Re: First post and Risperdal

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

My son, , is 15 and is on 150 mg zoloft and 2 mg risperdal. His

psychiatrist added the risperdal when the zoloft didn't seem enough.

The zoloft was great for his depression, but he was still having major

obsessions about food contamination and fits of rage (he is normally

very calm and well-mannered). After the risperdal was added, his food

hang-ups lifted and he began to put his weight back on (was at 83 lbs at

diagnosis in May, now up to 120-something). He still has one major

issue which could be more psychotic than OCD. I am hoping more

risperdal or a change to some other anti-psychotic will help with that.

You are fortunate to have someone to do CBT. We have not had that

opportunity yet. For us, though, the zoloft/risperdal combination has

been good.

Kim in IA

>

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

My son, , is 15 and is on 150 mg zoloft and 2 mg risperdal. His

psychiatrist added the risperdal when the zoloft didn't seem enough.

The zoloft was great for his depression, but he was still having major

obsessions about food contamination and fits of rage (he is normally

very calm and well-mannered). After the risperdal was added, his food

hang-ups lifted and he began to put his weight back on (was at 83 lbs at

diagnosis in May, now up to 120-something). He still has one major

issue which could be more psychotic than OCD. I am hoping more

risperdal or a change to some other anti-psychotic will help with that.

You are fortunate to have someone to do CBT. We have not had that

opportunity yet. For us, though, the zoloft/risperdal combination has

been good.

Kim in IA

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn-

My daughter has only been on Risperdal a relatively short time, but I

wanted to respond, as she also takes it to augment/compliment Zoloft.

She was having similar behavior issues to your daughter's, and the

Risperdal was a last-ditch effort to control those (which we think are

at least partially zoloft-related side effects), and help her to sleep.

She had been taking several hours to fall asleep.

She is now on .25 mg of Risperdal, and it has seemed to help a great

deal with the behavioral side effects - still not perfect, but better.

So far the only side effect we can see from the Ripserdal is that she

is hungry a lot.

Someone else here could probably speak better to the common uses for

Risperdal- I know that our psychiatrist said that more than half of the

pediatric OCD patients seen at their clinic (a university clinic

specializing in pediatric anxiety disorders) are on an atypical

antipsychotic like Risperdal in addition to their SSRI.

Best of luck. These medication decisions are tough.

lisa in Chicago

> Hi,

>

> My name is Dawn Wang from Boston. I am a relative new member, but

> having

> read all the postings last a couple of month. I found a lot of good

> information here. I like to get some advice on using Risperdal.

>

> I have a 11-year old daughter K. who was diagnosed to have

> OCD/depression/panic disorder four months ago. Her main O's is 'not

> feeling

> right', main C's is 'pants need to be put on many times, or afraid to

> put

> on'. She takes 200mg Zoloft now and has seen a pediatric CBT

> psychologist

> since May. She made some progress in controlling OCD but she showed

> some

> behavior problems (disrespectful, disobedient and messed-up meal/sleep

> schedules).

>

> We have been thinking to try different medicine and our psychiatrist

> suggested to add Risperdal or switch to Luvox. Is Risperdal effective

> for

> OCD as an augmented medicine? I thought it is mainly for psychotic

> symptoms

> or tics.

>

> I appreciate your sharing your experience in using Risperal or Luvox

> for

> OCD.

>

> Dawn Wang -MA

>

>

>

>

> Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed

> at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group// .

> Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.,

> Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D. Our list moderators

> are Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes,

> Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription

> issues or suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner,

> at louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... ,

> louisharkins@... .

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn-

My daughter has only been on Risperdal a relatively short time, but I

wanted to respond, as she also takes it to augment/compliment Zoloft.

She was having similar behavior issues to your daughter's, and the

Risperdal was a last-ditch effort to control those (which we think are

at least partially zoloft-related side effects), and help her to sleep.

She had been taking several hours to fall asleep.

She is now on .25 mg of Risperdal, and it has seemed to help a great

deal with the behavioral side effects - still not perfect, but better.

So far the only side effect we can see from the Ripserdal is that she

is hungry a lot.

Someone else here could probably speak better to the common uses for

Risperdal- I know that our psychiatrist said that more than half of the

pediatric OCD patients seen at their clinic (a university clinic

specializing in pediatric anxiety disorders) are on an atypical

antipsychotic like Risperdal in addition to their SSRI.

