Respiridone

[jilljay]

My husband has Vascular dementia and because he can be very agitated and is always delusional and has hallucinations he has been prescribed Respiridone.( very small dosage)Sorry if it is the wrong spelling.Can anyone tell me how soon any improvement will be? Have been told that he shouldnt come home because of his dementia and should go into residential care. I certainly cant handle him at the moment. Am very worried and only have a tiny family that help as little as possible. I would appreciate any info out there.

Jeanette.

 

[stanleypj]

Sorry, Jeanette, I have no direct experience but I'm sure others will help.

If you go to the Society's home page and put risperidone in the search box you'll be able to find out more perhaps.

 

[jaymor]

My husband was on this medication for a while some years ago. In the back of my mind I think this was a drug his doctor said he would rather give for a short period of time only. I might be wrong as there were so many different medications have been given over the years.

Jay

 

[Onlyme]

Mum was reviewed every 3 months while on it which was for about 18 months.

 

[jilljay]

thanks for your answers but

Thanks for your answers, but( from the carers who have used it) I would like to know if /when you saw an improvement? A week ,two weeks? etc.

Jeanette.

 

[Brogues]

My mum was put on it in her nursing home a few months ago, without our knowladge - it made her drowsey and slurred her speach. She is now no longer screaming and hitting people, but has gained over a stone in wieght due to being slumped in a chair all day

I want it removing but the home are reluctant as they thinks he will return to her "troublesome" self

As I understand it this shouldn't be a long term drug, but I'm not feeling overly confident they are apparently taking blood levels to check how much she has in her system - on and apparently its risky too

Sorry to be so negative about it but I'm not seeing it give my mum a great improvement in her quality of life - it's just making the home find her "easier" to handle

** just to add i ws told about two weeks to get to a theraputic dose** Inoticed something was wrong and questioned the home her speach was so bad i thought she may have had a stroke!

 

[LeviB]

Rispiridone

Hi, my nan has just recently in the past week and half been placed on this drug as well as lorazepam to control her behaviour. Same as your husband she was very agitated and aggressive with quite bad hallucinations. We was told the tablet should take 3-4 days to start working but can take upto 2 weeks. In her it took just over a week. She is now quite calm but is very drowsy and speech sometime slurred.
We was informed at start that this was not a long term solution as there is a high risk of strokes because of this medication.

Gd luck with everything!!

 

[jilljay]

Thank you Brogues and LeviB

Thank you for your answers Brogues and LeviB.My husband is on the smallest dose at the moment so will watch him very carefully when I visit. Am now interested in the Lorazepam too.Why was your relative prescribed that LeviB? Such a huge worry trying to do the right thing for them when there are serious side effects too.
Thanks once again.

Jeanette.

 

[Ann Mac]

Hi Jilljay,

Mil was suffering with really severe sundowning, including aggressive verbal outbursts, trying to 'run', paranoia, delusions and very frightening hallucinations. The respiridone was prescribed after her old GP saw her at her worst and spoke to the CPN - the view was that she was at much at risk from the effects of sundowning, both in terms of the stress affecting her heart and breathing, and in terms of the danger she could put herself in, as she was from any potential side effects of the drug - and I agree.

It kicked in within a couple of days, and though it didn't stop sundowning, it very much 'muted' the effects. The first 2 weeks, she tended to be more sleepy and sluggish, but that eased off. Lately, the sundowning has got worse again, but still, nowhere near the previous level. She has been on the medication since December, its been regularly monitored, and any indication that developing symptoms could be as a result of the drug have resulted in extensive and thorough investigation - so far, it hasn't been found to have caused any problems.

I hope this helps x

 

[jilljay]

Thank you Ann Mac

That is very useful info Ann Mac. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to answer me. My husband didn't know his son or daughter today and said I was the window cleaner. He has also become doubly incontinent. The staff are now blaming the drug and he is seeing a doc ASAP. Will let you know the outcome.
Thanks once again.

Jeanette.

 

[Ann Mac]

That is very useful info Ann Mac. Thank you for taking the time and trouble to answer me. My husband didn't know his son or daughter today and said I was the window cleaner. He has also become doubly incontinent. The staff are now blaming the drug and he is seeing a doc ASAP. Will let you know the outcome.
Thanks once again.

Jeanette.

Your welcome - I hope that they can get to the bottom of your husbands new symptoms soon.

