Risperdal concerns | ADHD Information

Hello all,  I am new to all of this and need some help from all of you.  My son is 5 years old and a tiny 35 pounds.  A month ago we saw a phsychatrist.  We were in the office for less than 5  minutes.  The doctor didn't really even speak to my son.  He half listened to me and my concerns. Didn't look at all to the clinical evaluations that I brought with me. My son was bouncing all over the office.  The dr just got out his pad and started writing rx's.  He gave him Risperdal .5mg to be taken at night every day and Vyvanse 30 mg every morning.  

The medication is definately the right path.  He has been able to focus, complete tasks, articulate his thoughts much better and has jumped 2 reading levels in the past month. His creativity and highly complicated reason skills are coming out too. These are great to see.  

I am noticing that he is highly sensitive though.  He gets upset easily especially if things aren't "just right" almost OCD like. He is obsessed with finishing whatever task he is on, and must to it to perfection.  He says that even after he has his night medicine he just isn't sleepy.  He does seem to have a hard time getting to sleep.  He is calm. Just awake. 

I went to back to the Dr. yesterday.  When I brought up these noticed behaviors he was indifferent saying that he just needed to be on the meds longer.  That the moodiness would be better the longer he was on the Risperdal. The only explaination about the medicine is that it is for his moods.  He wrote another perscription.  It didn't feel right since the moodiness started with the onset of taking the meds in the first place.

Has anyone else had experience with this  combination?  Because both were given at the same time I really don't know which one might be causing the personality change.  I am looking into getting a new dr but until i do your help and input would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,  Ann 

hi my son jd is 8 and on focalin xr 10mg and risperidal 1mg twice a day. They seem to be helping. My little guy went through all the adhd meds without much help. It is the risperidal that has truly helped. My son also had trouble sleeping. He would not be able to fall asleep and would be awake up until 2 or 3 am no matter what I did. In the beginning he new that I was upset about his lack of sleep that he would pretend to be asleep. I would wake up in the middle of the night do to my fibromyalgia, and find him playing with his xbox. We removed the game from his room but it did not help. Finally his dr prescribed him clonidine. Originally he prescribed it for the am and bedtime. The am dose would make him to sleepy so we stopped that dose. The pm dose has him asleep in 5 to 10 mins. With no morning haze. Also I would definately seek other professional help. Ur dr sounds like he just doesn't care. This is not medical advice, just part of our story. Hope this helps u. God bless your family.lethy proud mom39534.718275463

Risperdal is an antipsychotic med usually used for Bi Polar disorder, but sometimes used for ADHD. Vyvanse is a newwer med, similar to Adderall.

I would suggest seeing a new Psychiatrist, it doesn't sound like yours cares at all.

[QUOTE=edbson]

Risperdal is an antipsychotic med usually used for Bi Polar disorder, but sometimes used for ADHD. Vyvanse is a newwer med, similar to Adderall.

I would suggest seeing a new Psychiatrist, it doesn't sound like yours cares at all.

[/QUOTE] Thank you for that you are correct. My son has bipolar, adhd, aspergers, and odd. Thanks for your input.My son was on Focalin XR and doing great until the insurance company decided it would not pay for it (90 bucks a month).  We started Concerta last month and it works fine to calm him (6 yr old 1st grader), but he had no impulse control.  He recently has a fixation on death.  He started telling me he would kill himself during his nighttime tantrums.  Then, he decided he was afraid to die, and cried for an hour.  We just started RISPERDAL.  Doc said it would smooth out these mood swings.  I told him anything to help with the defiance/anger.  I just want him to be a happy kid. [QUOTE=Adamsmom5309] My son was on Focalin XR and doing great until the insurance company decided it would not pay for it (90 bucks a month).  We started Concerta last month and it works fine to calm him (6 yr old 1st grader), but he had no impulse control.  He recently has a fixation on death.  He started telling me he would kill himself during his nighttime tantrums.  Then, he decided he was afraid to die, and cried for an hour.  We just started RISPERDAL.  Doc said it would smooth out these mood swings.  I told him anything to help with the defiance/anger.  I just want him to be a happy kid.[/QUOTE]   
My son also went through this death phase, it even got so bad that he was very afraid that i was going to die whenever he was not with me. After he was dx as bipolar that is when we started risperidal. The clonidine works great for bedtime and is very affordable, around 11 dollars for a month supply.

Please keep us updated on how he is doing.

Will started Risperdal (.25mg)last night (and is also taking Vyvanse 60mg) and I was a nervous wreck.  I had him sleep in my room so I could watch over him.

This is the first med besides Tenex that we've tried that wasn't a stimulant.  I hate the labels and I hate all of this..