recovering from antipsychotics

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a few days ago i finally quit risperdal and im now on no ap for the first time in 7 years. i dont know exactly how much all the other ones contributed (because this is something that has been building over time), but most markedly on the risperdal, i was experiencing somewhat severe and increasing short term and (retroactive) long term memory loss. aside from its impact on general recall, i was slowly losing my ability to speak, write, and understand english, interpret sound as words, and understand concepts in any medium. has anyone had luck in recovering from these side effects? tapering off the risperdal, and now being completely off it, has dealt with some of the other side effects that i hoped would go away, but i was afraid that the things i mentioned might be more lasting and i was wondering if anyone has any sort of timetable or other input.

[AirMarshall]

I've been at this game 8 years now, and I've never heard of Risperdal or any AAP causing progressive loss of mental function and loss of ability to communicate.

Looks like you are the guinea pig so keep us informed!

There are plenty of disorders and disease that can display some or all of those symptoms. The smart thing would be to start with a complete physical workup with an internist. Hope you feel better soon. am.

[Guest]

For me, those symptoms that you mention go along with depression. They don't have anything to do with meds. Severe depression can really screw with your brain.

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i experience some of those things because of anxiety and depression, but ive noticed increasingly abnormal functioning (if completely depressed and anxious/everything that goes with that is normal) that seems to be associated with my use of antipsychotics, especially risperdal. going down on the risperdal improved my short term memory a little bit, but i want to be able to learn like i did in high school. i mean, i know my brain was different at that age in terms of malleability or whatever, but lately (as far back as i can remember trying since ive been out of school and on meds) ive lost my ability to learn pretty much completely. i was losing myself and forgetting everything about people and problematic things like that (along with everything i mentioned before) and thats what finally made me decide to stop taking risperdal after responding halfway well to it for years. many years ago, my long term memory used to be pretty good, possibly even exceptional; its very disappointing to lose that, and my intelligence, which was the only thing i remotely had going for me in life.

[confused]

Have you talked to your pdoc about these problems? I agree with air marshall about having a physical. I've never had those kinds of problems with an anti-psychotic. I have had issues when I am depressed and my memory just isn't the same as when I was younger. I understand you are having troubling symptoms and I hope they go away. I just think you should ask a doctor.

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my pdoc wanted me to stay on the risperdal even though i told him word for word that my brain is turning to soup and discussed things like the memory loss and trouble with communicating and indicated it seemed due to antipsychotics during multiple consultations. he didnt really have anything to say about my symptoms, hes never been particularly helpful. when geodon gave me a three day long panic attack with all sorts of symptoms he just told me to keep taking it and that was it. i was just forced to choose a new insurance policy by the state, and that plan has forced me to establish a gp and make an appointment, so i will take that opportunity to probably get zero answers from whoever they set me up with. sometimes doctors are alright at telling me whats wrong (which is just a name for the symptoms im already aware of), but they usually never know the cause or have any satisfactory treatments. (this has been the case for everything ive listed in my sig.) ive gotta try something though, and if the general consensus is that this probably isnt the antipsychotics (which im open to), then another professional opinion and investigation is the next logical step.

[gizmo]

Too many manic and mixed episodes have significantly reduced my cognitive ability. I know it's not the meds because I've been on many different meds/med combos over the past seven years.

The only exception to that was topamax. But it's side effects (given it is an AC) are well known and documented. Once I stopped topamax, my ability to recall words and talk in singular trains of thought returned.

I'd be interested to see if your cognitive ability returns once you are off risperdal. But I'd caution you that mood episodes can erode any mental progress you might make.

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when i said i wanted to reduce most of my meds my pdoc said i should reduce topamax as well, so i did that for a while, but i didnt notice a difference in the things he mentioned it possibly affecting so ive put it part of the way back up because i really need to lose weight. its good to hear that its side effects were completely temporary and you were able to overcome them. im anxious and depressed both on and off risperdal (though risperdal did help with anxiety a little), so i suppose im as much at risk of cognitive decline in either situation. i definitely feel better in many ways off of the risperdal, but thats probably just in ways i imagine anyone would feel better off of an aap...more clearheaded, sharper thinking, quicker, more direct experience of life, etc.

[crtclms]

I was going to say the topamax as well. It's also called Dopamax by those of us who have used it.

Plus, unfortunately, over the course of mentally ill people's lives, mental illness does take a toll on our cognitive skills. Not excessively so, but it's there.

Also, learning as an adult is different than learning as an adolescent.

Right now Lithium is fucking with my word finding more severely than even Zonegran (related to Topa) and Lamictal. WAY more. I have the thesaurus open on my browser all the time now.