Risperidone. 1 mg

shark2

Registered User
Aug 22, 2012
136
0
n ireland
Hi, my mum has been very agitated of late, being aggressive with the care home staff, and walking and walking until she exhausts herself. She's always going home to see her mother and her babies!! I rang the doctor on the care homes advice and the doc gave her risperidone.
I am just back from visiting and I can't stop crying. My mum was totally drugged up. I brought her a lollipop and she couldn't even find her mouth. They had to use the hoist to get her up and I left while one of the staff was spoon feeding her. this is not what my mum was like 2 days ago. One of the staff says to persevere and the drug will settle in her system. Another says it's too strong and she's phoning the doctor on Monday to change it.

Anybody else experience this. The shock of seeing her like this will haunt me.
 

Dayperson

Registered User
Feb 18, 2015
278
0
Hi shark2, I'm sorry to hear about your experience. Mum was taking 0.5mg of liquid
Risperidone and it made her more agitated, never mind the fact it was difficult to give her as an injection by mouth. The doctor wanted us to persevere with it but my dad chose to stop the drug and she no longer takes it (I assume he checked with the doctor first).

I hope you find a solution soon. I read on the leaftlet it wasn't suitable for people with dementia so I'm not sure why it is perscribed for it.
 

jos112

Registered User
Dec 17, 2016
6
0
lowestoft
lower dose

my dad is on 0.5mg of risperidone and has been since leaving mental health unit a year ago.
He lives with me and we manage but if he becomes aggressive with psychotic thoughts the GP will increase the dosage..
 

LadyA

Registered User
Oct 19, 2009
13,730
0
Ireland
1mg is a high dose to start an elderly person on, I would think. My late husband suffered severe paranoid psychosis as a feature of his dementia and he was on risperidone for over four years. He was started on 0.5mg per day, and his maintenance dose, after gradually increasing it, was 1.5mg per day - 1mg in the morning and 0.5mg at night.
Dayperson, it's used in such circumstances for people with dementia, but should be closely monitored, as there are risks attached to it's use in the elderly. It's also available as a "quicklet " - a tablet that dissolves instantly on the tongue. My husband was given this form, eventually. Seems to be mint flavour! He liked it anyway. He would always smile and say "phwishhh! Gone!" when he took it- he liked the sensation of the slight fizz as it disappeared in his mouth!
 

MrsTerryN

Registered User
Dec 17, 2012
769
0
Mum was on .5 per day for a year and then it was upped to .5 twice daily for the last year.
Mum's delusions and paranoias settled.
I accepted the risk and seeing mum in such distress and angst was horrendous. There was nothing peaceful about her dementia without it.
Mum did become slightly more tired but she was also on morphine

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JenTay

Registered User
Jan 23, 2016
9
0
My hubby has Lewy Body Dementia and was given Risperadone at first but it just made him more agitated and aggressive. I stopped the medication myself and informed the Mental Health Nurse, the Psychiatrist came out to see him and changed his meds to Quitiapine and this has made a big difference in his moods. He also has some patches for memory problems but we went through hell with him at first as he was trying to smash the front door and windows thinking the house was on fire and there was fumes in the house.
 

marmarlade

Registered User
Jan 26, 2015
183
0
risperidone

my hubby was put on this and in two days he couldnt stand, hold his head up.get out of the chair ,all he kept saying was he was going to die,and I really thought he was.I told the care home he was not to have any more of this tablet,and I would take full responabilty for stopping this drug.I spoke to the Doctor and told him the same he was not having this drug, two days later he was much better, just dont give in to what they say.hubby has moved care homes now and this care home does not give him this drug and things are back to his normal self
 

LadyA

Registered User
Oct 19, 2009
13,730
0
Ireland
my hubby was put on this and in two days he couldnt stand, hold his head up.get out of the chair ,all he kept saying was he was going to die,and I really thought he was.I told the care home he was not to have any more of this tablet,and I would take full responabilty for stopping this drug.I spoke to the Doctor and told him the same he was not having this drug, two days later he was much better, just dont give in to what they say.hubby has moved care homes now and this care home does not give him this drug and things are back to his normal self
This is exactly why it needs to be closely monitored and reviewed. William was monitored by the consultant, initially every week, and gradually reviews were stretched to every six-eight weeks. These medications, as marmalade has pointed out, don't suit everyone. When they are needed, and suit the person, they can be a game changer. Marmalade's husband unfortunately, suffered side effects from it. My husband, thankfully, in over four years on quite a high dose, never showed any side effects - it didn't even make him drowsy! All it did was switch off his paranoia and hallucinations, and enabled me to care for him at home for nearly three more years.
 

shark2

Registered User
Aug 22, 2012
136
0
n ireland
Many thanks for all the replies. The staff phoned the doc so she's not to have it for 5 days to get it out of her system and then they've to start over again with 0.5 mg. Hopefully that will help. All I wanted was something to calm her down a bit, not totally sedate her.

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Jon29

Registered User
Sep 2, 2015
20
0
My wife is on this. 0.5 twice a day for paranoia. It did the job, but not fully. 1 mg twice a day a paranoia has gone.
As she constantly pacing, won't even sit down for a single course at meal times were dropping it back to 0.5 twice a day and see if it reduces the pacing and unsettled state.
As others have said, clearly each use and each dose needs to be carefully tailored to the individual.

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LadyA

Registered User
Oct 19, 2009
13,730
0
Ireland
My wife is on this. 0.5 twice a day for paranoia. It did the job, but not fully. 1 mg twice a day a paranoia has gone.
As she constantly pacing, won't even sit down for a single course at meal times were dropping it back to 0.5 twice a day and see if it reduces the pacing and unsettled state.
As others have said, clearly each use and each dose needs to be carefully tailored to the individual.

Sent from my SM-G920F using Talking Point mobile app

My husband was on trazadone as well as the risperidone - the trazadone was for his extreme agitation. It helped a lot. He still walked around a lot - but he didn't leave our property, trying to get away! He just pottered about, walking around the garden. And he would sit and watch a dvd in the evenings.
 

Jon29

Registered User
Sep 2, 2015
20
0
My husband was on trazadone as well as the risperidone - the trazadone was for his extreme agitation. It helped a lot. He still walked around a lot - but he didn't leave our property, trying to get away! He just pottered about, walking around the garden. And he would sit and watch a dvd in the evenings.
She's on that too!