# anyone heard of risperdal (risperidone) ?



## stickdude (Aug 13, 2004)

i told my psychiatrist about my depersonalization, about how when i go out i feel very detached and it feels like i'm in 3rd person view. i told her i started thinking i was schizophrenic all the time and she said i wasn't. my psychiatrist just prescribed me today 1mg of risperdal, an anti-psychotic. it is for people with schizophrenia and other psychotic disorders, bi-polar, and depression. she said don't listen to all that what you hear about it, it will just calm you down. i'm sorta scared to take it, as i am taking 150mb zoloft everyday, heard things about risperdal triggering hppd and tardive dyskinesia. has anyone had any experience with risperdal?

thanks


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

I think most people on this board are going to give you negative reviews of it. From my personal experiences with anti-psychotics, I agree with them. I've taken Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquel and they all sucked every bit of life out of me. Sure, they'll calm you down, but they made my DP much worse.

When I first had DP, I was afraid I was schizophrenic. That was before I knew much about DP or schizophrenia. Then I saw some schizophrenics at the hospital one time and realized how foolish I was.


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## stickdude (Aug 13, 2004)

gimpy34 said:


> I think most people on this board are going to give you negative reviews of it. From my personal experiences with anti-psychotics, I agree with them. I've taken Risperdal, Zyprexa, and Seroquel and they all sucked every bit of life out of me. Sure, they'll calm you down, but they made my DP much worse.
> 
> When I first had DP, I was afraid I was schizophrenic. That was before I knew much about DP or schizophrenia. Then I saw some schizophrenics at the hospital one time and realized how foolish I was.


ah, that's what i was afraid of, sucking the life out of me. i've never been on an anti-psychotic before, so this is sorta new to me. i told her if it would change me in anyway and she said it wouldn't, just will help with that depersonalization. i hope it doesn't suck out what is already left in me, then that would be terrible! i can always stop though. just wish me good luck i guess hehe.

and yeah i've always wanted to take a peak into a hospital to see what schizophrenics are like. do you call and setup an appointment for a tour or something or just walk in and walk around?


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2004)

im on it right now

hasn't done a damn thing for whatever the fuck i have

ive gotten about 25 different diagnosis, now im Hypervigalant

WHEN WILL IT FUCKIN END?!?!


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## stickdude (Aug 13, 2004)

SoulBrotha said:


> im on it right now
> 
> hasn't done a damn thing for whatever the f--- i have
> 
> ...


how long have you been taking risperdal? what are your diagnosis? and how did you develop hypervigalant?


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2004)

ive been on it since like March, or maybe April

Hypervigalance is usually a symptom of Anxiety i believe, or something like that. Im not even totally sure.


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## gimpy34 (Aug 10, 2004)

I don't know if they'll simply let you in a mental hospital. I'm not too sure. There are probably some privacy laws against that. I would call and find out. I was in the waiting room once at the hospital before getting some tests done, and the woman sitting across from me was schizophrenic. She started telling her brother I was scaring her. She was sitting literally five feet away from me and did not lower her voice at all. I've seen a bunch of them in my day. A lot of them just say weird stuff. Some are just off the charts crazy. There's this one kid I see at the YMCA all the time who is always having a conversation with someone who isn't there. It doesn't seem to bother him, though. He's not paranoid at all like a lot of them.


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## kenc127 (Aug 10, 2004)

stickdude-

if I were you, I would leave that pill alone. It's for phychotic symptoms i.e. auditory hallucinations, visual hallucinations, delusions, etc things you are much too coherent to have judging from your post. Go visit a mental home and look at some schizophrenics. It is amazing how out of reality they are. You'll see people sitting in corners laughing, waving their hands and talking, running around and having discussions with things that are just not there. You are not it dude, trust me. You care too much to be a person who is going nuts. That pill should be taken as a last resort, if you are simply not functioning in the real world. Treat the anxiety, not a psychosis that is nonexistent. I can't believe that this doc gave you an anti psychotic after saying youre not psychotic.


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## Guest (Aug 27, 2004)

It's a tough call. Most people will indeed find that antipsychotic meds can make them feel more detached from their emotions, and that is likely to make you feel even more dp'd.

It CAN be a helpful med however, for obsessive or intrusive thoughts. It can take away the "loop" of endless disturbing thoughts that seem to run in cycles and are impossible to stop.

Again, it makes you able to detach a bit....but detachment increases dp. In short, a gamble.

I took stellazine (an old anti-p) for awhile off and on for several years long ago, so don't be afraid that taking an antipsychotic means you're psychotic. It will just boil down to a personal decision: are your thoughts and obsessions more of a problem than the feeling of dp? If so, try the risperidol. If not, then you might not like it.

