Risperidone and Brain Fog: What Users Say

• orc...
• October 26, 2019

Risperidone for Autism "I was given this horrific drug, Risperdal, at 14 years old because my anger was out of control. I had an eating disorder and gained over 20 pounds in 2 or 3 weeks despite starving myself. The weight kept piling on. I was very uncomfortable and couldn't get used to it. It makes me angry that mentally ill people are expected to just live with the uncontrollable weight gain for the sake of mental health. I felt like I was constantly in a fog. I could barely understand or react to anything anyone was saying, I had uncontrollable jerky tics. My night terrors got way worse. I fought my parents tooth and nail to get off this drug. They tried to hide it in my food and drinks, but I saw pieces and grinds of it every time. After a few weeks, I stopped taking it. I found out later the tics and movement problems can be permanent if you stay on these types of drugs for long. I'm not sure how long though. Doctors kept trying to push anti-psychotics on me, and I flat-out refused."

• LSa...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• August 16, 2019

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "Risperdal was the first medication I ever tried for my bipolar type one, and it was awful. They started me out on 8 mg, which is unusually high, it kept me from being manic or depressed, but also completely stopped me from being able to feel any emotion. I was a zombie. I honestly felt like if my best friend died, I'd feel absolutely nothing, it was that bad. Would not recommend. My current psychiatrist also says she hates Risperdal, if that helps any."

• Miu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 16, 2020

For Depression "I used to take risperidone when I was in middle school because I was forced. I didn't remember how it made me feel. I took Citalopram with it, so it probably overpowered it. After getting off risperidone when I was 13, I'm now 23, and I am only taking 1 mg of it. After reading more about it, I can see I was misdiagnosed, and the medicine is making me feel extremely numb and anxious. I have a hard time focusing, my memory is foggy, my stomach has had a nervous pit feeling, and I've had slight nausea. I don't recommend this drug if you do not have bipolar or psychotic tendencies. I feel like a shell of my former self. No sex drive, no emotions besides overwhelmed feelings of doom and paranoia. This is a nightmare, and I can feel myself slipping. Be wary of this drug!!"

• Miu...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• December 16, 2020

For Depression "I used to take risperidone when I was in middle school because I was forced. I didn't remember how it made me feel. I took Citalopram with it, so it probably overpowered it. After getting off risperidone when I was 13, I'm now 23, and I am only taking 1 mg of it. After reading more about it, I can see I was misdiagnosed, and the medicine is making me feel extremely numb and anxious. I have a hard time focusing, my memory is foggy, my stomach has had a nervous pit feeling, and I've had slight nausea. I don't recommend this drug if you do not have bipolar or psychotic tendencies. I feel like a shell of my former self. No sex drive, no emotions besides overwhelmed feelings of doom and paranoia. This is a nightmare, and I can feel myself slipping. Be wary of this drug!!"

• ano...
• August 5, 2015

For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "It has significantly reduced anxiety, panic attacks, and flashback symptoms. It has also made it possible for me to try and work on the causes without being completely overwhelmed all the time. When I first started it, and also when I increased my dosage, I slept about 18 hours a day for a week and a half, but after that, my sleep went back to normal, 8 hours or so, and I stopped feeling exhausted all the time."

• Poo...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 28, 2019

Risperidone for Schizoaffective Disorder "This drug is very bad and not helpful. Still hallucinated on it. Blurry vision, restlessness, does not make you tired, brain pain, motor control malfunctioning, difficulty thinking on it, lack of emotion on it. Please don't take this 'medicine.' Very bad. Does not work."

• Tir...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 24, 2016

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "After going through my third manic episode, I was prescribed 6 mg of Risperdal, which immediately made me feel like an absolute zombie. I couldn't think clearly, was extremely tired all of the time, and was unhappy. Through the course of about 4 months, my dosage is now 1 mg, and I don't feel the severe side effects. Good medicine in controlling the mania, but in high dosages, will make you feel like a zombie."

• rub...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 18, 2012

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "I'm a social drinker, and after 3 months of taking Risperdal, I can't get a buzz or even drunk. Viagra doesn't work either. It's like it took the pleasure out of my system, but now my libido is coming back after a couple of months. I had the doctor change my medicines. Hopefully, the new ones do a better job with my pleasure. In month 2, I was zombie-like, but now I'm almost back to normal."

• Tha...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• January 7, 2019

For Depression "Was on Risperdal 0.5 mg for 1 month and 1 mg for 2 months. I was told to stop cold turkey on 11-16-2018 because it didn’t seem to help with the depression. It was prescribed as an add-on therapy to Wellbutrin. 2 days later, I started having severe anxiety and panic attacks. I mean SEVERE. I had not had anxiety before this! Now, January 2019, I am still having these effects and am on benzodiazepines for the anxiety. No help PLUS they make me feel like a zombie. DO NOT TAKE RISPERIDONE!"

