doctor is putting 4 year old difficult child 2 on Respidal. Has anyone else had/have a child this young on this? How did it do? Side effect?? They said to expect weight gain but how much?? He is already a good size boy. Please give me some feedback I am really afraid to give him this. And if I do and it makes him put too much weight on and doctor stops the medication will he lose the weight or have any lasting effect from Risperdal? Thanks to you all for you help and suggestions!! You will never know how appreciated it is!!
Resipdal?? Feedback anyone?? Please??
- Thread starter tjg4god
- Start date
SRL
Active Member
Kids all react differently to medications so what works for one may not work for another. I will say in watching parents report back on this forum that Risperdal seems to result in fewer really wild reactions than some of the other medications. If I were going to start a little one one medications, it's one that I would consider.
My difficult child was on Risperdal at age 4. He did not gain weight, but did develop another side effect which was gynecomastia (enlargement of the male breast) Although slight, I caught it right away and took difficult child off of it. It went away. He was on a low dose of .25 mg at the time. Just our experience with it.
Dara
New Member
Sammy took resperdal for a couple of weeks. he is 4. He has not had any good reaction to any of the medications we have tried. The reperdal made him quite manic and aggressive. He did have some weight gain but I think it was also from the depakote he takes. I know it is so stressful to try these medications. If they work it is amazing and if they dont it is scary. I would try it but before you go on it log his tantrums and behavior so that when you do try it you can tell if there is any difference good or bad.
amandab192
New Member
My four-year old is on Risperidone (generic form of Risperdal). It's worked wonders for his aggression--gave him an extra two seconds to THINK about his actions before he attacked. He started on .12 mg before bed and slowly upped to .5 mg before bed and .12 mg in the morning. This is still a pretty low dose. Typically, children do not go above 1-2 mg. Side effects have been minimal. Nothing more than increased hunger, which is manageable with healthy snacks, and frequent urination. We tested for diabetes, just to be sure, and he's fine. I'm actually very pleased. We spent the last two years doing a DAN/biomedical approach and my son actually had more serious side effects from some of the supplements he took than he has from this antipsychotic (not to knock biomed, because we still do some of it and it does help!). It seems to be the first-line medication for most children with aggression issues.
Amanda
Amanda
30 and searching
New Member
I was thinking the same thing. Keep notes on how your child does on this medication from day to day observations. I didn't think about before he goes on it though, I think that is a really great idea so you can refer back to those behaviors off the medication as well.
My oldest was on Risperdal at a young age and is now on it still. He had gone on and off it throughout the years, and we tried out a plethora of different medications. This one was the only one that made a dent in his aggression, with- the exeption of Lamictal,( which he had to go off of right away do to an allergic rash all over his body!)
The weight gain did happen, and he is very large already also. 14 years old and 6'2... I am 5'4. But yes, he is overweight.
I feel that Risperdal, is fairly a safe drug, I would just make notes on the effects, as suggested earlier. I wish you all the luck in the world, I know this is hard!
My oldest was on Risperdal at a young age and is now on it still. He had gone on and off it throughout the years, and we tried out a plethora of different medications. This one was the only one that made a dent in his aggression, with- the exeption of Lamictal,( which he had to go off of right away do to an allergic rash all over his body!)
The weight gain did happen, and he is very large already also. 14 years old and 6'2... I am 5'4. But yes, he is overweight.
I feel that Risperdal, is fairly a safe drug, I would just make notes on the effects, as suggested earlier. I wish you all the luck in the world, I know this is hard!
BusynMember
Well-Known Member
All kids are different. My own son had a dangerous reaction to it...he started out with flu symptoms, a headache, slept all the time, then started having sore muscles, which is a prelude to tardive dystonia (I hope I spelled that right). He cried all the time on it and was less hyper, but that was because he was so tired and depressed that all he did was sleep. He had the same reaction on Zyprexa. Spectrum kids can be medication sensitive. Remember, all kids are different, but this was a wipeout for us. He also gained twenty pounds in a month and got the boobs too.
My 3 year old difficult child is on Respridol. We tried a full dose and had a very bad reaction. Then we went to a very small dose and worked up to a full dose. He takes .2 mg in morning and .2 in evening. He does do so much better on this medication than when he was on Abilify. Josh's weight gain has not been that much but he never eats anyways. He does eat more regular on this and seems to be even more hungry in the afternoon. Just offer healthy foods like fruit and veggies and baked crackers. Fat free pudding and yogurt are good also. Hugs and blessings.
Lothlorien
Active Member
My daughter is on it. She has had a good response to it. Better than anything else we've tried. She has gained some weight, but nothing to be concerned about. She's thin to begin with. When I mentioned my concern to the doctor, regarding the weight gain, he said generally, there might be an initial weight gain, but the side effects wear off and things even out.
