Risperdal

Please google "Sensory Integration Dysfunction" and see if perhaps your son has those symptoms. It is often misdiagnosed as ADD or ADHD. My son was 3-4 yrs old when his sunday school teacher recognized it & suggested that I take him to get tested for it. I'm certain that's the only reason we got the right diagnosis early - on. NONE of my son's teachers knew what S.I.D. was (and still don't). Anyway, the s.s. teacher said that S.I.D. can be worked out of them with minimal therapy & zero drugs.
I asked my pediatrician for "a referral to have him tested for Sensory Integration Dysfunction". She got me hooked up w/Ellis Rehab Just For Kids in Tyler. After taking him to Occupational Therapy there, once per week for just a few months, his symptoms virtually disappeared. The therapists also taught me how to "treat him" at home if ever the symptoms began creeping back. The therapy is really simple. No medicines.
The therapists at Ellis Rehab are AWESOME ! I was so, so impressed ! He is now 9 years old and still displays only very mild, barely noticeable ADD - like symptoms every once in a great while. But football & karate serves as automatic therapy for it. He functions in school very well. His teachers adore him. And no medicines !
I hope this helps. Good luck.

T.,

My son who is 13 has been taking Risperdal for about 5 years or so. It is considered an anti-psychotic or mood stablizer. This is helpful if your child has frequent mood swings in addition to just the regular symptons of ADHD.

My son is on .5mg both am & pm and has never had to increase during these years. Just be careful because it really does increase their sensitivity to sun/heat and they are more prone to heatstroke. Just make sure they stay hydrated when it is hot. My son plays soccer and has since he was 3. If it is hot out we just make sure that he drinks Gatorade every time he gets a break from playing.

Keep in mind that alot of the drugs that they use for ADHD were actually manufactured for a completely different reason. (i.e. my son also takes a medicine that is normally used for high blood pressure but it also tends to work on kids with ADHD). I guess what I am saying is don't necessarily worry about what the medicine was originally intended for but more on the side effects of being on it and how it makes your child feel.

Hope this helps. Feel free to contact me if you want to chat privately.

C.

My son was on this a few years ago. We took him off due to the elevated blood glucose that it caused. We thought he was developing type 1 diabetes like his sister. It is a rare side effect but one that needs to be monitored.........best of luck to you....

T.,

All medications have side effects and can cause other issues...the question is does the risk outweigh the benefits?

From my personal experience I found that there are alternatives to ADHD meds that work very well, giving the body what it needs to naturally alleviate the issue w/o drugs.

I have worked with many kids who are now off medications and living normal, healthy lives.

If you opt to go a natural route, feel free to message me and I can provide you details and connect you with other parents.

C.

Hi T.,
My 6 yr old daughter has been on Risperdal(1mg Am & PM) for almost 3 yrs., We find it to be the only medication that helps (combined with a minimal dose of Paxil, and just started her on a ADHD Med Vyvanse), but my child has a bipolar diagnosis. Risperdal or any drug for that matter is a scary thing to have anyone that you love taking. I suggest: If you can get a second opinion on the diagnosis of ADHD, and discuss a less harmful treatment with your sons mental care provider. The long term of affect from respirdal can be intense, Diabetes, ticks, trimbles, extreme nerve damage, can be a result of Risperdal. (I've got nurses in my family that treat patients that have been on Risperdal.) I wish it didn't work so well for my child, but off of it she is out of control, So we have chosen quality of life. WE do have her on a low stimulant diet, We make sure she gets a lot of energy burning time doing all kinds of stuff. Also if you decide to pull your child off Risperdal be sure to ween him off and don't take him off could turkey it takes longer and can be hard on the entire family, but to suddenly take him off this drug with out weening can be fatal in some cases so please bring this up to your DR and Also talk with your pharmacist, there's is alot of info out there Call the Drug company (Janssen) 1-800-652-6227. Type Respirdal in you Browser. I do this with any medication my family takes.

Blessed Be,
J.

My son is just 2 1/2, and he has been on Risperdal for the past month and a half, due to having a form of autism call Pervasive Developmental Disorder-Not Otherwise Specified (PDD-NOS). He takes .25 mg of it every night at bedtime to help him "wind down" to go to sleep. Without it, we battle him for 2-5 hours EVERY NIGHT getting him to sleep! So far, I have not noticed any side effects. However, his tests were done over a month ago at Medical City Dallas Children's Hospital, and his neurologist (who is at another facility) STILL has not called me with the results, so we are changing neurologists on Tuesday morning to one who practices AT MCDCH. (Was told scheduling his tests should not take more than 2 days; ended up taking me over 3 weeks. Now we're still waiting for results, and I'm tired of waiting, and calling and leaving messages with no response!)

One of the other moms posted that dr's are finding results with drugs that were originally created for another condition. She is right ~ I am currently taking a medication that was created for High Blood Pressure to treat a rapid heart beat. (I actually tend to have "low" blood pressure most of the time.) However, I do share your concerns, so my advice is to ASK QUESTIONS, especially if you do not understand something clearly.

Also, as your child grows, his medications will need adjusting, from time to time. So if you think a med is not working as well as it "used to", be sure and call the doctor to let him/her know. You should notice a need for change pretty quickly after a "growth spurt".

Hope this helps!
~J.~