14 replies to this topic

[mrscobain92]

Don't mean to ask the same question twice, i just saw that this category exists! I recently started risperidone and i'm not having any signs of lactating, but im curious if risperidone could make me ovulate early or enhance my pms symptoms? Could it regulate my long cycle to a 28 day cycle, possibly increasing my chances of becoming pregnant? I'm just wondering if I should be pinning these symptoms on the risperidone or I should go buy a test :x

[Sweetest1]

If you think you might be pregnant then you should definitely get tested because your meds aren't good for a baby.

Risperidone messed up my cycle, made my PMS worse, and made me lactate.

[Malenkaya]

I'm making an appointment with the gyn this week. Risperdal messed up my body big time. I didn't lactate but I gained weight and it disrupted my menstrual cycles. I had textbook 28 day cycles and now they're irregular and lasting anywhere from 45-65 days even though I've weaned off the drug. I never felt 'pregnant' though.

If there's any chance of pregnancy, take a pregnancy test.

Edited by Malenkaya, 04 March 2012 - 03:15 AM.

[BrokenDollface]

I just stopped taking Depakote and started taking Risperdal, and I'm a total mess. I'm usually like clockwork. This month my period came early, ended in a shorter time frame than usual, has been spotting for days now, and I'm still bloated. I kinda wondered if I might be pregnant, but I have a Mirena implant, so it's highly unlikely. But that's what I feel like. My trouble started when I was on the Depakote alone, tho. Maybe it's Depakote screwing with your cycle. Hoping that helps.

[Fairymonkey]

I really do believe Risperdal causes extreme hormonal changes. I do not have schizophrenia, and I'm taking it as a mood stabilizer every once in a while when I have a little too crazy. But I have significant weight gain, and yes my period is all messed up now. My breasts have filled up (this might be due to the weight gain). But I really do believe the medication does mess with hormones.

[mrscobain92]

Sorry this took so long to reply!

But everything you ladies described is EXACTLY how I'm feeling. The early period and the bloatng, my breasts have even been very filled out and hurting just like when I was pregnant. I've been trying to get ahold of my doctor because I'm pretty sure some of my symptoms are the Depakote and he said if the ridperidone works for me, (which i really believe it has aside from the symptoms) I might not need the depakote. I also have ativan that I take which seems to help the risperidone symptoms a bit and gyno said even a birth control pill might help a lot. The only thing is I think I'm starting to get withdrawls from the risperidone? We're still trying to find the right dosage I guess but when you went off it what were your withdrawl symptoms if any?

[metatrix]

When I went off risperdal, it was a little harder for me to sleep at night. No other 'withdrawal' symptoms though.

Your breasts are probably full because risperdal is notorious for increasing prolactin levels. Have you had a blood test done to check your prolactin?

[mrscobain92]

No i haven't, i didn't even know you could get that checked in blood, i shall mention it to my doctor if he ever decides to return my phone calls -.- today it seems to have gotten worse though =/ kind of caught me off guard honestly. i'm praying i dont start lactating soon... im very disappointed i really felt like this medicine was working for me

[Sweetest1]

I was visiting my sister-in-law and my brand new baby niece, she was two days old. She started to cry and my milk let down and that was how I found out that the risperidone was making me lactate. not fun at all.

[metatrix]

No i haven't, i didn't even know you could get that checked in blood, i shall mention it to my doctor if he ever decides to return my phone calls -.- today it seems to have gotten worse though =/ kind of caught me off guard honestly. i'm praying i dont start lactating soon... im very disappointed i really felt like this medicine was working for me

You probably won't just start spontaneously lactating. Typically there needs to be some sort of nipple stimulation for that to happen. Also, even if your prolactin is elevated, you can still stay on risperdal. Most of the time the rise in prolactin is transient, and will go away after a few months on the drug. Even if it doesn't go away, it's not dangerous, and it will go away when you stop the drug. It's more uncomfortable and annoying than anything else. The more important thing to have checked is your lipid levels (LDL, HDL, triglycerides) and liver enzymes. Risperdal can mess with your lipid profile, and that's much more significant than a harmless rise in prolactin.

