Doctor added Risperdal | ADHD Information
Hello:
I am interested in getting feedback about Risperdal. My son has been taking Strattera for about 5 months; his dose was upped about four weeks ago. I took him to his neuroped yesterday because I haven't seen progress in attentiveness; besides, he still shows mood issues at home, he answers back, is defiant at times, and has lost appetite. Ironically, he has shown behavior progress in school; teacher says that he behaves well and is having good social interaction with classmates. At home it is constantly difficult to discipline him; i have tried some strategies but I seem to fail with them; my son doesn't care much about reward systems.
Yesterday at the appointment the doc suggested to keep trying Strattera for two more weeks so we can reach six weeks to see if it is being helpful for my son. He also said that my ds could also be dealing with ODD, so he precribed a very small dose of Risperdal to see if this combination brought us better results. (in regard to the dose, I have to divide 1mg tablet in quarts. I am supposed to give him a quart in the morning and another quart at night)
Another part of the story is that I am starting to freak out about Strattera due to side effects I have read about and that very dear friends have told me. Here in my country I only have two options for a med: that is Ritalin or Concerta, and Strattera: My son was prescribed Strattera as a first choice because of his tics, that are very mild and seemed to have stopped with Strattera, actually this is the only benefit I have noticed from this med up to now.
This is my new story I made as short as I could. I really need feedback and advice. I am very confused and kind of scared. Any comment on this will be gladly taken. Thank you.
My son'agression and irritablity intensified so badly on Concerta and Strattera. Now he is just on Risperdal. He has ODD issues and Sensory Processing Disorder and the psychiatrist has just now dx him as PDD of hte autism spectrum, which makes everything come together.
The first week of Risperdal he was doing great but after 1 week he was back to his saem behaviors. I have increased the dose and he seems to be doing better. He started on .5mg and is now on 1mg. The dr seemed to think 1-2mg would work for him.
My 6yo son's focus problems have improved on the meds, but he is more defiant at home. Is your son better or worse with the behavior since the meds started? My son seems worse since the meds started. I have another appt at the end of Jan, but I do not think I can wait that long. His behavior at school is wonderful.
My doc (ped) does not like Strattera, so my son is on Focalin XR. Please let me know how the Risperdal works. I suspect some signs of ODD with my son as well.
lynnderosia:
I still don't plan to start Risperdal until I am completely convinced that my son needs this stuff. I am too scared about adding more meds to my ds.This is why I want to find all feedback I can about this med. So I suggest you to also keep an eye in this thread to see what experiences we can get.
My son has always had a difficult behavior. Before med it was the same at school, after med (Strattera) he seems to be improving school behavior and his tics have stopped, but I keep having problems at home. Attentiveness also keeps being an issue.
Can you tell me why your ds doc does not like Strattera? I am really considering a second opinion for a change of med and also for checking about the ODD dx.
stepmomtomaddy:
Does this med ( similar to Risperdal) create dependency? I mean, once you start it, and if you need to stop it for any reason, do you have to do it gradually?
Mariaven:
I am not sure why the doc does not like straterra. He only mentioned that he had not had good results with it. I will ask about that the next time I am at the docs office. I will be scheduling an appt as soon as I get home....we are visiting my brother in law for the weekend. Last night my son had a meltdown that lasted an hour and a half....completly out of control, granted he was tired. He seems more irritable and more difiant since the meds started in nov. Oddly enough, he is great at school, with no discipline problems. thanks for the response and I will let you know about the docs response.
Every day that passes I get more convinced that Strattera is not working (however I keep being confused
). I hardly hear success stories. Today I had another tough afternoon with ds. The worst part is that I am too afraid about stopping it without a docs consent because of side effects I have been told.
So, ask your doc to see what is his opinion.
Thanks
Mariaven39082.186875My SD was on adderall that sent her into a tailspin emotionally. The defiance was at an all-time high. Her dr kept upping the adderall until we decided to cut it off completely and find a new dr. We got her in with a new pdoc that was looking at BP with ADHD. She started my SD on seroquel alone (it is a anti-psychotic like risperdal). We immediately started to see immense improvements in her behavior with it. She is now on 400mg of seroquel at night. The pdoc then added in a low dose of Concerta. She takes 10mg of it in the morning to help with the ADHD.
I can not even begin to tell you the changes we saw in her behavior. She is sooo compliant for the most part now. I think that when she is defiant, it is more normal kid stuff. Let's face it, every child is defiant at times right. It is just a lot easier to deal with when it only happens on occasion. She also has a much more positve attitude about everything. She is hitting the same depressed lows she used to go through. It really has been night and day for her. This is going on a year of treatment.
So, I suppose my response is that the risperdal could be just what your DS needs to get his behavior under control. I certainly do not think it could hurt to try it. If all else fails, seek a second opinion if you just do not feel right about it. HTH