Risperdal and Drowsiness: What Users Say

• Anonymous
• June 16, 2009

For Schizophrenia "I used to hear voices on a daily basis, especially when I was near a fan or running water. The noise turned into words. Since I have been on Risperdal, I have had a significant decrease in the voices to where they are almost gone. If I don't get any sleep or I am really stressed out, the voices come back, so I try to get plenty of sleep and avoid stressful situations. I give Risperdal an A. The first week on Risperdal, I was extremely sleepy. It was really hard to wake up, but now I am fine, and my body has adapted to the medication. You should try it. The peace of mind I get from Risperdal is priceless. I used to think my thoughts were being broadcast out loud, and now my own thoughts are much quieter."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 11, 2012

For Bipolar Disorder "I feel calm all of the time. With the exception of some grave disaster, nothing gets me down. I feel normal for the first time. I haven't gained any weight either. Sometimes I do get the munchies. When this happens, I eat a bunch of grapes, celery or fat-free/sugar-free pudding made with fat-free milk. You don't have to gain weight. I gave it a 9 because I don't like how sedating it is."

• awa...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• July 17, 2018

For Schizophrenia "This is a life-destroying drug. I have anger issues, and this drug was mixed in my food by my family. I couldn't read a book, enjoy music, or watch TV. My thought process became impaired. I suffered from the worst kind of akathisia, endlessly walking for seven months and had suicidal thoughts. I became drowsy, lost all motivation, and couldn't care about anything. I was able to come off it after a great struggle and remained drug-free for eleven years and was able to enjoy all the things I couldn't because of this drug. Unfortunately, however, my siblings have again mixed it in my food as I had to stay with them. All the side effects are back, and life feels like a nightmare devoid of purpose again."

• Jel...
• June 8, 2019

For Bipolar Disorder "Have been taking Risperdal for almost a year now. I tried Seroquel before for some months, but it made me super drowsy throughout the day, and I couldn’t function. I take Risperdal for severe depression, mania, and extreme hallucinations. I would see cartoons and things appear before me, hear voices/sounds in my ears, or feel things on me (someone patting my back or grabbing my legs when I’m alone in the room). I started off taking 0.5 mg once a day, then upped it to 1 mg. Was on 1 mg for a while. It worked well for me. I stopped seeing hallucinations, and for the most part, my mania and depression have lessened or gone away. I woke up every day feeling refreshed. Even my period cramps were usually less painful than before. Everything would go downhill when I decided to stop the medication, all the symptoms would come back quickly and badly. I didn’t gain significant weight from the meds, and I’ve had moderate acne. Seems like it’s going to be really hard to leave this medication."

• sad...
• July 3, 2019

For Bipolar Disorder "I've been taking this medication for about 9 months, and I completely lost myself. I gained 40 lbs. I feel unmotivated all the time. I feel sedated, it is not me anymore. I am a perfectionist, and Risperdal is definitely the deadliest medication ever for me. I hate taking it, but I have no other choice. If another medication works for you, just stay away from Risperdal, it is awful."

• Inv...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• December 19, 2015

For Bipolar Disorder "It's helped my paranoia, delusions, irrational thoughts, and impulses to self-injure and commit suicide more than anything else. Also helps control the hypomania because I'm not on a mood stabilizer. It just also makes me extremely tired and sedated, and I'm constantly hungry and have gained a lot of weight on it. I've fluctuated in my dosage from 3 milligrams to as low as 0.5. Currently taking 2 to 2.5 right now."

• Gas...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• May 20, 2017

For Bipolar Disorder "I'm not actually bipolar, I take it as an add-on to an SSRI for OCD, General Anxiety Disorder, and depression, but that wasn't in the categories offered. It works wonderfully for this for me. My OCD is very much under control taking this in conjunction with Prozac-there are so many things I just could not do and was so afraid of because of the OCD before getting on Prozac, and I could do even more after adding Risperdal to it. I take 2 mg, but I usually take it a few hours before bedtime because it does make me drowsy. I haven't gained weight from it and really haven't had any side effects."

• Eli...
• May 15, 2018

For Schizophrenia "I was forced into a Canadian mental hospital in the late '90s when I was 13 years old (I'm male, by the way). They woke me up in bed and gave me a cup with pills and told me it was to help me with sleep. It was later on that they told me that the pills were Risperdal. When I was on Risperdal, I gained a lot of weight and was drowsy. I even developed minor gynecomastia that still remained 3 years later. I'm in my 30s now, and the gynecomastia surgery isn't covered by any insurance companies. What was covered was the ultrasound and mammogram. I don't have the money to pay for the glandular breast tissue removal surgery. People notice my male breast growth and tell me that I have breasts. My doctor says my gynecomastia is noticeable when I take my shirt off. People who know me notice breast growth through my T-shirt. Can the Canadian Government cover the cost of breast removal surgery if I am required to take antipsychotics that have side effects that grow breasts?"

