question: in your opinion, what should I do if the 0.5mg + 0.5mg dosage is the one that causes such excessive effects at the moment?

 

Take 0.25mg + 0.25mg instead. Or find non-drug ways to control your intrusive thoughts. If you start on these drugs at your age, you are looking at a lifetime on them, which probably will mean development of a movement disorder eventually.

[Rankmann45]

9 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

If you start on these drugs at your age, you are looking at a lifetime on them.

 

@Altostrata How so? I'm not trying to be confrontational or anything, I need any information I can get right now 

[Altostrata]

How long did your psychiatrist tell you that your treatment would take? Did he tell you when you'd go off the drug, and how?

 

Did you do this?

 

5 hours ago, Altostrata said:

You should read up on the risks (US information here) and decide if the benefit of the drug for you outweighs the risk.

 

[Rankmann45]

3 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

How long did your psychiatrist tell you that your treatment would take? Did he tell you when you'd go off the drug, and how?

 

@Altostrata He didn't tell me anything. All he said amounted to "just take it for now and we will see how your situation develops". I and my parents are planning to tell him that we do not want to continue the drug on 27 June, though.

[Altostrata]

Read this: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40801-019-0151-7

 

Since you are acting as a drug consumer in asking for a drug, you really need to educate yourself about the drug.

[Altostrata]

Just now, Rankmann45 said:

 

@Altostrata He didn't tell me anything. All he said amounted to "just take it for now and we will see how your situation develops"

 

Correct. Look around you. There are 6,000 cases of this in the Introductions forum. The psychiatrist is not planning for any end date to your drug treatment.

 

Good luck! 

[Rankmann45]

9 minutes ago, Altostrata said:

The psychiatrist is not planning for any end date to your drug treatment.

 

@Altostrata We are still planning to discontinue the drug and notify the psychiatrist about it after 25-27 June, though. I hope it goes well, considering that he also said that he will discontinue the treatment if I feel better

[Altostrata]

This is a site for going off drugs. Good luck.

[Ariel]

On 6/10/2022 at 9:54 AM, Rankmann45 said:

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?

 

Hello @Rankmann45

Welcome to SA. 

 

I cannot tell you what to do, the decision is yours. 

 

I want to share with you that I first started taking psychiatric drugs when I'd just turned 17 -- so very close to your age -- and I wish I had never taken them. If I could do it over I would never touch a psychiatric medication, ever. I would instead try to get support in the form of qualified counseling, lifestyle changes such as good diet and exercise and excellent sleep hygiene, as well as being around healthy, positive people. 

 

At the same time, the world is a complicated place and we don't always have access to ideal solutions or even basic support. Sometimes the only possible way to keep going is compromise, having faith that everything changes and we may be able to adjust course farther down the line. 

 

You are young. You have time. From my own personal experience, and from my heart, I want to reach out and protect you from having to go through any fraction of what I have gone through. But I know I cannot do that. I can only share my experience and trust in your own inherent wisdom. My sincere wish for you is to avoid unnecessary pain and suffering, and to me that means not going down the path of psychiatry and medications, but that's my bias. I am not in your body, I am not living your life. You must do what feels right to you here and now, and if/when that changes, you will adjust accordingly. 

 

Do you have access to resources and support in the form of qualified holistic non-psychiatric counseling, holistic lifestyle changes such as good diet and exercise and excellent sleep hygiene, as well as being around healthy, positive people?

What are the non-drug support options available to you? 

 

[Ariel]

As Altostrata said, this is a site for going off drugs. 

 

It's also a supportive community where people come to heal and help each other manage through withdrawal (WD).

During our recoveries we have plenty of opportunity to practice learning non-drug skills and ways to cope with WD symptoms as well as how to deal with the issues that led us to initially seek psychiatric assistance in the first place. 

 

Regardless of what you decide about psych drugs, you might have a look around the site to read up on some help topics that could help you moving forward. From your intro post your English seems excellent, so based on that I imagine you will get a lot out of studying the many useful, educational resources available to you free of charge (!) on SA.

 

Whether or not you take medication, learning these skills and building up your coping strategies toolkit will be an invaluable source of strength to you for the rest of your life. These are things we all need to learn in life -- every human, whether or not we have come within miles of psychiatry and medications -- these are life skills, and the sooner you start practicing them, the better off you'll be. 

