[CobolCapsule]

My understanding is .75mg of risperidone is considered a pretty low dose. Some random doctor online at a question and answer forum said it was a mediocre dose. I know its not the lowest dose possible for that drug .25 is, but my understanding is anything under 3mg of risperidone is considered a low dose, from my research. I am aiming to be on the lowest effective dose.

I would like anyones opinion on my dosage and whether it is low or not?

Thank you

[shadow2000]

Hi,

I'm not an expert, but judging from what I've read about risperidone in the past, I'd have to say that .75 mg of the medication is a pretty low dose and probably lower than what might be considered to be an average dose for the treatment of schizoaffective disorder and bipolar disorder (both of which I see you've mentioned in your profile). But even though I wouldn't say that it's a bad idea to pay some attention to what doses of your medications are typically used to treat others diagnosed with the same condition(s) that you have, making sure that your medication doses are the right doses for you is something that I see as being more important than what doses others with the same diagnosis as you are taking. If all signs point toward your risperidone dose of .75 mg as being adequate in controlling the symptoms that you and your treatment providers want it to control, then I can't see from my standpoint why a higher dose would be necessary, even though higher doses probably tend to be used in the treatment of schizoaffective and bipolar disorders. At the same time, a qualified mental health professional with some medical training might possibly see something from his or her standpoint that I might not be able to see, and I also think it's possible that your treatment needs might possibly change with time and also affect what medication doses might be best for you in the future. So, I'd recommend taking my opinions and the opinions of other online Internet users who aren't mental health professionals with a grain of salt. The opinion of the professional who prescribed your medication, for instance, is something that should almost definitely be given more weight than my opinion, but then again, even my statement here is just my opinion.

[TicTacGo]

The lowest is definitely 0.25 mg, which is usually used for irritability in Autism (effective dosage 0.5-3 mg)

Then it is 0.5, which is a starting dose for Schizophrenia in adolescents, as well as bipolar mania in children and adolescents.
That is usually moved up by 0.5 increments, eventually reaching:
- 3 mg for adolescent schizophrenia (effective dosage 1-6 mg)
- 1-2.5 mg for adolescent bipolar mania (effective dosage 1-6 mg)

For adults:
Initial dosage is 2 mg for schizophrenia and 2-3 mg for bipolar mania. This increases by increments of 1-2 mg for schizophrenia, and 1 mg for bipolar mania.
The target & effective dosages of bipolar mania are 1-6 mg
For schizophrenia they are 3 mg (target) and 4-16 mg (effective).

So in conclusion, if you are a teenager, for bipolar your lowest possible would be 1 mg after increasing from 0.5 (as this is where the effective range starts) and if you are an adult, it would also be 1 mg.

Keep in mind that a lower dose may work for you when you start there, and you wouldn't have to go up. These are just guidelines that I found online.

[still_crazy]

hi. .75mgs/risperidone=slightly less than 40mgs/Thorazine. At that dose, I would think its more anti-irritability, maybe boosting drugs for depression, minor tranquilizing action. I dunno.

[CobolCapsule]

The lowest is definitely 0.25 mg, which is usually used for irritability in Autism (effective dosage 0.5-3 mg)

The starting dose for risperidone in children with autism is 0.25 mg/day weighing 15 to 19 kg . The starting dose for anybody over that weight is .5 with an effective dose range of .5-3mg. I would like to think that i am on the low end with dosage, for i am aiming for the lowest effective dose for my needs. This dosage mostly treats any mania i might have, which is mostly hypomania, and controls my irritability associated with ASD.

I appreciate all the feedback and would welcome more opinions.