my son has been prescribed risperidone

[robin dabbs]

Hes a complex lad with asd, adhd and demand avoidance with severe learning dfficulties. He has tried so many drugs and none seem to have any effect. i am at a loss as to what to do next. All i know is that at 15 and 6ft ,weighing 11 stone with serious behaviour problems something has to be done,is there anything out there to suit him. So far hes had aripiprazol, colonodine, certroline, to name a few. Now its risperidone at 5mg and has no effect. apparently this would put you or i to sleep for days but it seems not to touch the sides. Any one out there with any ideas please?

From his exhausted mum.

[philipo]

you could try melatonin ,its mainly a sleep aid but is a relativly simple chemical compared to strong mental health drugs.I'v been trying with it for over three weeks now and only take it if i'm still abit bouncy after 9.30pm.For me it works wonders and i sleep well and feel much calmer in the day mainly to getting a decent sleep.while these stronger drugs have their uses you could try if diet can help.

melatonin wont work any magic wonders on behavioural stuff but might help your lad to chill down a little.Strong mental health drugs,while they can and do alleviate symptoms can disorientate the user even further with their side effects.

In the 90's i was a single dad wioth a baby (undiagnosed then)the gp tried giving me strong sleepers and anti deprressant,none of it worked,it was like my body would fight against them.i also have reactions with paracetomal ,ibruprufen and coedine.I think asd body chemistry is different,

[ollrocks]

hi,my son is a 14 year old giant (see 14 yearold son meltdowns)and i know what problems you are having as i also have major problems with my son.i agree melatonin might help but only with sleep and not his behaviour,my son has high fuctioning autism with demand avoidance and at the moment i am giving him 5htp with b6 and vit c and i am having good results so far but he complains of being contipated,i think i might try magnesium with it but iam going to the doctors tomorrow to see if they can advise.i dont want to build your hopes up but its working for him and i have spend hours reading up and thought why not try natural supplements.best wishes jon

[ollrocks]

hi forgot to mention my son has not been on any other medication so i think thats why he responded quite quickly.regards jon

[cmuir]

Hes a complex lad with asd, adhd and demand avoidance with severe learning dfficulties. He has tried so many drugs and none seem to have any effect. i am at a loss as to what to do next. All i know is that at 15 and 6ft ,weighing 11 stone with serious behaviour problems something has to be done,is there anything out there to suit him. So far hes had aripiprazol, colonodine, certroline, to name a few. Now its risperidone at 5mg and has no effect. apparently this would put you or i to sleep for days but it seems not to touch the sides. Any one out there with any ideas please?

From his exhausted mum.

 

 

Hi

 

My understanding is that risperidone is a mood stabilising drug which can take up to 6 weeks to kick into effect (my son trialled it and I recall asking about it). Don't know how long your son has been on it, but perhaps a bit more time is required to see or the dosage needs to be revised. I'm no expert and so the best bet is to seek professional medical advice.

 

Caroline.

Edited September 13, 2011 by cmuir

[mamabear]

My son was prescribed risperidone recently to deal with a crisis situation where he appeared to be in an ongoing meltdown which was making him ill - involving hour long violent episodes with short pauses (i've got a new scar on my chin to prove it! ). These were not only putting him and everyone else at risk, but also beginning to make him ill (eg the pauses were due to headaches because of the prolonged tension) so I felt medication was a viable short term option to cease the crisis.

 

 

 

We found risperidone worked really quickly and N became calmer within the week.. it just took the edge off what his psychiatrist calls his 'arousal' and made it easier for him to get control of his temper. It is only intended for short term crisis use, so after six weeks we've started to wean Naruto back off the meds, now doing his final week on a quarter of a tablet. He is out of the crisis cycle and doing really well, although the situation at school is very tentative right now and he is only managing one hour per day there.

 

Naruto is 7 and he was taking the same 5mg dose - he's half the size of your son. We did find it helped for short term crisis management. Perhaps it would work with your son if they increase the dose. I know they said they could increase for Naruto if necessary, but the 5mg was enough.

 

mamabear