Best of luck. These medication decisions are tough.

lisa in Chicago

> Hi,

>

> My name is Dawn Wang from Boston. I am a relative new member, but

> having

> read all the postings last a couple of month. I found a lot of good

> information here. I like to get some advice on using Risperdal.

>

> I have a 11-year old daughter K. who was diagnosed to have

> OCD/depression/panic disorder four months ago. Her main O's is 'not

> feeling

> right', main C's is 'pants need to be put on many times, or afraid to

> put

> on'. She takes 200mg Zoloft now and has seen a pediatric CBT

> psychologist

> since May. She made some progress in controlling OCD but she showed

> some

> behavior problems (disrespectful, disobedient and messed-up meal/sleep

> schedules).

>

> We have been thinking to try different medicine and our psychiatrist

> suggested to add Risperdal or switch to Luvox. Is Risperdal effective

> for

> OCD as an augmented medicine? I thought it is mainly for psychotic

> symptoms

> or tics.

>

> I appreciate your sharing your experience in using Risperal or Luvox

> for

> OCD.

>

> Dawn Wang -MA

>

>

>

>

> Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed

> at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group// .

> Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.,

> Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D. Our list moderators

> are Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes,

> Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription

> issues or suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner,

> at louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... ,

> louisharkins@... .

>

>

>

[Guest guest]

Hi Dawn and welcome to the list. My daughter (OCD +tics) is 10 now and took

Zoloft 150mg plus Risperdal for about three years. You are right that

Risperdal is an atypical antipsychotic, but it is frequently enough

prescribed along with an SSRI in OCD.

For my child it was all good, it toned down some of the impulsiveness and

activation she got from Zoloft and when it was added, it also seemed to

reduce her anxiety and OCD to a greater degree than the Zoloft alone. It

pretty effectively killed her tics as well.

The only side effect she had from Risperdal was that it made her sleepy, so

we took advantage of this side effect by giving it about an hour before

bedtime.

My daughter took Luvox for about four months before she was switched to

Zoloft. Luvox caused no side effects but also had little effect on her OCD

symptoms. All the kids are different though and without trying out Luvox,

you can't know whether it will be effective for your daughter, maybe even a

near miracle for her :-)

I guess if it were me at this point, I'd keep the Zoloft and try adding the

Risperdal, after a trial of that if not adequate, move to Luvox.

Take care,

Kathy R. in Indiana

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

> Hi,

>

> My name is Dawn Wang from Boston. I am a relative new member, but having

> read all the postings last a couple of month. I found a lot of good

> information here. I like to get some advice on using Risperdal.

>

> I have a 11-year old daughter K. who was diagnosed to have

> OCD/depression/panic disorder four months ago. Her main O's is 'not

feeling

> right', main C's is 'pants need to be put on many times, or afraid to put

> on'. She takes 200mg Zoloft now and has seen a pediatric CBT psychologist

> since May. She made some progress in controlling OCD but she showed some

> behavior problems (disrespectful, disobedient and messed-up meal/sleep

> schedules).

>

> We have been thinking to try different medicine and our psychiatrist

> suggested to add Risperdal or switch to Luvox. Is Risperdal effective for

> OCD as an augmented medicine? I thought it is mainly for psychotic

symptoms

> or tics.

>

> I appreciate your sharing your experience in using Risperal or Luvox for

> OCD.

>

> Dawn Wang -MA

[Guest guest]

Welcome Dawn!

My daughter is now 12 and has taken Risperdal along with an SSRI

(currently Lexapro) for about 3 years. The Risperdal made all the difference in

the

world for her - reduced the irritability, brought back the smiles and helped

knock the OCD further into submission. She also has ADHD and multiple tics, and

the Risperdal was originally added to help with the tics. I remember reading a

few years ago that adding an atypical antipyschotic to the standard SSRI

regime was sometimes necessary in kids with OCD plus tics, because they seemed

to

have a different " version " of OCD which was caused, or affected by, dopamine

levels in their brains, instead of just the serotonin levels. That was the

theory anyway. I don't know whether that is still being studied, but in any

case,

it certainly was true for my daughter. An SSRI alone didn't help her OCD that

much, but adding just a touch of Risperdal made an enormous difference.

I hope you find the magic combination that works for your child!

Best wishes,

in NV

[Guest guest]

Topics in this digest:

1. First post and Risperdal

6. risperidol

9. Re: First post and Risperdal

13. Re: First post and Risperdal

From: efowle@...