• Kat...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 26, 2018

"I was prescribed risperidone for anxiety because all the other medications I tried weren't working or had bad side effects. I take a low dose of risperidone, about 1 mg a day. It's the best medication I've ever taken for both anxiety, and I find it also helps my depression a lot as well. It makes me feel more motivated and can get through most of the feelings that I was struggling with every day. The only side effect I've noticed with the dose I take is a bit of drowsiness, but I usually take caffeine in the morning, and it helps as far as that. Other than that, it works really well for me."

• Jai...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 8, 2020

For Bipolar Disorder "I haven't experienced serious side effects, only blurred vision and drowsiness. I have been taking the meds for 1 month now. So far, so good. I was prescribed this medication after 2 manic episodes I had that were practically back to back (after 3 weeks)."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 10 years or more
• January 2, 2022

For Bipolar Disorder "I’ve been taking Risperdal for 10+ years. I got diagnosed bipolar after 9 years. Before that, doctors were unable to give me a diagnosis because my symptoms are atypical. I suffered from psychosis and emotional instability. I was given a dose of 6 mg in the beginning, and it stopped the paranoia. I had a lot of side effects like sleepiness, flat affects, lactation, anorgasmia, weight gain, blurry vision, greasy skin, greasy hair. My dose went down to 2 mg, and it stopped the side effects, but I was still emotionally unstable, however, no delusions. After 9 years, I received Lamictal, and I felt a lot better, the depressions stopped, however, I started having psychoses again, and the Risperdal went to 3 mg, then 4 mg. I’m trying another antipsychotic now because of the weight gain. Over the years, I gained 40 lbs, especially when my dose went up."

• Jes...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 20, 2018

For Schizophrenia "This drug did not react well with my body chemistry, but I didn't have any delusions on it or for 4 years afterward. I gained over 120 lbs in a year and a few months on it. I slept about 14 hours a day. It made me apathetic, not a normal trait for me. I just didn't care about things. I stopped having my period and developed a lot of symptoms of metabolic syndrome. Oh, I had major carb cravings, like for fast food pizza, that I never usually have. I didn't feel like myself. I have been diagnosed with different things but believe I have major depression with psychotic features."

• Ash...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 6, 2018

For Schizophrenia "I find it helps in terms of what I wanted with the voices and all, but the side effects make me very drowsy and tired, and I can barely muster the energy to do anything in my day. My mood's been pretty low or up and down too. I find myself to still have a slight paranoia of others. Even when I first started the meds, the first few times I believed I was being poisoned, but I usually felt like everyone offering me drinks or food was trying to harm me, so not really anything new there. That part has calmed down a fair bit. I hope one day they can find a way to completely rid me of this so I don't have to rely on medications all the time, because I sometimes forget to take them or I can't find them on occasion. I'm glad I'm back on them, though, after I was initially told by the mental hospital that I'm not to have them anymore, which mucked me up. I hope I'm not forced to stop again, because this is honestly my peace."

• Dav...
• June 18, 2017

For Bipolar Disorder "I have been taking this medication for about a year. I started off with 0.5 mg. I was still having some evening anxiety, so I asked to be moved to a 1 mg dosage. I still had occasional anxiety in the evenings, so I asked to be moved to a 1-2 mg dosage. I find that moving up to a 2 mg dosage causes me some drowsy issues, and I am currently tweaking it to where I need it. My anxiety is like nothing I have ever seen or heard anyone experience. I know there are other people out there that have the same issues. I think it helps stabilize my highs and lows. I am more a bipolar type 2 person, which means my depressions are slight and my hypo-mania is somewhat great because I feel I can take on the world."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• August 26, 2018

For Bipolar Disorder "At the beginning of taking this medication, I was on 0.5 mg twice a day. Now my doctor upped it to 1.0 mg twice a day...and boy, do I feel drowsy all day long! I even took a pregnancy test because I was so tired. But no, it's the increase in the dosage. If I didn't have 2 young children dependent on me, I would have never gotten out of bed since yesterday. I feel that exhausted. I will go back to the doctor ASAP, I can't walk around like a zombie. I don't know what feeling is worse."

• COC...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• January 18, 2019

For Schizophrenia "My husband was just prescribed this, however, he is already drowsy, unmotivated, and gaining weight. I am looking for a better option for someone who has been hearing many voices for years. Please help."

• DJe...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 25, 2018

For Bipolar Disorder "I've been on this med for almost two months. I started on a low dose, but lately I have had to increase the dose to get the most benefits from it. Initially, it will make me tired, but my acute mania would return after a couple of weeks. Been on 4 mg for 3 weeks, but have noticed that weight gain has been an issue for me, but I'll just have to watch what I eat and exercise more. Currently jumped to 5 mg and willing to give it a try. Not too many side effects, like somnolence, anxiety, and fatigue, which go away within two weeks. However, I take other meds, so I'm trying to figure out if I need a mood stabilizer or other meds that I'm taking. Just want to feel better and finish my degree as an adult student without the excessive tiredness. But I've been on Seroquel before, but I got type 2 diabetes from it. For restlessness, I take Cogentin and it works great."

• jim...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 4, 2023

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Risperdal helps me the most out of all the medications I tried. Invega was a nightmare for me and made me feel constant fear. Risperdal, even though it's incredible for my mood. It makes me sleep a lot, like I can sleep 11 hours and still wake up tired."