 

For example: 

 

Non-drug techniques to cope with emotional symptoms

 

Ways to cope with daily anxiety

 

Easing your way into meditation for a stressed-out nervous system

 

Dealing With Emotional Spirals

 

Neuro-emotions

 

Tips to help sleep

 

Steps for Managing Withdrawal

Obsessive compulsive disorder or OCD: Repetitive intrusive thoughts, compulsive behaviors

 

 

Best of luck to you, Rankmann45!

I will be thinking of you and sending healing wishes <3

[Rankmann45]

@Altostrata So I've changed brands again. I'm taking a softer brand of Russian-made Risperidone but it still sucks and I'm once again asking about how to taper from a small dosage (in the span of 0.5mg - 1mg). I've read the tips you have provided and I genuinely can't imagine how to produce a 0.45mg dose from a 2mg tablet without a pill splitter (we don't have a lot of these here)

[Altostrata]

You can use a sharp knife to cut the tablet and a digital scale to weigh fragments to control your dose. 

[Rankmann45]

@Altostrata Man, Risperidone causes me to feel heavily disconnected from reality almost every time I take it. Is derealizatiion a side effect of the drug? Also, would it be difficult to taper off from a drug plan like this?

 

On 6/12/2022 at 8:39 AM, Rankmann45 said:

0.5mg in the morning + 0.5mg in the afternoon - during the first 5 days

1.0mg in the morning + 0.5.mg in the afternoon - from the 6th day to the 11th day (CURRENTLY HERE)

1.0mg in the morning - from the 11th day to the 17th day

 

(NOTE: My parents and I had to adjust the plan ourselves because our psychiatrist is unavailable at the moment and we have no one to consult.)

 

I know you're not a doctor, but you seem to be very knowledgeable in any of the topics involving withdrawal.

[Rankmann45]

Risperidone is so heavily sedating, it's unbelievable. I can't help but feel disconnected from reality every time I take it. I've been also suffering from insomnia since i've began the drug regimen on 9th June despite everybody else describing how long their sleep was after taking this drug. And we can't even talk with our doctor to relay him these side effects! Great, just great...

[Altostrata]

17 hours ago, Rankmann45 said:

Risperidone causes me to feel heavily disconnected from reality almost every time I take it. Is derealizatiion a side effect of the drug?

 

Have you not read up on this drug? Read https://www.drugs.com/risperidone.html and https://www.drugs.com/pro/risperidone.html

 

The purpose of antipsychotics such as risperidone is to slow people down.

 

From now on, for the rest of your life, you must educate yourself about every drug proposed for you.

 

On 6/11/2022 at 10:39 PM, Rankmann45 said:

0.5mg in the morning + 0.5mg in the afternoon - during the first 4 days

1.0mg in the morning + 0.5.mg in the afternoon - from the 5th day to the 11th day

1.0mg in the morning + 1.0mg in the afternoon - from the 11th day to the 17th day

 

If you increase the dosage as you have planned, it will be more difficult to taper.

 

If you are still taking 0.5mg morning and afternoon, and you've been taking it only since May 18, it probably will be easier for you to taper if you start reducing it soon.

 

Before further discussion, follow these instructions Please summarize your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

[Rankmann45]

8 hours ago, Altostrata said:

Have you not read up on this drug? Read https://www.drugs.com/risperidone.html and https://www.drugs.com/pro/risperidone.html

 

@Altostrata I have. Derealization isn't listed in either of these adverse effects lists. I can't classify feeling heavily disconnected from reality as "confusion" or "dizziness"

 

8 hours ago, Altostrata said:

If you increase the dosage as you have planned, it will be more difficult to taper.

 

If you are still taking 0.5mg morning and afternoon, and you've been taking it only since May 18, it probably will be easier for you to taper if you start reducing it soon.

 

I have increased the dosage to 1.0mg + 0.5mg as per the drug plan several days ago. My parents and I do not plan on increasing the dosage any time soon, though.

[Altostrata]

You can count on feeling "derealization", dopey, listless, stupefied, or otherwise odd as long as you are taking risperidone because that is what the drug is supposed to do.