But you can TRY it if you're curious. If you hate it, it will be out of your system in half a day. One dose, or even a short time on it will not give you any form of permanent side effects.

Peace,
J


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## stickdude (Aug 13, 2004)

i'll give it a shot. if it sucks life out of me, i can just simple stop taking it and return back to normal (hopefully! :?)


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## rob (Aug 22, 2004)

took it for four months - initially made me sleepy and fat then induced full blown panic attacks and made me VERY jittery and odd feeling - made my dp worse and to cap it all I had very traumatic withdrawal over a period of three further months

rob


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## daveplanet (Aug 24, 2004)

I work in a psychiatric Hospital and would urge people NOT to 'visit a mental home and look at the schizophrenics'.
Jeez.


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## kenc127 (Aug 10, 2004)

lol.


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## luke1979 (Aug 20, 2004)

hi
i have been taking risperdal at 2mg for about 3 months, it didint really do anything for me, didnt make me better, but more importanly it didnt make anything worse.
i saw a new shrink yesturday and he urged me to taper off it as it probably isnt going to help me.
i think the theory of taking it is to reduce anxiety, however from what i know anti-depressants are probably better suited to helping anxiety.
this same shrink thinks that my dp is a result of anxiety, and although it sounds impossible, my best way to overcome this is to forget about it, like he said, sounds easy but is damn near impossible. but i do believe that is one of the best ways to overcome this condition.
10 years ago i got a full blown case of dp, but as i was young and had no idea what was wrong with me, i was forced to continue on with life to the point that i distracted myself from the dp and it cleared within a year, this time round i searched for answers and gave myself too much time to think about it and as it stands 12 months on since my recent attack im still sturggling with it, however ive made the decision to get back into work and just bassically try to distract myself from it as much as possible with the aim to *forget* about it, or at least not obsess over it, hopefully that will be the key to my recovery.
good luck with the risperdal, as i said, it did me no harm what so ever and may have infact helped me in a minor way.
cheers
Luke.


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## laquw (Aug 26, 2004)

when i first got dp/dr i had no idea what i had, I was oblivious to everything.. I was in my 3year at nyu and I was told to see a walk in psychiatrist.
- - upon my visit he really scared me because I told him all my symptoms and then he just blatantly said that "you know you might have to take these medications forever" this of course would frighten anyone because I didnt know what the hell was going on. Was i becoming schizo or something. 
Most doctors like to make a quick diagnosis of something during the ongoing stages.. (not that its bad oir anything) but usually they try and make the most educated prognosis in order to diminish the symptoms and eradicate it as quick as possible.. Such as in a drug-induced pyschosis. Thats came to his mind when i told him everything i was feeling..

He gave me risperdal and it just made everything more INTENSE!!
made my dp/dr 10 tiimes worse
-- now dont take my word on it , meds are different for everyone as alot of people would say and doctors usually say this common phrase
"well these meds are for this and so symptoms but from some strange reason it works for anxiety, mood, and blah blah blah for some inexplainable reason" 
-- maybe u might fall into that statistic but in my opinion why prescribe a med that deals with psychotic nature to some1 who is not insane!

-- i beat dp/dr by myself without any meds in the end, it was hard but i try not to take anymore meds anymore except ssri cause they are not that harmful-- from what i know


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## Johanna (Aug 15, 2004)

Please tell me a bit how you beat your dp/dr.?

I'm rather convinced as well that the meds are not gonna help with dp (in my case), so I'd like to know a bit better how u managed to beat yours.

With distraction? Purely forcing yourself to continue on with life?


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## laquw (Aug 26, 2004)

Basically, since I had no clue what I had, I read someone elses story about it on the internet. I knew nothing of dpselfhelp.com
I read some girls story on some website and it was the same scenario as mine , she smoked marijuana and then she started feeling like the symptoms that I had. She told me it went away in 4 months without meds so i used her as an example and as a timeline I guess. I had a positive outlook on it and I knew no matter what that it was going to be short term. I had left school on a medical leave but at the time I was working and going out to clubs hanging out with friends, playing basketball. Every routine I had before DP/DR I kept. I didnt change my life for nothing.

--- it was hard but just knowing that u can beat is defintely the trick. Talking to people about your past and memories and just relaxing is the trick. Its hard to relax when ur in a ball of anxiety but there are ways around it. MY dp/dr in the last couple of weeks was the worse i felt completely dead and numb i literally couldnt feel the ground i walked on or my body or anything. Just felt like i was still in a dream. But one day i was just walking talking to a friend, I saw a car next to me, went up to it and i felt it felt it. By feel i mean i actually felt the object next to me,, no glass or bubble intervening with my perception everything was solid to me..


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