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Originally Posted by Findingreason
Just talked to my pdoc and I would say it was...less than helpful. He said that he didn't believe the Risperidone was causing my cognitive symptoms. He said it was probably the depression causing it. That cannot possibly be the case because I have dealt with moderate to severe depression most of my life and only the cognitive problems were more recently---like the last 6-8 months, around the time my Risperidone was started/increased. I think I'm gonna go on with my plan to taper down slowly to see what happens with my cognition. I may be stubborn and strong willed, but I don't believe I need them to go on...I'll have people keep an eye on me as I told Willow I would in Roll Call. I just would like some pdoc support but nope. Oh well.
I probably annoy people here on the forums with my behaviors...
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Psychiatrists, sadly, are usually not very helpful about coming off neuroleptic meds. A word of caution... even a slow taper down off any neuroleptic drug may result in significant withdrawal symptoms. Read up about the withdrawal symptoms so you won't be caught off guard when you start to experience them, if you do try to taper down.
Although schizophrenia itself can cause cognitive problems, neuroleptics do, too. They have a lot of side effects, and unfortunately, over time they can damage your body, including your brain. There have been research studies done about their link to metabolic syndrome in humans. The best thing you can do is to become better informed about them. Read all about them and learn as much as you can about them.
This is just my opinion, but I think neurolptics may help to tranquilize a patient during an acute psychotic break, but then the patient needs behavioral therapy to learn how to cope with and adjust to their illness. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy helped me more than neuroleptics ever did.