Posted by bleauberry on December 21, 2010, at 17:04:11
In reply to Pdoc said I have dystonia, posted by Deneb on December 20, 2010, at 22:44:06
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> Anyways, is it possible to get dystonia on even 0.75mg Risperdal? It's such a tiny dose! Is it possible something is happening that is causing the Risperdal levels in my body to be actually higher than it is supposed to be?
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>The answer to all your questions is yes.
.75mg isn't all that tiny for risperdal. Tiny would be .25mg or .125. Any antipsychotic at any dose, and must about any psych med for that matter, can cause bizarre neurological problems. Actually I should probably rephrase that. It's not necessarily that they cause them, but they highlight a weakness that was already there. I mean, if we have psych symptoms to begin with, and that's why we are going to a doctor, then we already know something is messed up. Brain integrity is already in question. Drugs can sometimes make obvious what was otherwise kind of hidden.
The best strategy in my opinion is to totally avoid substances that aggravate the problem. In your case, risperdal is the aggravator. If it were me, I would stay on risperdal only if it was providing me with amazing benefits to balance out the complications. I mean, I could deal with dystonia for a few weeks, few months maybe. But think ahead a few years. You know it's only going to progress worse and worse. Is it worth it? Well, I guess if it kept me in total remission, it would be kind of a cruel trade, a cruel joke, but would ultimately be worth it just so I could live a productive life, despite the neurological jerkiness. But if risperdal wasn't doing something so good that I could celebrate about it, forget it, I'm all done with it. I'm already screwed up, I don't need some drug to screw me up even more.
It comes down to a personal risk verses benefit decision.
poster:bleauberry
thread:974167
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20101218/msgs/974223.html