Re: Question, Risperdal and Paxil withdrawl

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Paxil withdrawl is tough. It has a short half-life, the shortest I

believe, of the SSRIs, and it quickly and " loudly " leaves your

system...that is why they made Paxil CR (controlled release)-so your

daily dose can stay in the body longer and more gently.

My daughter does very well on paxil, too. When she forgets meds, she

gets very sick: dizzy, sick stomach, weak, aggravated and aggitated,

just unpleasant....and this is after one day of forgetting it. We

also tried to take her off it to switch to Lexapro, and that too

didn't go well--too fast a taper maybe--and instead, we left her on

it. She does take more than your son (25 mg. Paxil CR) and she is

12, 13 as of yesterday....

Good luck and maybe where his doses are lower AND he has another med

too, it might not be so bad

Larissa in MA

> Hi,

> We saw the psychiatrist today and she felt that he definately had

some

> behavioral side effects to the Paxil. He was extremely hyper,

agitated and had

> aggressive thoughts. She added Risperdal in the thick of it and

started

> lowering the Paxil. He has been acting too sedated on the

Risperdal and

> also has had a very runny nose. My very active boy who is always

on the go

> was laying around on the couch in the middle of the day. The Paxil

did work

> wonders on taking away his OCD symptoms, anyway, the doctor

suggested

> that we go medication free for a few weeks and see where he is.

He reacted

> to very low doses of Paxil (7.5 to now 2.5 mg) and Risperdal

(.05mg). She

> suggested no Risperdal for three days and then no Paxil. I am a

little nervous

> about withdrawal symptoms. I know that many of you have tapered

your kids

> off meds. Please tell me what to expect. I am going away for a

long

> anticipated weekend away with a women's group for a water color

painting

> weekend, three hours away from my home. Luke will be with my

husband,

> but I am just a little nervous about leaving.

> Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Hi ,

Paxil withdrawl is tough. It has a short half-life, the shortest I

believe, of the SSRIs, and it quickly and " loudly " leaves your

system...that is why they made Paxil CR (controlled release)-so your

daily dose can stay in the body longer and more gently.

My daughter does very well on paxil, too. When she forgets meds, she

gets very sick: dizzy, sick stomach, weak, aggravated and aggitated,

just unpleasant....and this is after one day of forgetting it. We

also tried to take her off it to switch to Lexapro, and that too

didn't go well--too fast a taper maybe--and instead, we left her on

it. She does take more than your son (25 mg. Paxil CR) and she is

12, 13 as of yesterday....

Good luck and maybe where his doses are lower AND he has another med

too, it might not be so bad

Larissa in MA

> Hi,

> We saw the psychiatrist today and she felt that he definately had

some

> behavioral side effects to the Paxil. He was extremely hyper,

agitated and had

> aggressive thoughts. She added Risperdal in the thick of it and

started

> lowering the Paxil. He has been acting too sedated on the

Risperdal and

> also has had a very runny nose. My very active boy who is always

on the go

> was laying around on the couch in the middle of the day. The Paxil

did work

> wonders on taking away his OCD symptoms, anyway, the doctor

suggested

> that we go medication free for a few weeks and see where he is.

He reacted

> to very low doses of Paxil (7.5 to now 2.5 mg) and Risperdal

(.05mg). She

> suggested no Risperdal for three days and then no Paxil. I am a

little nervous

> about withdrawal symptoms. I know that many of you have tapered

your kids

> off meds. Please tell me what to expect. I am going away for a

long

> anticipated weekend away with a women's group for a water color

painting

> weekend, three hours away from my home. Luke will be with my

husband,

> but I am just a little nervous about leaving.

> Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Hi , better late than never I hope with this post. Could you put off

reducing/withdrawing your son's meds until after your getaway weekend? Or,

would the doctor agree to a more gradual reduction of the medication? Many

times when I've brought this up to my daughter's pdoc, he's agreed though he

generally does not seem to think it's as important as I do! But I do not

think there is any harm in adjusting doses very gradually, and potentially

much good.

Good luck,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> We saw the psychiatrist today and she felt that he definately had some

> behavioral side effects to the Paxil. He was extremely hyper, agitated and

had

> aggressive thoughts. She added Risperdal in the thick of it and started

> lowering the Paxil. He has been acting too sedated on the Risperdal and

> also has had a very runny nose. My very active boy who is always on the go

> was laying around on the couch in the middle of the day. The Paxil did

work

> wonders on taking away his OCD symptoms, anyway, the doctor suggested

> that we go medication free for a few weeks and see where he is. He

reacted

> to very low doses of Paxil (7.5 to now 2.5 mg) and Risperdal (.05mg). She

> suggested no Risperdal for three days and then no Paxil. I am a little

nervous

> about withdrawal symptoms. I know that many of you have tapered your kids

> off meds. Please tell me what to expect. I am going away for a long

> anticipated weekend away with a women's group for a water color painting

> weekend, three hours away from my home. Luke will be with my husband,

> but I am just a little nervous about leaving.

> Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Hi , better late than never I hope with this post. Could you put off

reducing/withdrawing your son's meds until after your getaway weekend? Or,

would the doctor agree to a more gradual reduction of the medication? Many

times when I've brought this up to my daughter's pdoc, he's agreed though he

generally does not seem to think it's as important as I do! But I do not

think there is any harm in adjusting doses very gradually, and potentially

much good.

Good luck,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> We saw the psychiatrist today and she felt that he definately had some

> behavioral side effects to the Paxil. He was extremely hyper, agitated and

had

> aggressive thoughts. She added Risperdal in the thick of it and started

> lowering the Paxil. He has been acting too sedated on the Risperdal and

> also has had a very runny nose. My very active boy who is always on the go

> was laying around on the couch in the middle of the day. The Paxil did

work

> wonders on taking away his OCD symptoms, anyway, the doctor suggested

> that we go medication free for a few weeks and see where he is. He

reacted

> to very low doses of Paxil (7.5 to now 2.5 mg) and Risperdal (.05mg). She

> suggested no Risperdal for three days and then no Paxil. I am a little

nervous

> about withdrawal symptoms. I know that many of you have tapered your kids

> off meds. Please tell me what to expect. I am going away for a long

> anticipated weekend away with a women's group for a water color painting

> weekend, three hours away from my home. Luke will be with my husband,

> but I am just a little nervous about leaving.

> Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Hi , better late than never I hope with this post. Could you put off

reducing/withdrawing your son's meds until after your getaway weekend? Or,

would the doctor agree to a more gradual reduction of the medication? Many

times when I've brought this up to my daughter's pdoc, he's agreed though he

generally does not seem to think it's as important as I do! But I do not

think there is any harm in adjusting doses very gradually, and potentially

much good.

Good luck,

Kathy R. in Indiana

----- Original Message -----

> We saw the psychiatrist today and she felt that he definately had some

> behavioral side effects to the Paxil. He was extremely hyper, agitated and

had

> aggressive thoughts. She added Risperdal in the thick of it and started

> lowering the Paxil. He has been acting too sedated on the Risperdal and

> also has had a very runny nose. My very active boy who is always on the go

> was laying around on the couch in the middle of the day. The Paxil did

work

> wonders on taking away his OCD symptoms, anyway, the doctor suggested

> that we go medication free for a few weeks and see where he is. He

reacted

> to very low doses of Paxil (7.5 to now 2.5 mg) and Risperdal (.05mg). She

> suggested no Risperdal for three days and then no Paxil. I am a little

nervous

> about withdrawal symptoms. I know that many of you have tapered your kids

> off meds. Please tell me what to expect. I am going away for a long

> anticipated weekend away with a women's group for a water color painting

> weekend, three hours away from my home. Luke will be with my husband,

> but I am just a little nervous about leaving.

> Thanks,

>

[Guest guest]

Risperdal does make kids tired but they usually get used to it within a few days

to a week. I think you meant to say he was on 0.5 mg of Risperdal as the doses

don't go down to 0.05. The dose could be reduced to 0.25 or you can cut the

tablets in half. The doses can also be split and given twice a day but that

might make it worse in the short term.

Paxil is the one SSRI that must be tapered off slowly. I can't believe your

child's psychiatrist would tell you to do that. It is such a short acting SSRI,

that once the dose is done, it is pretty much gone from their systems unlike all

the others, especially Prozac. He needs to taper off Paxil very slowly. They

are normally recommending now at least 4 weeks. We cut the pill in half, then

quarters then every other day and eventually no pill. | am sure most doctors

have some way they recommend this.

It is frightening to me that the doctor didn't even give the Risperdal time to

see if it was working before deciding to take him off everything. I would

suggest getting a second opinion if that is possible.

R.

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

That was a misunderstanding. Risperdal (and Zyprexa too in my experience) work

quite quickly although the full effect takes a few days.

What I meant by it takes a few days to get used to it was that the kids can be

pretty wiped the first few days to a week and after that, while they still sleep

more than before, they get used to the dose and don't fall asleep eating

anymore.

My son fell asleep within an hour of his first dose at 3 in the afternoon (it

was a desperate time). He slept all through the night until morning. He was

groggy but made it through the day at school. Barely. By the end of the week,

as long as I put him to bed an hour earlier than before, he was back to normal

but sweeter.

R.

---------------------------------

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[Guest guest]

That was a misunderstanding. Risperdal (and Zyprexa too in my experience) work

quite quickly although the full effect takes a few days.

What I meant by it takes a few days to get used to it was that the kids can be

pretty wiped the first few days to a week and after that, while they still sleep

more than before, they get used to the dose and don't fall asleep eating

anymore.

My son fell asleep within an hour of his first dose at 3 in the afternoon (it

was a desperate time). He slept all through the night until morning. He was

groggy but made it through the day at school. Barely. By the end of the week,

as long as I put him to bed an hour earlier than before, he was back to normal

but sweeter.

R.

---------------------------------

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