Risperidone for Schizoaffective Disorder User Reviews

• anote...
• June 14, 2013

Risperdal (risperidone) "Risperdal is my miracle. I put on about 30 pounds in the course of 18 months but that is nothing as to the improvement it has made on my mental well being. Gone are the sleepless nights staring at the ceiling, delusions of grandeur, and being overly worried about life's ups and downs. The psychosis has diminished to the point where I no longer need medication to remain stable. If symptoms ever return, I know this is the medication for me. Also no unpleasant side effects from coming off it."

• Anonymous
• February 19, 2014

Risperdal (risperidone) "I first went on this medication in March of 2013 and almost a year later, I've had to adjust it 3 times, going up to 4 finally. When I first started, I was sent into a manic like state for several hours, but after about a week, I started to sleep more than I ever did. I usually only got about 3 hours of sleep each and every night, starting from when I was 12 and up until I started Risperidone, which is when I was 18. It has helped with every single thing that was wrong with me, the delusions, hallucinations, dissociation, and homicidal feelings. I would definitely suggest trying this if you haven't yet. It worked wonders with me."

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

Risperdal (risperidone) "Hello 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."

• 8BitH...
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• December 15, 2017

Risperdal (risperidone) "I've been on this for three years and love it. No delusions, no paranoia. Side effects are non existent for me. No weight gain. I'm never tired. I sleep 6-7 hours of sleep each night and feel fine. Since being on Risperdone I've run two half marathons, work 40 hours per week and haven't had symptoms in over a year."

• Diesel
• Taken for 10 years or more
• September 9, 2020

Risperdal (risperidone) "I take 6 mg of Risperdal at night for Schizoaffective Disorder, However, my mania was getting out of control during the next day; my thinking was very accelerated and euphoric. So I decided to split the dose 3mg/night, and 3mg/day. I got much better results. My manic episodes were stopped on their tracks."

• Metal...
• October 15, 2018

Risperdal (risperidone) "Absolutely horrible drug! I had worsened serious depression and severe akathisia from it. Agitation, irritability anxiety, aggression also came into play. I have tried many antipsychotics on the market and this one is by far the worst (Now on Quitepine and Abilify - much better!). No redeeming qualities whatsoever."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• June 19, 2012

Risperdal (risperidone) "This was clearly not the medicine for me. The sleeping for 2 days once I went on it thing was okay. I needed it. But it made me so hungry that I gained 30 pounds, so tired that When I took this I cared about nothing, so bored and apathetic so quickly that my life felt without meaning. I began lactating 3 weeks in, and I couldn't concentrate on school. If anything, I got more paranoid...no voices, but OCD and paranoia and agitation through the roof. I was on 0.5 mg in the beginning and eventually went up to 3 mg."

• Anony...
• November 2, 2013

Risperdal (risperidone) "I'm talking this after a few antipsychotics didn't work and I was hospitalized a few times for the first time in my life. My bipolar diagnosis changed to Schizoaffective disorder then Schizophrenia. The delusions paranoia was very scary. I was on 2 mg for awhile with Ativan and celexa, and I gained weight over the course of all the medicines, but it needed it, weight gain stopped when I stopped celexa. No paranoia. Now im taking 1 1/2 mg and have less anxiety, on a day I went back to 2 mg I had more. I still have anxiety and will ask my dr to increase my Ativan from 2 back to 3 mg, or lower my risperdal down to 1 mg a I am also on lithium and have hand tremors from that and risperdal, but feel stable it's so worth it. I'm staying on it"

• Ughug...
• March 17, 2016

Risperdal M-Tab (risperidone) "The first time I took risperidone I became extremely drowsy which made me a bit nervous but the drowsiness went away after the first three days. I also had horrendous nightmares so I switched to taking it in the morning and the nightmares went away. On the positive side my auditory and visual hallucinations completely went away immediately which enabled me to make it to therapy more frequently and sleep more often and slowly over years build up a healthy and stabilizing lifestyle. It also helped with increasing my attention and memory. I noticed some weight gain and slightly lower libido. I have taken it regularly for a couple years and weened off it. I have now been off for two and a half years with almost zero returning symptoms."

