[SamuelAdams1313]

i'm currently on 3mg and have and have and appointment with p-doc next week. I want to increase the risperdal to 4 mg. racing, obsessive thoughts is a huge problem of mine. will it help tame this?

[hamster-bamster]

It very well might, but no guarantees.

[hamster-bamster]

When you went from no Risperdal to 3 mg, did you notice any improvement?

[Clinte89]

Food question hamster, I know dispersal didn't so much for me but that's just me, and it caused horid sexual side effects and I was on 8 mg total.

[manicminer]

For me it sure did. Mainly because it either turned me into a zombie or knocked me out cold.
My orginal dosage instructions were: At bedtime, break a 1mg pill in half. Take one half. If not asleep within 15 minutes, take the other half.

We worked with this because on top of the 2050mg of depakote I also took at bedtime, I'd wake up after sleeping through several hours of alarms feeling hungover.
Eventually got to taking .25mg (1/4mg) as needed for extreme agitation and/or uncontrolled/racing thoughts.

Sounds like you are already taking quite a bit more than I ever did, so maybe risperdal isn't the right drug for you. Def. something to go over with you p-doc as everyone reacts to drugs differently. We are a prime example of that.

Best wishes and good luck

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by Clinte89

Food question hamster, I know dispersal didn't so much for me but that's just me, and it caused horid sexual side effects and I was on 8 mg total.

Risperdal immediately gave me sexual side effects, starting at 1MG!

[Clinte89]

I just realized my phone messed up that paragraph something fierce. Lol

Do you eat many sweet things? Rapid breakdown of disaccharides by lactase caused that in someone I know. You may be breaking down sugars too rapidly with
wonderful levels of lactase enzymes functioning in your system, giving you overloads of glucose.

Try getting a little alkalinity into your system by eating less red meat, more fish,
green vegetables, and fresh salads. Leave the milk products alone for two weeks and see how you are. Omit the breads for two weeks and see how you are. If you are better after that time, re-introduce one or the other of them. If you feel symptoms emerging, you have an intolerance to that food. You need to see an alllergist to be tested extensively for allergies since you may have what is called a "brain Allergy".

(I know that allergies react differently than intolerancess and that allergies are
dangerous and can cause death; intolerances are less severe but extremely uncomfortable in feeling tone for those who have them.) Some people are reacting to brain allergies as much as they are to medications, in my view.

You can prove to yourself whether you have something going on with too much
acidity in your system. (All medications leave an acidic residue--or ash--and that's bothersome for the feeling tone. If your system can't remove that within 24 hours before you take the next dosage of meds, the ash just continues to circulate in the bloodstream until the kidneys can catch up. That may account for the feeling hung-over after waking up.)

It sounds as if your psychiatrist is trying to find the right med and dosage levels to
assign you. I hope you get it worked out without further difficulty.

I say this with all due respect to psychiatrists and all physicians: you have to ultimately be your own advocate for your health. It's going to be largely up to you to find out what it is that is causing the problems--whether it is, in fact, a brain allergy, or deficiency of some vitamins or inherited lack of enzymes (as in inability to metabolize folic acid into folate which can cross the blood-brain barrier, etc.)

Psychotropic medications mask symptons; they do not get to the cause of the illness.

There are numerous theories about the causes of bipolar illness. None has been more effective for me than learning that excess acidity of tissues and fluids and consequent use of Omega 3 fatty acids to reduce that acidity has been a huge help in lowering acidity and irritable feeling tone for me. It's worthwhile to try it until you find out whether that has something to do with your feeling tone.

Please discuss everything with your psychiatrist before trying anything other than
his suggestions for meds and treatment.

Recently published psychiatric journals on the benefits of essential fatty acids to assist in bipolar illness are available for your reading. (The body can't manufacture fatty acids and must depend on outside source for them, just as the human can't manufacture Vitamin C and must rely on other sources for it. )

So much to learn; I know. But so much is out there now to help. Don't give up hope, please. You will be fine with proper medications and proper diet recommendations to stabilize blood levels of acidity and alkalinity. It's more desirable to be slightly on the alkaline side in your diet than the acidic side. Please see the websites listed below:

http://www.AlkalineFoods.com and http://www.Acid-reactingfoods.com
for more information.