I managed to miss you asking about lorazepan in your earlier post - sorry - but I thought I'd let you know that Mil has been prescribed that on a prn basis for any occasion when the sundowning is especially bad. I felt that even though we resort to it on very few occasions (8 doses only since December, though she can be given up to 3 doses a day, of .5 mg) that it quickly stopped having much of an effect. The CPN suggested giving her .10 mg in one dose, and yesterday we had to do that, as she was very paranoid, delusional and getting increasingly verbally aggressive, and it seemed to work fairly quickly - I'm worried about what happens if she 'gets use' to the new dose as quickly, though

Ann x

 

[FifiMo]

Hiya Jeanette,

This was the miracle drug for us as my mother had spent a long time being angry and agitated and hallucinating etc. From our perspective anything that helped alleviate her distress was something worth trying. In her case within a month, lets say, they had started her on the drug and then over time had adjusted it to almost taylor it to her specific needs. They tweaked the dose, they changed the timing of when it was given too. This was because they wanted it to have it's effect so that she could have as normal a day as possible. So, if for example, she got sleepy after having the drug, they changed it so they gave it to her in the evening and this meant she was getting a decent night's sleep. One thing that we did notice was that, whilst there was a vast improvement in her distress and agitation and hallucinations etc., there was also a slight change in her speech. Having said that, it was such a relief to see her calm and contented and smiling that if a deterioration in speech was the price to pay to achieve this, then it was worth it from where we were standing. She was still able to communicate (loudly at times LOL) it was just that her speech was slower and disjointed at times. Overall, we had a positive experience with this drug. This was never about us as a family trying to find a chemical cosh for our mother. This was all about trying to alleviate the out of character behaviours and symptoms that mum was having to go through on a daily basis. She went from being a hyper agitated angry individual to a happy smiling contented little old lady who absolutely loved her life in her care home. From that point of view we couldn't ask for more.

Risperidone may not be the drug that delivers the results for your husband but at least you have tried and there will be something out there that alleviates his suffering. It is a case of working with the medical folks to find out what works best for him.

Fiona

 

[Rheme]

Hi

I agree with Fifimo and my mum has been on Risperidone for about 12 years now. They did try to change her to another one as Risperidone carries the risk of stokes however the consequences of the change were far worse and we in conjuction with the consultants switched her back.

Her dose has been adjusted over the years according to her needs and she is a much happier and calmer person because of it.

This drug may not suit everyone however in my mum's case it has been the right one.

 

[jilljay]

Thanks Fifimo and Reme

Thanks for your time and trouble posting Fifimo and Reme.am taking all that is said on board and hope to talk to the profs today.they seem to think the drug is making him a lot worse,but he has only been on the smallest dose since last Thursday night.It has stopped the severe agitation we saw but the staff said he is still agitated and much more. Seem in such a fog at the moment.Will update when I can.

Must thank you all again for your posts.They really are appreciated.

Jeanette.

 

[jilljay]

Update on Rispiridone.

My husband has had Rispiridone stopped. The staff thought it was making him worse,and in one respect it was.He seemed unable to sit and was walking even worse than before,but it did seem to control the bad side of his agitation and though still deluded and hallucinating, did see a minor improvement there too.Am now waiting for a proper assessment bed for him ASAP in a specialist hospital. Apparently nothing will happen on a weekend nor Bank holiday.The time we spend with him seems to get less and less because of his behaviour and cant imagine what the future will hold for all of us.

Jeanette.

 

[LadyA]

Hopefully, they will find something else that will help. I have to say, the first medication they tried for my husband's agitation and extreme psychotic delusions, hallucinations & paranoia (Seroquel) didn't have much affect on him, but the Risperidone was like a miracle! It was as if someone had turned a switch off in him! He's been on it now for 3 years, and it's meant he's been able to be at home that much longer - I'm only now looking at arranging full time care for him. Thankfully, he didn't suffer side affects from the drug either - no slurring of speech, no drowsiness (I should have been so lucky! There are nights still when he's up 5 or 6 times!) and his mobility hasn't been compromised at all. He's in the later stage of the disease now, and still mobile.

 

[jilljay]

Thanks for your support and answer Lady A

Thanks for your support and answer Lady A. We are waiting for another assessment and hope they will find a drug that helps. We are also waiting for a suitable placement for him too. Unfortunately I really couldn't manage him at home much as I would like to.At the moment he is hallucinating (and deluded)about 'everything' and often says he has been repairing cars in his room.He also keeps saying he has to go to the hole in the wall to pay money he owes the staff (he doesn't of course)!!! He was in the motor trade for years and tight with his money too. His Vascular dementia was manageable for quite a long time but now sadly a great deal worse. Just waiting for the Powers that be to act now!!!

Thanks once again.

Jeanette.

 

[J. Berg]

My husband has Vascular dementia and because he can be very agitated and is always delusional and has hallucinations he has been prescribed Respiridone.( very small dosage)Sorry if it is the wrong spelling.Can anyone tell me how soon any improvement will be? Have been told that he shouldnt come home because of his dementia and should go into residential care. I certainly cant handle him at the moment. Am very worried and only have a tiny family that help as little as possible. I would appreciate any info out there.

Jeanette.

My husband lives with me and he was put on it a few days ago. He’s like a zombie until about 6 pm. He was on 0.5 mg but I put him down to 0.25 and he is much calmer and aware.

 

[nellbelles]

Hello @J. Berg and a warm welcome to DTP
I just wanted to point out that your post is in reply to an old post from 2014 and you may not get a response...
I hope now you have found the forum you will continue to post it’s an informative and friendly forum