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risperidone for sleep, bad idea?

R

rarerran

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Joined
Dec 17, 2016
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I was put on Risperidone because I had a little outburst in public about 6 months ago, initially 2mg reduced to 1mg a month ago.

I really don't think I need to be on this and think without it I will be in full control of myself.

However I have a chronic (6 months anyway) unexplained condition where I feel discomfort in my head all the time and without risperidone I just can't sleep.

Which means I am only taking it because it helps me sleep. This is bad right? And I don't want to go down the path of taking Xanax and becoming addicted to that.
 
Risperidone is an antipsychotic with major side effects!

I agree that Xanax would be even worse because of physical addiction!

How about antihistamines?
 
Risperidone is a severely impairing, long duration drug... 2mg/day is not a lot but it's still plenty to fuck you up all day.

You should be able to discontinue it with no withdrawals though.
 
sekio said:
Risperidone is a severely impairing, long duration drug... 2mg/day is not a lot but it's still plenty to fuck you up all day.

You should be able to discontinue it with no withdrawals though.
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What's your opinion on antihistamines?

Should he take them?
 
They can help in the short term for sleep, but they likely won't last forever as tolerance builds to the sedative effects pretty quickly.

And actually, now that i think about it, if you take only 1mg of risperidone at night, you should build tolerance to some of the impairing effects. Play it by ear - risperidone side effects tend to be strongly dose related.
 
Feeling some undefined discomfort in your head might very well be a symptom of anxiety.

I was on 2 mg of risperidone for some time, and the worst side effect was that it made me impotent. Not a drug you shoul take just to sleep, in my opinion.
 
Anxiety, blood pressure.. when you say 'pressure' do you mean hypomanic type symptoms like cant stop thinking about random stuff? You could try clonidine, that works great for most mild sleep issues with anxiety. I agree about getting off risperidone, its not a drug you want to be on unless you have genuine psychotic symptoms that cant be resolved with something else. Mood stabilizers or antidepressants (agitated depression?) might be able to get those issues under control without the potential for long term side effects, but APs are much easier for a doc to prescribe and maintain.
 
What do you mean by little outburst? I was given risperdal when I was severely agitated in highschool and would punch brick walls and myself... and even still only got fractions of a mg so that makes me think you may of had more extreme of a outburst then you may think .

Do you have head pain on risperdal or when your off it or both. Hypotension is a common cause of headaches risperdal email blocks alpha adrenic receptors that play a powerful role in regulating the careful balance between sympathetic and parasympathetic signaling
 
Risperidone for sleep, for even off-label use, please go get some pharmacological data before publishing on this.
 
I think we need to be careful just because risperidone is notoriously innappropiately subscribed by doctors. We do not have enough information to crusify his doctor. He said he had a outburst and cant sleep for all we knowmthis could mean anything from mania from bipolar to schizophrenia to anxiety.

Imagree in the overwhelming majority of people risperdone is not appropiate however i have met some guys when i was institutionalized whonneeded it or they would punch glass windows and make little sense talking to them. Yet be able to have a normal conversation after there meds. And a dad in outpatient who had manic episodes who took risperdone and it really helped him stay level and not manic and out doing blow he even said it himself "i feel like today wasnt so bad. I took this risperdonw and i dont feel high like when i was on the street doing crack or blacked out at anradiohead concert but i like thìs i feel like im alright and just being here talking and listening and being a part of this group is aomething i enjoy." He was sitting still talking clear and on topic amd the results where amazing .
 
Never had schizophrenia, but last summer cannabis (or what was supposedly cannabis- it was bought from the street) really messed me up (to simplify things) and left me with a chronic burning sensation in my head.

As of now, I feel like my mental health is stable enough to not warrant such medication anymore. But it helps me sleep (burning sensation in head affects sleep).

Would I be better using benzos instead? I don't like the idea of being on a risperidone for so long especially when I'm mentally stable. I think my burning sensation is starting to heal but I have no idea how long it will take.
 
Why would they give you risperdone for weed causing side effects? Risperodone can be Bsolutely essential for some people to take. For example in patient there where guys who would stop there meds and punch glass or talk to tvs that werent in the room or talk to voices in there head in the corner literly curled up in a ball. Are you syre you wherent geting wacky if it was spice it could of lasted for long peroids of time.
 
I have doubts over what I bought, it certainly didn't feel like being stoned and I have had 1.5 years at least once a week of getting high from weed experience prior to that so I know what weed should feel like. I'm not ruling out the fact it could have been a synthetic cannabinoid or a dodgy RC. It was an edible, edibles can be made with synthetic cannabinoids as well right?


punch glass or talk to tvs that werent in the room or talk to voices in there head in the corner literly curled up in a ball.
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I couldn't even imagine myself acting like that. If I stopped taking my risperidone all that would happen I expect would be a poorer sleep and possibly suicidal thoughts from the withdrawal (I reduced from 2mg to 1mg and had suicidal thoughts lasting a month). I'm stable- no hallucinations no delusions.