• Ano...
• October 20, 2016

Risperidone for Schizophrenia "I started risperidone after my last hospitalization for PTSD with psychosis. Before risperidone, I suffered from insomnia, nightmares, and paranoia that led me to a full-blown psychotic state. I now live a more normal life with few symptoms. I take risperidone with sertraline and clonazepam at night, then pass out for about 10 hours. I suffer from mental fog and lack of emotion on the drug. I don't fully wake up until about 4 pm after my afternoon nap. It has also caused my periods to stop and enlarged breasts that leak once I upped to 2 mg. Going to try ziprasidone next to see if I can have a better quality of life."

• Abb...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• April 5, 2021

For Schizophrenia "I used to have delusions and severe paranoia. This medicine actually worked like magic, as both delusions and paranoia were now gone. However, I have gained weight (about 16 kg) within a year of usage, cannot concentrate and think clearly, have a foggy memory, and sometimes cannot visually focus on things! These factors gave me bad headaches, and they were severe during the first three months. Now it has been a year, and my body is starting to adapt to the medicine. The headaches are almost gone and do not happen as frequently as before. I also have become emotionless, as nothing excites me anymore."

• Sna...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• October 7, 2020

Risperidone for Asperger Syndrome "Risperdal made me gain 40 pounds in less than 3 months. It also somehow caused a psychotic episode when I first started it. I was prescribed for irritability in autism, not psychosis/schizophrenia. It was one of the scariest experiences of my life. I suffered through depersonalization, paranoia, and unshakeable beliefs for a couple of weeks. I also had movement issues and brain fog. I switched to another antipsychotic and lost the weight, but the effects following the psychotic episode lingered for 6-8 weeks."

• Anonymous
• April 18, 2012

For Post Traumatic Stress Disorder "My 12-year-old son was placed on this medication, 0.5 mg at night, and later we added 0.5 mg in the morning. After 5 months on the medication, he had gained a lot of weight. He had always been physically fit and active. The medication flattened his mood, he lost interest in activities, and it did not help his rages. We stopped the medication, and now a month later, we have our son's spark back. He is happier and more active. At some point, his post-traumatic stress disorder/anxiety will trigger, and we will have another rage, but in the meantime, we have a much happier, loving child. The only downside of quitting Risperdal is his lack of focus for schoolwork."

• rus...
• February 10, 2021

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "Terrible choice by my PA to put me on this stuff. I was only on 0.25 mg, and the first day I was on it, I had to leave work early because I was so confused, felt drained, exhausted. Sleep was absolutely horrible. Couldn't stay asleep. It only got worse as the first full week I was on it, I had zero focus, energy, felt confused at work. I missed the better part of two days of going to work. Went that same Friday, and my PA took me off of it and put me back on a lower dose of Latuda, and I've never felt better."

• The...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• October 22, 2013

For Bipolar Disorder "I find Risperidone (2 mg at night) very agreeable and experience no side effects at all. I have been on many meds for bipolar and experienced drowsiness and fogginess on most of them, but with Risperidone, it's almost as if I am taking nothing at all. There might be some slight weight gain, but I started gaining weight when I was previously on Chlorpromazine, so I can't be sure. I am also on 500 mg lithium, half in the morning and half at night. I have been taking Risperidone for the past 6 months, and I hope it prevents relapse, which I have been having almost every two years in the past."

• Lik...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• August 9, 2016

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Drug worked getting rid of psychosis, but made it hard to think or function. I was sectioned for two months for severe psychosis, was put on it for 2 years. Have now been off it for 3 years and no signs of psychosis since leaving the hospital, so almost stable for 5 years, so I would have to say it was a success. However, could not function fully until I came off it due to the severe brain fog it causes."

• Ell...
• January 17, 2018

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "I was hospitalized for major depressive disorder and placed on risperidone 1 mg and Celexa to combat depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. My feelings are that risperidone made me feel like a zombie, caused my thinking to be slower and less clear. I put on 50 pounds in the course of 20 months on this medication, and that is even with regular exercise. So I do not think risperidone is worth the terrible side effects that it brings. I am now on Zoloft and coming off risperidone completely."

• Ell...
• January 17, 2018

Risperidone for Bipolar Disorder "I was hospitalized for major depressive disorder and placed on risperidone 1 mg and Celexa to combat depression, anxiety, and suicidal thoughts. My feelings are that risperidone made me feel like a zombie, caused my thinking to be slower and less clear. I put on 50 pounds in the course of 20 months on this medication, and that is even with regular exercise. So I do not think risperidone is worth the terrible side effects that it brings. I am now on Zoloft and coming off risperidone completely."