Good wishes.

[SamuelAdams1313]

Originally Posted by genetic

Do you eat many sweet things? Rapid breakdown of disaccharides by lactase caused that in someone I know. You may be breaking down sugars too rapidly with
wonderful levels of lactase enzymes functioning in your system, giving you overloads of glucose.

Try getting a little alkalinity into your system by eating less red meat, more fish,
green vegetables, and fresh salads. Leave the milk products alone for two weeks and see how you are. Omit the breads for two weeks and see how you are. If you are better after that time, re-introduce one or the other of them. If you feel symptons emerging, you have an intolerance to that food. You need to see an alllergist to be tested extensively for allergies since you may have what is called a "brain Allergy".

(I know that allergies react differently than intolerancess and that allergies are
dangerous and can cause death; intolerances are less severe but extremely uncomfortable in feeling tone for those who have them.) Some people are reacting to brain allergies as much as they are to medications, in my view.

You can prove to yourself whether you have something going on with too much
acidity in your system. (All medications leave an acidic residue--or ash--and that's bothersome for the feeling tone. If your system can't remove that within 24 hours before you take the next dosage of meds, the ash just continues to circulate in the bloodstream until the kidneys can catch up. That may account for the feeling hung-over after waking up.)

It sounds as if your psychiatrist is trying to find the right med and dosage levels to
assign you. I hope you get it worked out without further difficulty.

I say this with all due respect to psychiatrists and all physicians: you have to ultimately be your own advocate for your health. It's going to be largely up to you to find out what it is that is causing the problems--whether it is, in fact, a brain allergy, or deficiency of some vitamins or inherited lack of enzymes (as in inability to metabolize folic acid into folate which can cross the blood-brain barrier, etc.)
Psychotropic medications mask symptons; they do not get to the cause of the illness.

There are numerous theories about the causes of bipolar illness. None has been more effective for me than learning that excess acidity of tissues and fluids and consequent use of Omega 3 fatty acids to reduce that acidity has been a huge help in lowering acidity and irritable feeling tone for me. It's worthwhile to try it until you find out whether that has something to do with your feeling tone.

Please discuss everything with your psychiatrist before trying anything other than
his suggestions for meds and treatment.

Recently published psychiatric journals on the benefits of essential fatty acids to assist in bipolar illness are available for your reading. (The body can't manufacture fatty acids and must depend on outside source for them, just as the human can't manufacture Vitamin C and must rely on other sources for it. )

So much to learn; I know. But so much is out there now to help. Don't give up hope, please. You will be fine with proper medications and proper diet recommendations to stabilize blood levels of acidity and alkalinity. It's more desirable to be slightly on the alkaline side in your diet than the acidice side.Please see the websites listed below:

http://www.AlkalineFoods.com and http://www.Acid-reactingfoods.com
for more information.

Good wishes.

Thanks. I'm actually a pretty big health nut. I eat alot of veggies and aslo take fish oil. I don't eat/drink alot of sugar either. I do have bad allergies though.

[SamuelAdams1313]

Do abilify and geodon cause fatigue like risperdal?

Originally Posted by SamuelAdams1313

Do abilify and geodon cause fatigue like risperdal?

Can't answer that one because I've never taken either medication. Maybe someone else can give you the answer to that.

Symptoms of drug sensitivity vary so widely that almost any reaction is possible, frankly.

With an allergy gene, you're going to need to be very cautious about meds and rely strongly on your allergist to assist you in the long run, in my view, for additional help with drug sensitivity.

Your psychiatrist needs to know that you have an allergy gene.

[hamster-bamster]

Originally Posted by SamuelAdams1313

Do abilify and geodon cause fatigue like risperdal?

It depends. Some people get sedation from geodon; I did not.

[hamster-bamster]

In general, geodon has a better side effect profile than risperdal, but it is also an order of magnitude more expensive. Abilify is expensive as well.