My mom changed from Zyprexa to Risperdal two weeks ago and she has not hardly been eating,does not want to get out of bed, and is not talking as much. It did not decrease her chorea either. I asked her if she feels depressed and she said no. He started her on 0.75mg three times a day. It might not be a high enough does to help with the chorea, but it does not appear to be the right medication for her. Has anyone else experienced this with this medication?

My husband was put on risperdal earlier this year. He was taking 2 mg twice a day. They helped his aggression and a couple other issues that needed to be helped, however, they caused him side effects. They did not seem to help movement. The side effects were barely talking at all, just sitting around and staring more, basically not himself but more like a robot. Another side effect was sexual dysfunction.
I asked his dr to try zyprexa (due to info I had received from someone on this forum) and he is now taking 5mg zyprexa daily (1/2 tablet twice a day). After a while all the side effects from the risperdal went away and he is much better on the zyprexa. He talks and participates in life more - more like the person he was before risperdal and the sexual dysfunction is gone.He doesn't have the outbursts he did prior and can control himself much more.
Shortly after, the movement bothered him more and his dr put him on clonazepam.
He takes .5mg daily (1/2 tablet twice a day) and this has seemed to help him.
He feels much better about the movement now.
These two medications have been a great help to us.
I hope this helps you and you find something that will work for you.

Considering that Risperdal is not intended for chorea but is just a side effect for a small percentage of people this was to be expected. It should also be expected that altered personality is to be expected since that IS the intended effect. That is probably why the doctor wanted to speak to you about expectations.

Of the three main ones, risperidal, seroquel and zyprexa, risperidal tends to have the most side effects for people with movement disorders (extrapyramidal side effects). Seroquel tends to have less effects on movement (as it has less of a Dopamine effect) and the good thing about it, is that it can be titrated to higher doses without generally making the movements worse. Zyprexa has less movement effects than risperidal generally too. It can sometimes be trial and error, but it sounds like risperidal might not be the best choice here perhaps. I can message you with more detailed and specific information that should be of help (Private message)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2007 11:32AM by kelver1.

She is only taking the medications for chorea since there is not a FDA approved medication for chorea. She does not have any anger/psychotic issues. The Zyprea did not alter her persoanality at all and she was taking 40 mg a day. I did stop her Risperdal today and started her back on her Zyprexa. Time will tell, if she does not improve, I will take her back to the neuro.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/04/2007 02:57PM by batesm.