Risperidone??

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Hi, I am a newbie here. I have a 4 year old son who has ASD (PDD-NOS to be exact). He has frequent meltdowns and can be aggressive with his 2 year old brother. His Doc put him on Adderall (sp?) over the summer but that only lasted a week. He stimmed more and had REALLY bad meltdowns when the meds wore off. His doc just wrote a script for Risperidone. I would like to know what people think who have experince with this drug. I would prefer to not mediciate him at all but he has been on a decline for the past couple of months. When he used to ask for help when he needed assistance, he now just cries and has meltdowns. I feel we need to try something to help him regulate.

It'll help calm him down as it's a potent sedative and mood stabiliser (see: anti-tantrum), but he'll probably be more dopey due to such. These are the positives and negatives of it in most cases.

If you can't avoid the trigger of the meltdowns, it'll probably be helpful in stabilizing his overall mood, but again, the sedative effect is quite potent (you know the strong anti-histamine Phenergan that you can buy over the counter? It has that type of anti-histamine action). It also affects adrenaline, serotonin and dopamine receptors.

It's replaced anticonvulsants as the behavioural control drug of choice for those with an ASD, children and adults alike.

Yeah, the stimulant is the total opposite way you want to go for medication (Adderall).

I'm on Seroquel, which is the same thing for the most part.

I'm on Risperdal and I feel like I handle stress better since I've been on it. It doesn't help with sleep quite as much as I'd like, but then again I don't have a hangover feeling in the morning like I did with seroquel. It may be causing me a little weight gain, but I can't rule out my diet yet.

I was on Risperdal since the age of five, and it made a noticable difference. I hardly slept at all, and I was very, very autistic at the time. I truly believe that the medication made a big difference with my progress. When I went off it in grade 8, there was a noticable difference - I was really depressed, more withdrawn, and I would get stuck on things so much more. I'm back on it now, and though I'm irritated that I'm gaining weight despite eating extremely healthily, I have found most of my depression has lifted, and it feels like I'm more aware.
I wish I could give you more examples of how I was when I was younger and how Risperdal helped me then, but I don't remember that time, and my mom can only tell me so much without remembering it.

Firstly:

Welcome to wrong planet. Please enjoy your stay, we have a good selection of information here that you may find useful.

To answer your question, risperidone is a tranquilizer. Try taking a high dose of anti-histamine allergy medicine if you want to get a feel for what it is like.

Your son wont be able to become as angry while taking the meds, but then again he wont really be able to think, or learn as well either. If your son is incredibly violent and is a serious threat to himself or others, then taking the medication would probably be the lesser of two evils. I know that I would rather be slightly foggy then be locked up in a psych ward for violent aggression. Also, if his anger prevents him from being able to learn anything due to constant outbursts, then the medication may be useful because having a reduced ability to learn is better then not being able to learn at all.

Perhaps you might find these threads useful:

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postt100240.html

http://www.wrongplanet.net/postp2257551 ... t=#2257551


Overall, I would first try figuring out why he is having a meltdown, and addressing that first. Often times the problem can easily be solved by a simple change in routine, or avoiding a certain situation. Learning how to adapt, and teach your son coping skills will serve him life long. Doping him on meds so that he cant think well enough to become angry is not an effective long term solution, and can often times have serious side effects.

While I am not saying that this medication is evil, I am saying that there are other, less risky things that you could try before putting your son on an anti-psychotic medication.

Perhaps you could post more specifics about what tends to set him off and we could provide advice on how to deal with the issue.

If your looking for advice dealing with meltdowns, we have a lot of information that you may find useful, that doesnt involve drugs.

My son takes it and he learns perfectly well. We have to adjust his dose with his weight changes, less when he loses and more when he gains it back. He goes through phases were he does not care to eat much and when his body mass goes down of course his tolerance for medication does as well... the side affects for my son are increased appetite (normal and frequently prescribed for this reason to people with eating disorders), general sleepiness (Also normal and prescribed for that reason) so we have him take it at night only, and facial twitching (only if he gets too much for his current weight).

I did not want to medicate my child, but it was apparent that we had no choice. When we started him on medication he was rapidly losing weight and raging daily. We had just got custody of him from his father where a lot of abuse had taken place. Truthfully I had hoped that we would be able to take him off of them eventually, but so far it just has not been the case.

I am on Risperdal, and it has done wonders for me. I no longer feel constantly agitated like I used to.

Keep in mind that meds don't SOLVE the problem. It seems that many parents these days are putting their kids on meds so that they don't have to actually *do* anything. Not that I'm accusing anyone here of doing that.

