Thinking on trying Abilify or Risperdal for irritability.

Post Reply New Topic

(Adult male, 27 years old with HFA)
I have high functioning autism (not aspergers), due to the distinction of childhood language delay.

I am currently on an SSRI Paroxetine (generic Paxil). It has worked great in terms of my coinciding anxiety symptoms; and since it is for anxiety I was suggested to remain on it indefinitely. Also it has gotten me to be more pro-active. Only downside is, because I am a forgetful person, (among other daily things missed) I miss a day's dose of Paxil often. When this happens, the next 2 days, I become rage-induced from the withdrawal symptoms, and nobody believes it is due to the drug; I always get in trouble by that.

Aside that, I am still always irritable in terms of mood swings. I cannot survive a conversation during a car-ride; I am often melting-down if people try to involve me in some criticism during such times (from all the input, plus the friction of the other people addressing me; especially in morning commutes). I wish this was avoidable, but I have people around me that don't respect my HFA as they don't believe it; even though they were involved with the doctors that officially diagnosed me. :/

I notice stimulation from caffeine is a huge aggressor in lowering my tolerance of my surroundings. Oddly, my mood is great on caffeine until the point of which I lose the war against my tolerance.

Therefore, since stimulants seem to make me irritable. I was thinking of trying something mood drugs that do otherwise:

Abilify or Risperdal.

Both are known for reducing irritability in autism. I need one to help reduce my mood out-bursts (I do not get physical as I rage), but I may throw a pillow at people or grind my teeth really hard).

Any advice on choosing one? I am on a diet currently; I count my calories already; gaining-weight, as a side-effect, is of no concern to me.

resperidone is a great sleep aid for me

Black box warings for risperidone:
-Do not use in dementia-related psychosis

Cautions:
-Increse incidence of cerebrovascular disease
-Use in patients with seizures, Parkinson's, Lewy body dementia, cardiovascular disease, hypovolomia and dehydration
-Risk of leukopenia or neutropenia
-Risk of orthostatic hypotension

Mechanism of action:
-High affinity for 5-HT2 receptors, lower affinity for D2 receptors.

I think the first option would be to figure out a system so that you don't forget to take your meds and to cut down on the coffee.

If that does not work you need to speak to your doctor.

Black box warings for aripiprazole:
-Do not use in dementia-related psychosis
-Increased risk of suicidal thinkin and behavior in patients <24 years old

Cautions:
-Risk of neuroleptic malignant syndrome and extrapyramidal symptoms
-Use in patients with cardiovascular disease, cerebrovascular disease, or predispotitions to hypotension
-May increase risk of suicidal tendencies in children and adolescentes
-Risk of leukopenia or neutropenia
-Risk of orthostatic hypotension
-Risk of seizures

Mechanism of action:
-Partial agonist at 5-HT1A receptors, antagonist at 5-HT2A receptors

You know, the PC response here is to say "only a professional can say what would be helpful, blah blah blah" but from my experience they don't actually have that good of an understanding of how these meds work.

So, I'll give anecdotal evidence. I've taken both. Abilify made me extremely restless (look up akathisia). Risperdal was okay. In both cases, I took it for acute psychosis (which they both worked for).

Just do some research so you know beforehand what side effects you might experience. You may find they outweigh the benefits (or you may not). Not much help here but it's kind of a crapshoot. Doctors just sort of prescribe meds until they hit on something that sort of works.

try coming off all caffeine [theres a lot of it in tea, chocolate etc as well as obvious stuff like coke,coffee,energy drinks] and sugar.
it will be hard withdrawing but these both cause a lot of irritability,anti pyschotics honestly arent worth the side effects when simple lifestyle changes can help some.

if a doctor says the level of irritability warrants anti pyschotics then woud recommend reading about halperidol,it really helps with mine and severe challenging behavior.

Had great results with both.

Can't imagine why they wouldn't believe that, Paxil has been associated with many homicidal rages:

>>SSRIs and violence<<

>>Psyche Meds Link<<

To me both were a sugar pill. Did nothing.

My partner tried Abilify for something, depression I think, and it gave her tics. Those can become permanent, like the commercials say. I am very skeptical of Abilify because of her experience, but that is just one person's experience.

As someone else said, you need to first come up with a system so you don't miss your meds. Until you do that, you'll just miss any new med you try.

I use to be on Abilify. I gained 50 lbs in a year on that medication. Apparently that is not uncommon. So I got off of that as fast as possible. Now I take Wellbutrin and Prozac.

Just wanted to give you a heads up because I would of never of gotten on Abilify if I had known it would make me gain so much weight so fast. I went from 140 to 198. I lost most of it but that took a long time of working out and eating better. My therapist said all of her clients who have ever been on Abilify gained a ton of weight. I haven't heard about the other med. Wish you well.

Good luck.

I became very rageful when I was on Paxil (for 3 years). I had no idea what my feelings meant at the time, but retrospectively, I was a wreck. I slept for 16+ hours a day and had more meltdowns than before. Coming off of it was even worse. It was eased by the use of my current drug, Lexapro (brand name works best for me, unfortunately---costs an arm and a leg! Generic caused suicidal thoughts and deep depression).

It's all about what works for you. Your brain chemistry might like a cocktail of drugs better than another. I would, however, caution against Paxil. It was horrible for me. My mom still feels bad she made me take it as a teen.

I'd be interested to hear what you think of Abilify or Risperdal. I, too, cannot have caffeine as it contributes to panic attacks and triggers/worsens meltdowns.

My mother loved it for the short time that i was on Risperidone as it actually worked (i did not actually notice much of a difference but my mother loved it when i was on it, said was bloody marvellous), it calmed me down but unfortunately it had painful physical side effects. I got unbearable pains in my joints when i did any physical activity, as the owner of a demanding Siberian Husky and one of my main escapes and outlets in life is going out into the surrounding countryside watching the birds and what not i could not cope with it. These effects were still there when my dosage was reduced to a mere 1mg per day. Having read about it it seems this is a rare but not unreported side effect to the drug.

Abilify is an atypical antipsychotic. I have been prescribed this medication as well as seroquel - another atypical antipsychotic. Be very careful with this family of meds as they can affect people in unexpected ways. When I took seroquel I almost set myself on fire and would have done so if I had been near any accelerants. I had much better results after speaking with an herbalist and regularly taking an herbal tea of skullcap, lemon balm, nettles, oatstraw and rose petals. It sounds very simple but it worked great for me and still does when I need it. Some of these herbs can react with medications so it's best to go this route under the advice of a doctor or naturopathic physician. If you do decide to try either medication make sure there is someone monitoring you regularly for the first week or so, just in case.

I take risperidone for irritability.

So far, it's been a life saver, but I'm only on .5mg.

Anything more than that turns me into a zombie.