My son is 3 years old and has been having problems with agression and anxiety at home, and at preschool. I have been called at work serveral times due to his impulsive outbursts which finally got him suspended. I was then forced to seek a evaluation from a child psychiatrist before he could return to preschool. The evaluation came out good, however, the doctor did suggest Risperidone to help ease some of my sons agression and impulsive behaviorial problems. I have been doing tons of research of Risperidone but find that studies have only been done on adults patients and not in children. I want to know if there is anybody who knows more that can help me? After my son being evaluated and returning to preschool, I continue to recieve phone calls at work from them reporting of him behaving badly. I don't know what to do anymore. Disipline at home is not working by itself and after talking with his therepist decided to fill the prescription at the lowest dosage and try it out in aiding to ease his agression then take him off of it in about 5 months. Tomarrow is going to be day 1 of him taking the medication and as his mother, I still have many worries, I found this forum while searching information on Risperdone. And I was wondering if there might be anyone that knows more that can maybe give me more information on the safety of children taking it?
Posts: 1 | Registered: Aug 2005
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I also have a 7 y/o son, who has been not only diagnosed with ADHD, but with Mood Behavioral Disorder, and his Dr., suggested using the Risperidone, but gave his Mother & I , the option of its use, knowing that there could be some major side effects, which could become permanant.Like Diabetes, problems sleeping, problems concentrating, dizziness, drowsiness, fatigue, nausea, constipation, runny nose, nervousness, acne,& dry skin.He has been taking Strattera, for the ADHD,which causes him to almost have no appetite at all, he has lost a considerable amount of weight, for his age. Now I am told that this new med, will increase his appetite, thus weight-gain, but at what cost.I am torn between helping him gain his weight, calm down his mood swings and outbursts of anger & lashing out at whomever is closest, and the fear of causing more problems in the process. I am gettign migranes, just trying ot figure out what to do for my son, as well as his future.
Posts: 1 | From: SW Arkansas | Registered: Sep 2005
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It is really good to hear from other parents in the same position as us.
My l0 year old son is autistic and has been on a combination of prozac and risperidone to help with anxiety and agression. It has helped but the effects seem to be wearing off. We have been in the process of finding the best doseage for him, and at the moment he is taking l.75ml per day of risperidone and 1.5ml per day of prozac. Is there anyone else who has a child on risperidone long term and what sort of dose are they on, we have been told that, at the moment, about 2ml per day would be the maximum dose recommended for my son at his age, but he is suffering terribly from anxiety attacks and is getting physically agressive.
Glad of any help.
Posts: 2 | From: west midlands | Registered: Oct 2005
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Hi Belle, i wonder if your son has been assessed for autistic spectrum disorder? It's worth checking that out if only to cross it off the possibilities. My son, now 12, had similar problems and it's taken me six years to get a diagnosis. He has Asperger Syndrome and was recently prescribed Risperidone tabs 1mg daily for paranoia and distressing anxiety....it's not helping after two weeks but maybe it takes time. If you want more info, try the National Autistic Society's website - nas.org (not sure if uk is after org or not!) Lots of great advice, shared stories and fact sheets. Hope your boy is enjoying Christmas hols, best wishes, Alice
Posts: 6 | From: Scotland | Registered: Dec 2005
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Hi, my daughter is 6 and has had problems with non-age-appropriate impulsivity, aggression, defiant behavior and hyperactivity since she was 3. No discipline or reward systems worked. She got terrible marks at school and was often separated from the other children. Her behavior at home and elsewhere was deplorable. When she was 5 we had enough. Her dr. and a child psych. diagnosed ADHD and we tried Concerta - HORRIBLE!!! Then Metadate -- same response (biting arms, banging head against wall, screaming.) Next we tried Strattera and everything was great for 5 weeks before she went off the deep end and attacked us physically and began saying she wanted to kill us and herself. We went to a new pedi. and child psych. who diagnosed Early Onset Bipolar Disorder (I am Bipolar as well) and put her on Abilify. This helped some but caused her to have irrational fear of things she'd never been scared of before. It also caused her to have "restless legs" syndrome. We discontinued that after a month and tried Tegretol for 7 months with no improvement. TO GET TO THE POINT: We put her on Risperdal 3 weeks ago. We were worried about weight gain, and she did eat nonstop for two days which had us worried. But after that she was back to normal on diet. Her behavior has improved dramatically. We are actually enjoying her for the first time in years, there is peace at home, and she has had the best marks possible at school for 2 1/2 weeks. We pray it will continue. She is happier and says she is not frustrated anymore. We have had 2 days or so where, at home only, she had a bit of a rough time with hyperactivity and defiance but nothing like before, and for one of those days it can be blamed on too much sweets. We are amazed so far with the results. I know you hesitate to try your son on anything at such a young age, but the way I see it is that you can try Risperdal for a month. By that time you will know if weight gain is a problem and also if it helps him. What do you really have to lose? Good luck, and I know this was a late post but I felt that you might appreciate my two cent's worth! Hope it helps.
Posts: 1 | From: Kerrville, TX | Registered: Mar 2006
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Our 11 year son had serious problem controling his agression on school since he was 9, defianced teacher´s authority, suspended and sent to home for long terms but were he behaved good.
Lo and behold he has been prescribed to Risperdone starting with 0.5 mg in the morning and 0.5 at night.
After 2 weeks of slow dosage increase, he was taking 1 mg in the morning and 1 mg at night.
Behavior started to improve after 3 weeks but still got some episodes at school so a month later his night dosage has been adjusted and increased by his Dr. to 1.5 mg at night.
Since this last increase he has been complaining all day for stomach pain but his Dr. doesn´t give us any answer.