Hello all,

Thanks to all who has responded to my first post regarding Risperdal. It is

really helpful. It seems that there are a lot of positive experiences with

Risperdal to encourage us. I have one more question here.

How many of you have had projective test for your kids with OCD? My rough

understanding is that the test is trying to tell if the kid has psychotic

thoughts or not. Our psychiatrist suggested it, but our psychologist doesn't

think it necessary.

Thanks again.

Dawn in MA

[Guest guest]

Topics in this digest:

1. First post and Risperdal

6. risperidol

9. Re: First post and Risperdal

13. Re: First post and Risperdal

From: efowle@...

Hello all,

Thanks to all who has responded to my first post regarding Risperdal. It is

really helpful. It seems that there are a lot of positive experiences with

Risperdal to encourage us. I have one more question here.

How many of you have had projective test for your kids with OCD? My rough

understanding is that the test is trying to tell if the kid has psychotic

thoughts or not. Our psychiatrist suggested it, but our psychologist doesn't

think it necessary.

Thanks again.

Dawn in MA

[Guest guest]

Topics in this digest:

1. First post and Risperdal

6. risperidol

9. Re: First post and Risperdal

13. Re: First post and Risperdal

From: efowle@...

Hello all,

Thanks to all who has responded to my first post regarding Risperdal. It is

really helpful. It seems that there are a lot of positive experiences with

Risperdal to encourage us. I have one more question here.

How many of you have had projective test for your kids with OCD? My rough

understanding is that the test is trying to tell if the kid has psychotic

thoughts or not. Our psychiatrist suggested it, but our psychologist doesn't

think it necessary.

Thanks again.

Dawn in MA

[Guest guest]

Dawn,

We have not had that test, partly because the psychiatrist is pretty

sure my son does have psychotic thoughts/hallucinations already. We are

upping Risperdal to 3 mg tonight. He is seeing " zombies " everywhere.

Kim in IA

Wang, Dawn TQO wrote:

>

> Topics in this digest:

>

> 1. First post and Risperdal

>

> 6. risperidol

>

> 9. Re: First post and Risperdal

>

> 13. Re: First post and Risperdal

> From: efowle@...

>

> Hello all,

>

> Thanks to all who has responded to my first post regarding Risperdal.

> It is

> really helpful. It seems that there are a lot of positive experiences with

> Risperdal to encourage us. I have one more question here.

>

> How many of you have had projective test for your kids with OCD? My rough

> understanding is that the test is trying to tell if the kid has psychotic

> thoughts or not. Our psychiatrist suggested it, but our psychologist

> doesn't

> think it necessary.

>

> Thanks again.

>

> Dawn in MA

>

>

>

> Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed

> at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group// .

> Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.,

> Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D. Our list moderators

> are Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes,

> Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription

> issues or suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner,

> at louisharkins@... , louisharkins@... ,

> louisharkins@... .

>

>

>

>

> *

[Guest guest]

Hi KIm,

So sorry is experiencing such a scary symptom. I hope the Risperdal

helps. How is school going? Has he been able to go?

>

> >

> > Topics in this digest:

> >

> > 1. First post and Risperdal

> > From: " Wang, Dawn TQO " <dwang@t...>

> > 6. risperidol

> > From: " bobcathshek " <Bobcath4@c...>

> > 9. Re: First post and Risperdal

> > From: " Kathy " <kathylr@a...>

> > 13. Re: First post and Risperdal

> > From: efowle@a...

> >

> > Hello all,

> >

> > Thanks to all who has responded to my first post regarding Risperdal.

> > It is

> > really helpful. It seems that there are a lot of positive experiences with

> > Risperdal to encourage us. I have one more question here.

> >

> > How many of you have had projective test for your kids with OCD? My

rough

> > understanding is that the test is trying to tell if the kid has psychotic

> > thoughts or not. Our psychiatrist suggested it, but our psychologist

> > doesn't

> > think it necessary.

> >

> > Thanks again.

> >

> > Dawn in MA

> >

> >

> >

> > Our list archives, bookmarks, files, and chat feature may be accessed

> > at: http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group// .

> > Our list advisors are Gail B. , Ed.D., Tamar Chansky, Ph.D.,

> > Aureen Pinto Wagner, Ph.D., and Dan Geller, M.D. Our list moderators

> > are Birkhan, Castle, Fowler, Kathy Hammes,

> > Joye, Kathy Mac, Gail Pesses, and Kathy . Subscription

> > issues or suggestions may be addressed to Louis Harkins, list owner,

> > at louisharkins@y... , louisharkins@h... ,

> > louisharkins@g... .