 

Please let us know if you want to taper OFF a psychiatric drug. Until then, no more discussion. 

[Rankmann45]

Alright. Sorry for troubling you and thanks for all the help and support you gave me!

[ChessieCat]

There are link to many helpful topics in Post #1 of the this topic including links to various drugs and how to get non standard doses for tapering:

 

Important topics in the Tapering forum and FAQ

[Rankmann45]

Alright, I can't stand this anymore

 

Risperidone's side effects are atrocious so I'm starting to taper off. My current dosage is 1.0mg + 0.5mg. @Altostrata, would it be better if I cut the dosage to only 1.0mg or should I start the taper from a more gradual 0.5mg + 0.5mg dose? The psychiatrist we've consulted seems to favor the first one. Thanks in advance

[Altostrata]

On 6/16/2022 at 3:27 PM, Altostrata said:

Before further discussion, follow these instructions Please summarize your drug and withdrawal history in your signature You may need to use a computer to do this.

 

[Rankmann45]

Huh. I thought that simply linking my introductory topic would suffice.

[Rankmann45]

So yeah, I've begun my taper today. I'm not going to take the afternoon dose, just the morning 1.0mg dose and see what happens next. I just hope that's not too radical of a taper for my intrusive thoughts to rebound

[Rankmann45]

Looks like I'm developing akathisia. I had an intermittent, but irresistible urge to move for the past two days.

 

Perfect. 

 

Is there any way to treat akathisia without resorting to more drugs?

[Altostrata]

Is this symptom better or worse at any particular times of day? 

 

You will need to observe if it changes after your dosage reduction.

[Rankmann45]

It occurred only after I took the afternoon 0.5mg dose on Saturday and Sunday. It was resolved by me going to sleep.

 

Yesterday, it occurred after I took my morning 1.0mg dose and subsided after a hour or two.

 

Also, the psychiatrist we've consulted now tells us to decrease the dosage to 0.5mg + 0.5mg. For the record, I took only 1.0mg in the morning yesterday.

[Rankmann45]

@AltostrataWhat are the symptoms for Risperidone withdrawal? I have been feeling incredibly anxious and as if my view on reality is getting rapidly distorted since I woke up. Could that be psychotic symptoms induced by my dose reduction? I just don't know anything anymore 

[ChessieCat]

Please carefully read Post #1 of this topic:

 

Tips for tapering off risperidone (Risperdal)

[Rankmann45]

"As with other psychiatric drugs, do not taper Risperdal by taking a dose every other day! This causes a fluctuating level of the drug in your nervous system and can make you very sick."

 

I do not taper Risperidone this way. I take it like my doctor prescribed me to. 

 

"Abrupt discontinuation of antipsychotic drugs in patients with schizophrenia is associated with earlier, and often more severe, illness episodes than are seen with gradual discontinuation. Antipsychotic drugs can cause various abnormal motor syndromes, but abruptly stopping them has been associated with the seemingly paradoxical development of similar motor syndromes, such as withdrawal dyskinesias, parkinsonian symptoms, dystonias, and neuroleptic malignant syndrome.

Dopamine-releasing and dopamine-agonist drugs are used to treat some of the motor syndromes caused by antipsychotic drugs, but their abrupt discontinuation can also be associated with abnormal syndromes. When antipsychotic drugs, lithium, or certain anticonvulsant drugs are used for treatment of bipolar disorder, rapid versus gradual discontinuation is more likely to lead to greater mood instability and manic relapse.

If necessary, these medications should be gradually tapered to minimize all types of adverse discontinuation effects. Patients should be educated about the possible adverse effects of abrupt medication discontinuation."

 

I did not stop Risperidone abruptly. I'm currently tapering it as carefully as I can afford it and I feel as if I'm becoming psychotic. I wasn't diagnosed with schizophrenia and I didn't have anything like the feelings I'm experiencing right now before I started taking the drugs. I'm very scared

[Rankmann45]

@Altostrata Am I going too fast by cutting the 1.0mg + 0.5mg dosage to just 1.0mg if I'm already feeling withdrawal symptoms? Like I've said, I'm tapering as carefully as I can afford to. What can I do to alievate these withdrawal symptoms?