• katydid
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• February 28, 2014

Risperdal (risperidone) "I was on risperidone for over a year. I suffer from severe manic depressive bipolar disorder with schizoaffective episodes. The medication along with an antidepressant helped with the delusions (visual and auditory). But the weight gain was immense in one year I gained over 60 pounds. I weigh over 300 pounds now and the depression is worse. I have osteoarthritis in both knees that with the weight have been severely debilitating. Preparing meals, doing daily activities are almost impossible. Standing for more than ten minutes is excruciating. I suggest to use caution with the increase in weight this medicine can cause."

• shock
• September 15, 2015

Risperdal (risperidone) "I gained 100 pounds or more . I developed diabetes, and chronic kidney disease. I also could not keep my hands for moving, and at night my feet would twirl. I chose to stop using risperdal and withdrawal was horrible. The medicine did wonders for my mental health, but the side effects was worse than my schizophrenia."

• chill...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• April 28, 2023

"Warning about this drug! After receiving the Depo injection three times, I experienced panic attacks that lasted for eight months. The attacks were so severe that I had to quit school because I couldn't attend with them. Additionally, I still have symptoms of an overactive bladder two and a half years later. I now have to use the bathroom every 30 minutes to two hours, whereas before I could go a full day with only one bathroom visit. It is important to be aware of these potential side effects before considering taking this drug."

• dee-c...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 18, 2012

Risperdal (risperidone) "I was experiencing awful symptoms including visual and auditory hallucinations. I also had problems with "feeling" something crawling all over me. I felt like someone had taken advantage/control over my physical being. I was scared for my life, wondering if my hallucinations were real. Luckily, this medication has cleared these thoughts, and made the hallucinations better, but one moment clearly pointed out to me that the medication hadn't done any harm. I was laying in bed, and I started to laugh uncontrollably because I could actually lay there and listen to the quiet sounds all around me. I wasn't distracted by voices."

• Anonymous
• September 9, 2011

Risperdal (risperidone) "I started taking risperidone when I was 15. It does take away the delusions and mood swings, but it leaves me with anxiety and dulls me out to the point where I don't feel like really socializing at all. I've tried other medicines like Zyprexa and Geodon and they either do the same thing or have another bad effect on me. I'm 20 now and still haven't really found a medicine that works. I think whatever they put in antipsychotics just doesn't agree with me."

• Anonymous
• August 2, 2010

Risperdal (risperidone) "This medicine has been okay for me. It certainly got rid of most of my paranoid thoughts but never got rid of all of them. I still had a lot of them especially present in the night, I'd think there was a serial killer outside watching me or a serial killer in the same room as me or on the chair. It was pretty terrifying. I started Geodon a week ago and those thoughts completely disappeared, I'm very grateful. Risperdal also made me gain a lot of weight every year and made me very hungry even after I just had a meal. I'm 166 lbs and 5'8'. I'm scared of being 200 lbs. I've been on this medicine since I was 14 and severely psychotic and couldn't function at all, so I guess it helped me with that, just made me gain a lot of weight. I'm 22 now."

• Bipolar...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• February 21, 2016

Risperdal (risperidone) "Beware of side effects! This medication caused Sexual side effects. Unless you are a Man who doesn't mind not being able to have ejaculation in the bedroom, don't mind growing breasts when you are a Man!, and don't mind gaining weight, DO NOT TAKE THIS MEDICATION."

• ThisI...
• April 19, 2014

Risperdal (risperidone) "This medication worked wonders for me and I felt quite good on this medication. The problem lies with the side effects. Unbeknownst to me for many months was that it increased my prolactin levels which caused my breasts to grow and menstrual cycle to be off. High prolactin is harmful in the long run and my breasts never returned to their previous size (although maybe some of you ladies would be happy about it. I also gained a few pounds on Risperdal but nothing ridiculous."