> >

> >

> >

> >

> > *

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thanks for asking about school. He has been able to go, but is not

enjoying it much. We are having a phone conference with his " mean "

first period teacher tomorrow morning. He may be getting switched to a

different 1st period history class after that if we are not satisfied.

The guidance counselor was supposed to talk to the teacher and explain

's disorder to him, but instead memoed him and said that he needed

to know that used to be a home schooler and might not be

adjusting yet. Okay. Not quite what we wanted. The problem isn't that

he was home schooled, but that he has OCD and maybe schizophrenia and

that this man's demeanor makes anxious and makes it hard for him

to concentrate. He likes history, finds the material interesting, but

freezes up when the teacher raises his voice at anyone. No " zombie "

problem at school, he said today, but everywhere else. Thank goodness

for that! It kind of creeps me out too, but I don't tell him that. One

school problem is that he has lots of 's in his classes. That is

his " toxic " sister's name, and the toxicity seems to have spread to all

's now. I am hoping that he is not growling and spitting in school

everytime a teacher or other student addresses a !!! Ugh. If this

wasn't my life I wouldn't believe it.

Kim in IA

>

[Guest guest]

Hi,

Thanks for asking about school. He has been able to go, but is not

enjoying it much. We are having a phone conference with his " mean "

first period teacher tomorrow morning. He may be getting switched to a

different 1st period history class after that if we are not satisfied.

The guidance counselor was supposed to talk to the teacher and explain

's disorder to him, but instead memoed him and said that he needed

to know that used to be a home schooler and might not be

adjusting yet. Okay. Not quite what we wanted. The problem isn't that

he was home schooled, but that he has OCD and maybe schizophrenia and

that this man's demeanor makes anxious and makes it hard for him

to concentrate. He likes history, finds the material interesting, but

freezes up when the teacher raises his voice at anyone. No " zombie "

problem at school, he said today, but everywhere else. Thank goodness

for that! It kind of creeps me out too, but I don't tell him that. One

school problem is that he has lots of 's in his classes. That is

his " toxic " sister's name, and the toxicity seems to have spread to all

's now. I am hoping that he is not growling and spitting in school

everytime a teacher or other student addresses a !!! Ugh. If this

wasn't my life I wouldn't believe it.

Kim in IA

>

[Guest guest]

Hi, Dawn. I have never heard of a projective test and I have two kids with

OCD. Sometimes kids act like they are psychotic when they have OCD and my

youngest daughter even talked about seeing and hearing things. It turns out

that

her thoughts were so " loud " in her head it was like she could " hear " them and

that the scary thoughts seemed so real to her that the monsters she thought

about seemed to be in the same room. At seven she told me that it was just

easier to explain it to me by saying she could see the things and hear the

voices.

After being treated, these things went away. I don't know if your child has

experienced any of these things but they are not uncommon. Kelley in NV

[Guest guest]

Hi, Dawn. I have never heard of a projective test and I have two kids with

OCD. Sometimes kids act like they are psychotic when they have OCD and my

youngest daughter even talked about seeing and hearing things. It turns out

that

her thoughts were so " loud " in her head it was like she could " hear " them and

that the scary thoughts seemed so real to her that the monsters she thought

about seemed to be in the same room. At seven she told me that it was just

easier to explain it to me by saying she could see the things and hear the

voices.

After being treated, these things went away. I don't know if your child has

experienced any of these things but they are not uncommon. Kelley in NV

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/13/2004 9:15:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,

Cotter@... writes:

One

school problem is that he has lots of 's in his classes. That is

his " toxic " sister's name, and the toxicity seems to have spread to all

's now. I am hoping that he is not growling and spitting in school

everytime a teacher or other student addresses a !!! Ugh. If this

wasn't my life I wouldn't believe it.

Dear Kim,

I'm sorry that things aren't going better than this, and I certainly hope

the phone conference helps. I can't believe (well, yes I can) that the

principal neglected to mention your son's OCD to the teacher. Big sigh.

As far as the problem goes, this is a perfect example of why you

can't just avoid an OCD trigger and hope that life can go on. You might use this

to point out to your son that avoiding his sister is just causing the OCD to

grow and " contaminate " other things in his life. What if it grows to include

every girl with an S in her name? Or everything with an S in its name? Could

you explain that by gradually exposing himself to his sister (very, very

gradually, mind you) he would be forcing the OCD to shrink back down and

eventually

become insignificantly small? I remember you mentioning looking at baby

pictures of his sister to start with. Has that helped at all?