• Min...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• October 31, 2019

For Bipolar Disorder "Within 5 days of taking this medication, I was already gaining so much weight. You'll always feel fatigued, tired, and sleepy, slow thinking/processing thoughts. Your body is suppressed depending on dosage, it slows levels of activity and energy."

• csh...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• August 24, 2020

For Schizophrenia "The drug risperidone treated my delusions and hallucinations well, however, the side effects are awful. My cognitive thoughts were impaired, making it hard to read and think straight (which can be induced by schizophrenia itself). It made me VERY constipated, where I'd have to take Miralax almost every day to have a normal bowel movement. It caused me to have blurry vision and made it harder for my eyes to focus on something. As a male, it caused me to grow breasts and lactate. I'm not fond of the side effects, but the drug did work well on treating my schizophrenia."

• Anonymous
• March 21, 2022

For Tic Disorder "I was prescribed risperidone about a year ago. I took it for around 6 months. It didn’t help with my tics all that much, but it basically made me a zombie. I didn’t feel emotions really and couldn’t cry, it was just very numbing. It was actually scary. I took myself off of it cold turkey (don’t recommend), and then ended up going through a manic episode. It could work for you, but for me, it didn’t really."

• Mat...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• October 13, 2021

For Schizophrenia "Well, my experience with risperidone has not been quite great, in fact, it's made life lifeless. I can't really feel my emotions right. My drive for doing basic things, like taking care of myself, is gone, and so is my sex drive. I am having a lot of trouble concentrating and thinking with this crazy mind fog that won't go away. I have to pee all the time now, and my #2 work is always so hard now. It is either most of the time constipation, or sometimes a runny explosion, never just normal stools anymore. When I eat, I sometimes feel like choking, so when that happens, I have to swallow another way. My vision is getting so blurry as well. I don't like going out, and I don't like phones now, too. Talking to people became really hard, too. A lot of the time, when I try to think of anything, it all comes out foggy, or I simply can't think a single thing, before, I never had this problem. I know this is used for some people who might actually need it, but I was misdiagnosed, I think, personally. I had a 'minor manic episode,' stress-induced."

• jij...
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 8, 2022

For Schizoaffective Disorder "Absolutely terrible experience with Risperidone! I haven't had a period since right after birth when I only spotted a little bit (June 2020). I have still not had a period. I also still have breast milk and have had it since I was pregnant from 2019 to 2020. I thought the lack of periods was from a birth control implant. Risperidone has also caused terrible premenopausal symptoms at age 29. I have about 30 hot flashes for 30 minutes a day, mood swings, mental fogginess, sleep problems, vaginal/bladder infections, no sex drive. They started around the time I had my birth control implant removed in March earlier this year. I have been on Risperidone the whole time this has been happening (for about 2 years now). When an MRI told us I did not have a type of tumor in my pituitary gland (which is usually the cause of increased prolactin levels), my psychiatrist had a realization that it was my Risperidone, and we began a 3-week taper plan. I am starting week 2 of my taper now."

• Kan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 5, 2021

For Anxiety "0.5 mg of risperidone and 5 mg of Lexapro have been neutral so far: within the past week, I have felt a good bit of brain fog along with very slow thinking patterns. I sometimes forget to eat or drink liquids because my brain feels so relaxed sometimes, which is concerning. No weight gain noticed so far, has stayed pretty much the same, my sugar binging has stopped, which is a benefit. The only thing that concerns me is the massive brain fog I have and sudden memory loss or 'blackouts' where I forget where I am or what's going on. I'm not even in my 20s yet, so that's not normal for me even when I'm not on medication. Pros: sudden memory recollections and remembering random things, calm and outgoing now, can talk to people, no weight gain so far. Cons: heavy memory fog and brain fog interfere with my job and life, slow thinking at work and at home, short-term memory loss, lack of appetite, too relaxed, possible serotonin syndrome, mild diarrhea."

• Kan...
• Taken for less than 1 month
• May 5, 2021

For Anxiety "0.5 mg of risperidone and 5 mg of Lexapro have been neutral so far: within the past week, I have felt a good bit of brain fog along with very slow thinking patterns. I sometimes forget to eat or drink liquids because my brain feels so relaxed sometimes, which is concerning. No weight gain noticed so far, has stayed pretty much the same, my sugar binging has stopped, which is a benefit. The only thing that concerns me is the massive brain fog I have and sudden memory loss or 'blackouts' where I forget where I am or what's going on. I'm not even in my 20s yet, so that's not normal for me even when I'm not on medication. Pros: sudden memory recollections and remembering random things, calm and outgoing now, can talk to people, no weight gain so far. Cons: heavy memory fog and brain fog interfere with my job and life, slow thinking at work and at home, short-term memory loss, lack of appetite, too relaxed, possible serotonin syndrome, mild diarrhea."