Resperidol and Schizoeffective Disorder

My husband has been diagnosed with schizoeffective disorder and resperidol (risperidone) was recommended to treat this. Please tell me what the side effects and the effectiveness of this medicine is.  Is this a medicine he would have to take for the rest of his life?  Is it harmful?  I've tried looking this up on the internet, but have failed to find the clinical data I need.  Please help.

[Roger Gould, M.D.]

You should call Jansen, the makers of resperidol (risperidone) and ask their consumer hotline about all of the possible side effects. This is regarded as quite safe, but there are always some side effects to contend with.

It is possible that your husband could be on this drug for a long time, but the dose could end up being quite low and very tolerable.

[Tonya Redden ([e-mail]]

Thank you very much for your answer.  I did not know who made resperidol (risperidone) before.  I will contact them as soon as possible.
Again - thank you!

[kim]

I take risperdal for psychotic depression and Borderline personality disorder. I am on a very low dose at present. It does help with symptoms such as hearing voices, noise in the head and paranoid thoughts (for me anyway) I only take 1mg. Low doses can help with this drug so dont go too high too fast or he will be zonked out and never want sex.  The worst side effect with me (and I dont tolerate drugs well) was the weight gain and the lack of sex drive I had when it was up to 3mg.  But different people react in different ways. It is supposed to be safe , especially compared to the older antipsychoitics. Don't freak if it doesn't help or it slows him down. Give it plenty of time, as the lethargy does lift somewhat after a while.  There are other newer antipsychotics out there too, so it is a hopeful thing. Take care.

[Sean]

I, too, have schizoeffective disorder (though I don't have hallucinations, just the mind racing sometimes) and I used resperdal for a short time also.  The effect for me was the same as thorzine or zyprexa; it made me horribly drowsy, without the ability to sleep, and I didn't quite feel "connected" -- like watching your life go by at a distance.