I think overall it is very usefull for people with ASD's. Also, a lot of people will bad mouth this drug, because of it's use for people with bipolar and schizophrenia - it's important to realize that the dose given to autistics, and kids in general, is extremely low.

JMills,
Why don't you try it yourself first? I know that it is not the complete answer since each one react differently but you may gain some insight.

One of my plans is to try some of these drugs somewhat for myself but mostly to know if they are gonna help my son if needed. For me, if not absolutely necessary I would avoid messing with chemistry in such a young age.

I was on Resperidone for a study. It made me lactate. It really messed with my hormones. I could have fed a small country with all the milk that came out. It also made me feel like I was high. It made me feel dumber tho, like I was high from weed but lacked that creative edge. I stopped reading during the time I was on it. I started watching tv more and got on facebook. The best word I can describe it is as being complacent.

I did however find life much more enjoyable. Overall it was a pleasant experience but I couldn't be on that forever. You just need to find the right meds I guess.

My son was on risperdal for 6 years, it was the best thing that ever happened to our family. He quit taking it when he was 19 yrs old and now at almost 21 he needs to go back on something for his moods. He pretty much has calmed down on meltdowns but the moods and anxiety are coming back bad! My main concern is the long term side effects like tardive diskenesia. which is a neurological disorder like twitching. My son was 13 when he started it, I guess now days they are using it on younger kids, I've heard a couple people mention it for young children lately.

I took risperdal a month ago for obsessive, intrusive thoughts. It worked for me when I needed it. I've also taken it at different times in my life as needed to calm down emotionally. It works for me.

It was Risperidone that made the first significant improvement in my son's ability to interact. Before he would freak out at things like the automatic door opening at the grocery store. He was also not talking except for a few words. He would just shriek in the general vicinity of what he wanted. It was the kick start that got him on the road to learning how to interact. Before if a another child approached him he would go into a fetal position and wail. He was on for years and did gain a big belly. During the summer before 2nd grade he developed severe facial, verbal and full body tics. His pediatric neuro-development Dr. had me videotape him and said they were the worst he had ever seen. So goodbye Risperidone. He was put on Clonodine and then Tanex and the tics slowly disappeared.
He was put on Remeron at the beginning of the year. In retrospect I think that was a mistake. I think he was having a normal reaction to being bullied at school. The weight gain was immediate and severe. He is off now and things are OK. I'm sorry this naturally slender child has to deal with cellulite and boy-breasts and an overhanging gut. It's almost impossible to find pants that fit. I have to take responsibility-I've never been the parent of an adolescent before and I didn't realize a good part of his behavior was just hormones. So in any event It may be just the right thing for your child but monitor the situation closely, because there are risks. In other words, Risperidone really helped my son but looking back I wonder if he shouldn't have been weaned off a lot sooner. Maybe all he needed was that little kickstart.

Thank you guys! I feel a little better about it now. The internet can be a blessing and a curse at the same time. I will read one site that says it works wonderfully then I will read another site that says the side effects are too dangereous to put a child on.

Anotherone,
I usually do sample whatever medication my son takes. When he was on adderall I took a pill and it did nothing to me. My son weighs 39 pounds and I weigh 125 so I don't think that was an accurate account on what it would have done for my son. Depending on what this current medication does to my son, I may try a pill just to see if I think it's too strong. If I feel an effect then it may be too much for him.

Again, thank you everyone. I am a nontraditional student who is a senior at Miami University (Ohio) majoring in special education. I have tried EVERYTHING I can think of to control his meltdowns. I am using mother intuition allong with my training as a special educator. His meltdowns are usually about him not wanting to transition or a sense of helplessness. If he is on the computer and he can't get it to do what he wants to he will meltdown. If I even mention we are going to be leaving the house he may meltdown. His meltdowns are inconsistant as well b/c one day he is fine with transitions and the next day it is a nightmare. His preschool teacher, OT, and ST are having trouble getting him to stay on task and his stimming has gotten worse. This is only the second day of the medication so I will be monitoring him like a hawk. Thank you again everyone. I love getting perspectives of other parents who are going through this; but more importantly those who have ASD and have an understanding of what my son is going through. I have such a feeling of hope and promise for my son that this site is out there and there are people who understand his world b/c sometimes I feel like such an outsider to him.

JMills, one thing that helps with transitions is to give him advance notices like "we are leaving in 1/2 hour", then "we are leaving in 15 minutes" etc. Even if he doesn't respond he is likely mentally processing the transition ahead of time. It really helped with my son.