Hello, my dad was on a low dose of risperidone for aggression, and I think his mood improved slightly and we didn’t notice any side effects, but he was taken off them after a few months because they said they were not a long term drug. Gradually his aggression got worse and as he seemed ok on it before he was put on it again but it didn’t really help so his dose was doubled and within days he had an increasingly bad reaction to them; starting with his head stooped and neck pain, then severe legs cramps, and he was unable to walk, profuse sweating. His reaction was so severe that they were stopped and the change was so incredible, that we realised he must have been having a reaction to them on the low dose but we thought it was his general deterioration. He was put on memantine, which did help for about a year but his erratic and aggressive moods returned to the point he ended up in a psychiatric hospital and was commenced on olanzapine, which improved his mood no end but the deterioration in him was awful - he was definitely sensitive to anti psychotic medication but we had no say in having his meds reduced. He went from an upright man who could walk miles to a shuffling stooped, drugged up 70 year old who became incontinent and couldn’t feed himself within days. He also used to do a strange thing where he would just sit himself down on the floor whilst walking for no reason and could then not get himself up despite being strong enough he just couldn’t coordinate himself.
I do know this is only my dad’s story and these drugs do work well for others, but whilst visiting my dad in psychiatric hospital I couldn’t help but notice most of the patients came in walking and talking and within days were shuffling around stooped or sleeping a lot, so I’m guessing most of them were put on similar meds.
His improved mood did enable us to get dad in a home and gradually we got him weened of the olanzapine, but only after 2 years when his condition had vastly deteriorated.
Sorry my experience is a bit bleak, maybe you will have better luck, but it’s always good to familiarise yourself with the possible side effects because they are reversible if detected early enough and doses reduced or stopped.
Best wishes x