On one side we are very happy because none other medication has worked with him and now he has been in the school for the last 2 months with seldom agresive episodes, and been again apreciated and loved by his peers but I am afraid for side efects since there are none experience and tests for childrens !!!!!!
Posts: 2 | From: South America | Registered: Jul 2006
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Hi, my son is 4 and he was diagnosed with Asperger's Disorder and Oppositional Defiant Disorder. he has other health problems as well, such as SEVERE asthma and he had a seizure a few weeks ago. They advised medicating him, but I wanted to wait until he was a little older, because I am aware of the side effects and how horrible that they can be. (I am borderline personality disorder with major anxiety and am on Seroquel, Lexapro, and Depakote.) I remember the pains of starting out on taking the anti-pyschotics, and I did not want to put my son through that. As time passed, his agression, anger, and what seems like ADHD has been unbearable. He also goes through mood swings like bi-polar. Will not sleep for a few nights and then get depressed and has major anxiety. He is the most loving boy in the world to me and his family, but he still has major outburts that are uncontrollable. He started taking .25 Risperdal 3 days ago. He is supposed to take it twice a day, but I have decided to only give him one in the afternoon until I can see that his body is use to it. In the past 3 days since he has been on Risperidone, he has had glassy eyes, a runny nose, chest congestion, more hyper-activity, more whining, and all the others. I know that it wont have its full effect for about 2 to 3 weeks, but I dont want to continue him on this medication if the side effects are not going to wear off. He complains of stomach aches and has thrown up. He cannot sleep and is extremely more hyper and more uncontrollable. I do not want him to be a guiney pig like I was until I found the right medication. Each time the meds are changed he has to go through all the side effects all over again, and his immune system is not stong at all. I had to miss work today, because he woke with a fever and a runny nose and chest congestion and a little dizziness. His eyes scare me. His pupils are extremely dialated and glassed over. I am extrememly worried about him and dont know if I should leave him on it for a few weeks and see if the side effects go away or if I should take him off until i can consult his doctor. I would love to hear of anyone who had the same side effects in the beginning as my son. Or even if the side effects have stayed after a prolonged usuage. Thank you, and please contact me back.
quote:Originally posted by Jewel: Hi, my daughter is 6 and has had problems with non-age-appropriate impulsivity, aggression, defiant behavior and hyperactivity since she was 3. No discipline or reward systems worked. She got terrible marks at school and was often separated from the other children. Her behavior at home and elsewhere was deplorable. When she was 5 we had enough. Her dr. and a child psych. diagnosed ADHD and we tried Concerta - HORRIBLE!!! Then Metadate -- same response (biting arms, banging head against wall, screaming.) Next we tried Strattera and everything was great for 5 weeks before she went off the deep end and attacked us physically and began saying she wanted to kill us and herself. We went to a new pedi. and child psych. who diagnosed Early Onset Bipolar Disorder (I am Bipolar as well) and put her on Abilify. This helped some but caused her to have irrational fear of things she'd never been scared of before. It also caused her to have "restless legs" syndrome. We discontinued that after a month and tried Tegretol for 7 months with no improvement. TO GET TO THE POINT: We put her on Risperdal 3 weeks ago. We were worried about weight gain, and she did eat nonstop for two days which had us worried. But after that she was back to normal on diet. Her behavior has improved dramatically. We are actually enjoying her for the first time in years, there is peace at home, and she has had the best marks possible at school for 2 1/2 weeks. We pray it will continue. She is happier and says she is not frustrated anymore. We have had 2 days or so where, at home only, she had a bit of a rough time with hyperactivity and defiance but nothing like before, and for one of those days it can be blamed on too much sweets. We are amazed so far with the results. I know you hesitate to try your son on anything at such a young age, but the way I see it is that you can try Risperdal for a month. By that time you will know if weight gain is a problem and also if it helps him. What do you really have to lose? What do you really have to lose? Good luck, and I know this was a late post but I felt that you might appreciate my two cent's worth! Hope it helps.
well a lot according to the major side effects which worries me my son just tonight started risperdal what if any bad side effects has any of your children experienced on the drug. My son is also autistic he is 4 and this is his first night on it so I'm trying to see the pros and cons before he is on it too long to do any damage what worries me is the diabetes cause it is present in my family medical history so just wondering if there is already a possibility of it being present in life does that increase the chances of this side effect.
Posts: 1 | From: NH | Registered: Feb 2008
| Logged: 24.128.73.113 |
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I have a 13yr old daughter who was taking Risperdal for 3 weeks for severe depression and suicidal thoughts.Our doctor prescribed this until we saw a psychatrist. My daughter felt that this medication was helping her but had a increase in appetite and would become very drowsy.After seeing the psychatrist,it was discovered that she has ocd and Risperdal was to not the best medication to take overall although it can be used for ocd.
Posts: 2 | From: australia | Registered: Feb 2008
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TO GET TO THE POINT: We put her on Risperdal 3 weeks ago. We were worried about weight gain, and she did eat nonstop for two days which had us worried. But after that she was back to normal on diet. Her behavior has improved dramatically. We are actually enjoying her for the first time in years, there is peace at home, and she has had the best marks possible at school for 2 1/2 weeks. We pray it will continue. She is happier and says she is not frustrated anymore. We have had 2 days or so where, at home only, she had a bit of a rough time with hyperactivity and defiance but nothing like before, and for one of those days it can be blamed on too much sweets. We are amazed so far with the results. I know you hesitate to try your son on anything at such a young age, but the way I see it is that you can try Risperdal for a month. By that time you will know if weight gain is a problem and also if it helps him. What do you really have to lose? Good luck, and I know this was a late post but I felt that you might appreciate my two cent's worth! Hope it helps.
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