Frequency distribution
Overall, there are quite a large number of patients who wish to stop taking Risperdal®. There may be several reasons for this, but in most cases it is the high level of side effects associated with taking the atypical neuroleptic. However, it is important to note that not every patient can stop taking Risperdal® without returning to the original illness (schizophrenia, mania, psychosis, etc.). Even though many patients would like to stop taking Risperdal®, the patient should also remember that there was a reason for taking the drug and that stopping it can only be done with the professional help of a psychiatrist.
Symptoms when weaning
When a patient discontinues the drug Risperdal®, various symptoms can occur. In order to minimize withdrawal symptoms when discontinuing Risperdal®, the patient should develop a precise plan with his psychiatrist and allow the drug to slowly wear off, i.e. reduce it in tiny doses over a long period of time. Nevertheless, it is normal for slight withdrawal symptoms to occur when reducing a small dose of Risperdal®.
These can manifest themselves in different ways and there are different symptoms depending on the patient and the underlying disease (psychosis or schizophrenia, etc.). Some patients feel that discontinuing Risperdal® leads to recurrent psychosis. In this case, it is essential to consult the psychiatrist treating the patient and talk to him or her about the existing problems.
However, symptoms such as restlessness, insomnia or headaches may continue to occur while you are discontinuing Risperdal®. It is important that the symptoms are discussed with the treating psychiatrist so that he or she can treat them and make it easier for the patient to stop taking Risperdal®. The patient should also be patient and not rush to stop the medication as this can lead to a rapid increase of the symptoms mentioned.
In this case, the Risperdal® dosage must often be increased again to stabilize the patient and the process of discontinuing the medication starts all over again.It is important to know that taking the psychotropic drug leads to a kind of adaptation (physical adaptation) in the patients. This means that after a certain time of taking the drug, the effect of the drug weakens and the dose has to be increased more and more to achieve the same original effect. This adaptation also makes it more difficult to discontinue Risperdal®.
The longer a patient takes Risperdal®, the longer it will take to discontinue it. If, on the other hand, a patient only takes Risperdal® for a short period of time, there will be no withdrawal symptoms or symptoms such as agitation even when Risperdal® is discontinued. Even if a patient would like to discontinue Risperdal®, he should be aware that this can be a very long process, depending on the initial dose. For example, if a patient is planning to have a child in the near future, she should discuss this wish with the treating psychiatrist in good time so that the medication can begin to be discontinued early.