I just heard of a sleeping drug called Ambien which is marketed as a less addictive form of xanax. Do you reckon I would be better asking my doctor for this and coming off risperidone?
 
rarerran said:
I have doubts over what I bought, it certainly didn't feel like being stoned and I have had 1.5 years at least once a week of getting high from weed experience prior to that so I know what weed should feel like. I'm not ruling out the fact it could have been a synthetic cannabinoid or a dodgy RC. It was an edible, edibles can be made with synthetic cannabinoids as well right?




I couldn't even imagine myself acting like that. If I stopped taking my risperidone all that would happen I expect would be a poorer sleep and possibly suicidal thoughts from the withdrawal (I reduced from 2mg to 1mg and had suicidal thoughts lasting a month). I'm stable- no hallucinations no delusions.

I just heard of a sleeping drug called Ambien which is marketed as a less addictive form of xanax. Do you reckon I would be better asking my doctor for this and coming off risperidone?
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It depends on how often you have trouble sleeping. Ambien should not be taken everyday or for long periods of time due to the risk of tolerance and dependence, so if you frequently have trouble sleeping then Ambien is not a good option.
 
Lol! I attempted suicide and suicidal thoughts are about as unstable as you can be. I actually take lithium for suicidal thoughts and actions which helps me haven't had any thoughts or attempt in years on it.

Anyway is it possible that your trouble sleeping is due to depression? IMO, it sounds like your placing too much emphasis on smoking some questionable weed and not enough on it sounds like you have suicidal thoughts which is not normal and insomnia could be a indicator that your natural mood is abnormal.

I would consider trying cognitive behavioral therapy and talking to your doctor about if you can switch from risperdone to something for depression.

I took ambien IMO not very useful but some people fall asleep like 15 -30 min faster over the short term .


Do not stop risperdone it can cause extreme effects suddenly stoping it like rebound hypertension psychosis agitation muscle tension ect
 
So I'm thinking about asking my Dr to reduce my medication.

I'm currently on per day 1mg risperidone and 100mg Trazodone

In your opinion which of the following options would be better, "better" as in messing my brain up less and given the fact I still need some help to initiate sleep.

1. Reduce risperidone to 0.5mg and keep 100mg Trazodone

2. Stop taking trazodone and keep 1mg risperidone

btw is is possible to get risperidone tablets 0.25mg in strenght? If so I think a drop to 0.75mg would be a perfect step
 
Risperdone isn't a bad chemical it just has been used by medicine inappropriately. If you have major depression trazadone can help. If you have bipolar or schizophrenia risperdal may help. Sometimes trazadone is used for sleep off label. Risperdone to my nonprofessional knowledge should not be used for sleep period. Yes antipsychotics do cause sleepiness however atless your using a spork threatening to stick someone in the leg or running around naked using risperdone for sedation is inappropriate.

Hi would ask your doctor exactly what disorder and why you are taking trazadone and risperdone why do you feel in your professional opinion it is necessary I take these medications and is there something that can be done to address my sleep
 
I read elsewhere risperidone affects the D2 receptor which stops your enjoyment of things you usually like doing. Does Trazodone do this too?

Also turns out I thought I was taking 1mg per day risperidone but I've actually been taking 0.5mg. I still find even a 0.5mg dose is enough to KO me at night an hour after taking it, but I understand taking it for sleep is a really bad idea when my my mental health is very stable. The side effects felt during the day from taking 0.5mg at night would be very minimal wouldn't they? I really want to get by as natural as possible, especially since I have this unexplained and undiagnosed chronic burning sensation in my brain. The last thing I want to happen is for some powerful medication I don't even need messing with my brain chemistry and preventing or hindering the healing of this burning feeling.
 
I took trazodone for about three years and found it to have little side effects...
 
rarerran said:
I read elsewhere risperidone affects the D2 receptor which stops your enjoyment of things you usually like doing. Does Trazodone do this too?

Also turns out I thought I was taking 1mg per day risperidone but I've actually been taking 0.5mg. I still find even a 0.5mg dose is enough to KO me at night an hour after taking it, but I understand taking it for sleep is a really bad idea when my my mental health is very stable. The side effects felt during the day from taking 0.5mg at night would be very minimal wouldn't they? I really want to get by as natural as possible, especially since I have this unexplained and undiagnosed chronic burning sensation in my brain. The last thing I want to happen is for some powerful medication I don't even need messing with my brain chemistry and preventing or hindering the healing of this burning feeling.
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D2 antagonists can produce anhedonia but the effect is dose-dependent. If you have insomnia and have an anxious fixation about an unexplained physical sensation, then your use of risperidone may be appropriate. If the risperidone is helping you and not producing side-effects then there is no reason for you to worry about this treatment or discontinue its use. Presumably your doctor felt this medication was warrented and appropriate. If you are considering a different treatment then I would urge you to get a second opinion from a different doctor, as opposed to trying to get advice on the internet.
 
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