Interactions
If clozapine is administered at the same time, the concentration of clozapine in the blood may increase. If carbamazepine is given at the same time, Risperdal® may drop in the blood. Antihypertensive drugs can have an increased effect in combination with Risperdal®.
Risperdal® and alcohol
Risperdal® is a psychotropic drug, i.e. a drug that is used to treat mental illnesses such as schizophrenia, mania or other mental disorders and then to reduce the symptoms of the illness. Risperdal® is a psychotropic drug which is not very well tolerated by alcohol, so we advise against alcohol while taking Risperdal®. The problem is that both the drug Risperdal® and the alcohol are broken down by the liver and then eliminated from the body.
This can cause the liver to break down the drug Risperdal® and at the same time not be able to break down and eliminate the alcohol. This can lead to an increase in the effect of the alcohol or, in the opposite scenario, to the liver being unable to break down Risperdal® and it therefore remains in the body for longer, which can lead to increased side effects. In addition, Risperdal®, just like alcohol, acts on various receptors in the brain.
One must think of this receptor as an office chair. Risperdal® can only develop its effect if it is on this receptor, i.e. on the office chair. However, if one molecule of the alcohol blocks this receptor, i.e. the office chair, Risperdal® cannot act.
This means that the positive effect of Risperdal® is lost, while the side effects of Risperdal® are increased by the alcohol. Alcohol should therefore be avoided as far as possible while taking Risperdal®, as this can lead to undesirable side effects and weaken the actual effect. Many patients want to or have to stop taking Risperdal® after some time.
This can have various causes. For one thing, patients may only take Risperdal® temporarily, for example if they are in an aggressive phase, or else the side effects of Risperdal® are too high, so that the patient wants to stop taking Risperdal®. If a patient wishes to stop taking Risperdal®, he or she should first discuss this with his or her psychiatrist, so that he or she can assess whether the patient is strong enough to avoid problems with a reduced dose of Risperdal®.
It is always important to remember that the patient has had to take Risperdal® for a specific reason, such as schizophrenia or mania. If the patient stops taking Risperdal®, the symptoms of schizophrenia or mania may become worse. In addition, various side effects, such as agitation or insomnia, may occur during discontinuation of Risperdal®.
It is therefore important to discuss the exact steps to be taken with the psychiatrist, as the psychiatrist can best judge when the patient can start reducing the dose of the drug without too many side effects. It is crucial that the dose of Risperdal® is reduced in small steps and over a long period of time, up to one year, until Risperdal® is completely discontinued.On the other hand, if a patient rushes to discontinue Risperdal®, there are very serious side effects and the probability of the patient relapsing back into the original disease is much greater. It is therefore extremely important to develop a plan together with the psychiatrist as to when and how the best time to discontinue Risperdal® is. Gradual discontinuation of Risperdal®, or of psychotropic drugs in general, is known as “tapering-out” and is the gentlest and least harmful method of discontinuing a psychotropic drug such as Risperdal®.