Let us know how things progress!

in NV

p.s. I wonder what an unsuspecting person would think if they read that I

wanted your son to " expose himself " to his sister. I could be arrested.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/13/2004 9:15:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,

Cotter@... writes:

One

school problem is that he has lots of 's in his classes. That is

his " toxic " sister's name, and the toxicity seems to have spread to all

's now. I am hoping that he is not growling and spitting in school

everytime a teacher or other student addresses a !!! Ugh. If this

wasn't my life I wouldn't believe it.

Dear Kim,

I'm sorry that things aren't going better than this, and I certainly hope

the phone conference helps. I can't believe (well, yes I can) that the

principal neglected to mention your son's OCD to the teacher. Big sigh.

As far as the problem goes, this is a perfect example of why you

can't just avoid an OCD trigger and hope that life can go on. You might use this

to point out to your son that avoiding his sister is just causing the OCD to

grow and " contaminate " other things in his life. What if it grows to include

every girl with an S in her name? Or everything with an S in its name? Could

you explain that by gradually exposing himself to his sister (very, very

gradually, mind you) he would be forcing the OCD to shrink back down and

eventually

become insignificantly small? I remember you mentioning looking at baby

pictures of his sister to start with. Has that helped at all?

Let us know how things progress!

in NV

p.s. I wonder what an unsuspecting person would think if they read that I

wanted your son to " expose himself " to his sister. I could be arrested.

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 9/13/2004 9:15:14 PM Pacific Standard Time,

Cotter@... writes:

One

school problem is that he has lots of 's in his classes. That is

his " toxic " sister's name, and the toxicity seems to have spread to all

's now. I am hoping that he is not growling and spitting in school

everytime a teacher or other student addresses a !!! Ugh. If this

wasn't my life I wouldn't believe it.

Dear Kim,

I'm sorry that things aren't going better than this, and I certainly hope

the phone conference helps. I can't believe (well, yes I can) that the

principal neglected to mention your son's OCD to the teacher. Big sigh.

As far as the problem goes, this is a perfect example of why you

can't just avoid an OCD trigger and hope that life can go on. You might use this

to point out to your son that avoiding his sister is just causing the OCD to

grow and " contaminate " other things in his life. What if it grows to include

every girl with an S in her name? Or everything with an S in its name? Could

you explain that by gradually exposing himself to his sister (very, very

gradually, mind you) he would be forcing the OCD to shrink back down and

eventually

become insignificantly small? I remember you mentioning looking at baby

pictures of his sister to start with. Has that helped at all?

Let us know how things progress!

in NV

p.s. I wonder what an unsuspecting person would think if they read that I

wanted your son to " expose himself " to his sister. I could be arrested.

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I posted two weeks ago and thanks all for responding. I like to keep you

posted on the medication decision. When we met with our psychiatrist a week

ago, he didn't suggest to add the Risperdal. He said that the risk seems to

outweigh benefit at her current state. Other than being drowsy, he stated

that Risperdal can have long term neurological impact to kids, although it

is relative small chance. We actually reduce the Zoloft from 200mg to 150mg

to try to help her with the appetite and the sleep problem.

The school brought a lot of good changes to my daughter K(11 year old). The

school keeps her busy and occupied, although she is struggling with the

stress that homework brings. In our case, medicine doesn't do magic but it

steadily helps over 5 months.

Dawn, MA (11 year old daughter, OCD/depression/panic disorder)

[Guest guest]

Hi all,

I posted two weeks ago and thanks all for responding. I like to keep you

posted on the medication decision. When we met with our psychiatrist a week

ago, he didn't suggest to add the Risperdal. He said that the risk seems to

outweigh benefit at her current state. Other than being drowsy, he stated

that Risperdal can have long term neurological impact to kids, although it

is relative small chance. We actually reduce the Zoloft from 200mg to 150mg

to try to help her with the appetite and the sleep problem.

The school brought a lot of good changes to my daughter K(11 year old). The

school keeps her busy and occupied, although she is struggling with the

stress that homework brings. In our case, medicine doesn't do magic but it

steadily helps over 5 months.

Dawn, MA (11 year old daughter, OCD/depression/panic disorder)