• Geo
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 4, 2019

"OMGoodness, terrible drug, fine for the first 6 months then anxiety, no sexual pleasure all gone, made me very tired, I lost all interest in life. suicidal, depressed, couldn't be bothered to brush my teeth when I woke up as I was to tired, I look and feel like a tramp it has turned me into a soap dodger, messes with the receptors in the brain, cigarettes, tea and coffee and fast food never tasted the same no buzz. I wake after 3 or 4 hours sleep and I am still having trouble with sleep staying up all night and sleeping through the day, I have been off it for 2 months now and I started getting ringing and piecing sounds in the ears after being off it for about 3 weeks and this could be permanent. Should ban this dangerous drug don't think I will be able to return to work. Best regards Lucky"

• Anonymous
• March 23, 2010

Risperdal (risperidone) "Very good medication. helps alot with the symptoms of psychosis. Its not a cure though I still had to work on my problems. -1 point because it gives me dry mouth and makes it so a cannot tolerate as much alcohol. -1 another point cause its not 100 percent effective but still works great. overall 8/10"

• Jennana
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• July 29, 2021

Risperdal (risperidone) "This is the only anti psychotic that did not cause me to gain weight. It's also the only antipsychotic I didn't 'feel' (tired, apathetic, no emotions) when I took it. When I was put on doses too high for me I felt it, but not as strongly as other antipsychotics I've been on in the past. I keep my normal eating habits on this and a normal weight and really go about my day not thinking of it. I feel like my normal self on this and I'm not going to try other antipsychotics because this works for me. Weight gain and apathy were my biggest issues with other antipsychotics in the past and risperdal is the only one I've tried that does not cause these side affects in me."

• anita...
• November 1, 2010

Risperdal (risperidone) "Risperdal did not eliminate my symptoms but it did make coping with the symptoms easier. It also made me sleep extremely deeply at night so that someone who tried wasn't able to wake me up at all. It could be due to low blood pressure but most likely because I have a low tolerance to sedative medications. I was not able to take it during the day when I needed to the most, when my symptoms were at their worst, due to the sedative side effects. I did find that using a 0.5mg dose was mildly helpful for daytime treatment of symptoms and was not severely sedative, allowing me to function normally."

• anony...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• November 17, 2022

"I hate this good medicine to my very core. It is a paradox to hate something that is good but it is the truth. I was hospitalised because I had a couple of episodes and my family wanted me to get treated. The doctor gave me this along with Olanzapine. It was absolutely hell! I was so tired I could not even get out of bed. I had to quit my job and now I am jobless. I am unable to experience things the way I used to. I have lost interest in music, movies and life. I do not get those euphoric highs and joy anymore. They have all disappeared apart from this feeling of how I behaved without the drug. I used to behave differently when I was not on the drug and I have memories of my behaviour. I am unable to forget the past no matter how hard I try. It has removed everything that makes up "me". But I am constantly told by my family that my quality of life has improved drastically and that I should be thankful to the doctors for they have done so much good to me. It has done wonders but..."

• Sean
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 6, 2019

Risperdal (risperidone) "This med did not work for me. Did not help my thinking. Still felt depressed. Psychosis was still there. I was on it with other drugs too so that is probably why it didn't work. Also bad side effects too."

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

"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 3yrs and no signs of psychosis since leaving hospital so almost stable for 5years 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."

• CakePop
• Taken for less than 1 month
• April 16, 2016

"My experience with this med so far has been good, 2 weeks on 2mg. My anxiety is already way down, and the vivid, intrusive thoughts are not quite as bad. My sleep is also much better. It makes me very relaxed and drowsy about an hour after I take it, and I wake up a bit groggy, but coffee gets me going. No problems with sex which is good. I have also experienced a loss of appetite and have lost some weight (I am overweight so this is good). So yeah, losing weight, still have libido and much better sleep. Wish it could go just as well for everyone. Only side effect is a stuffy nose for a few hours after I take it, but I can handle that. First few days were a bit scary as I felt like I had been given a tranquilizer dart lol."