[Eli]

Well, I was put on Risperdal consta for some months, then Risperdal 2mg (consta was heavily sedating from some point, maybe it was the dosage that needed to be titerated down).

Well I had amenorrhea (no period whatsoever), was lactating (lactating when pressing the nipple), enlarged breasts. So that sums up the pregnant feeling? I've never been pregnant. The worst part was the decreased libido, vaginal dryness and even worse the anorgasmia. I mean I'm a 30 year old woman, this is early menopause symptoms here.

I'm now receiving 1mg, after I freaked out to my doctor when, after I summed up all these symptoms, HER response (she is a she) was "do you have any reason to WANT to have periods?". WTF. Well yes...if it comes with sexual disfunction!!!! (or was this a "hidden question" of "do you have any plans to conceive?" that would piss me off more!)

I've had my first period after 9 months of amenorrhea. Dont know yet about the other stuff. (wish me luck) I dont want to be put off Risperdal, it really keeps my brain clean. [edit]: and it has the added bonus to keep me calm during the day and help me sleep at night. no need for benzos these days.

Let;s see how I respond to the 1mg now. If this doesn't work I may have to give up risperdal in search of another combo and I'm dreading this, after the hell I've been. I mean I'm stable now.

Do you know any other medical issues that may arise from hyperpolactinemia and amenorrhea?

Edited by Eli, 20 April 2012 - 09:35 AM.

[Mr_West]

You probably won't just start spontaneously lactating. Typically there needs to be some sort of nipple stimulation for that to happen.

Risperidone makes men lactate without explicit nipple stimulation occasionally. Risperidone is really specific about enacting a D2 blockade, but it just sucks at crossing the blood brain barrier.

Well, I was put on Risperdal consta for some months, then Risperdal 2mg (consta was heavily sedating from some point, maybe it was the dosage that needed to be titerated down).

I've had my first period after 9 months of amenorrhea. Dont know yet about the other stuff. (wish me luck) I dont want to be put off Risperdal, it really keeps my brain clean. Let;s see how I respond to the 1mg now. If this doesn't work I may have to give up risperdal in search of another combo and I'm dreading this, after the hell I've been. I mean I'm stable now.

Do you know any other medical issues that may arise from hyperpolactinemia and amenorrhea?

Haldol or even Orap might make decent substitutions for Risperdal. The cross the blood brain barrier more readily leading to a case where the older drugs might have a lower chance of these side effects.

Continuous cycle oral contraceptives are a thing now though. It isn't as popular as merely extended cycle contraceptives, but on its own drug induced amenorrhea isn't ecessarily dangerous. Continuous cycle contraceptives normally don't stave off periods by messing with prolactin though. Prolonging lactation is a way to fend off menstration's return after pregnancy that has been practiced historically. As far as keeping prolactin levels artificially high though I don't know that there's much evidence out there on that question.

[martasi2]

Here is the link to a clearly-written article about AAPs and prolactin effects. The author refers to prolactin elevation as a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" situation related to its sexual side effects.

Prolactin Elevation of Antipsychotic Medications: Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Consequences by Gerald A. Maguire, M.D. (Journal of Clinical Pyschiatry, 2002)

http://www.jclinpsyc...02/v63s0408.pdf

(document is locked and encrypted; one copy only may be printed)

[Eli]

Haldol or even Orap might make decent substitutions for Risperdal. The cross the blood brain barrier more readily leading to a case where the older drugs might have a lower chance of these side effects.

Good one. Actually I respond very well to Haloperidol, but for me it's crucial to take it short term. I used it short-term succesfully to treat mania, when I exhibited manic-hypomanic symtoms and auditory hallucinations (actually auditory hallucinations is the first sign of an upcoming episode for me, even before the mood shift). The episode lasted only for 10 days, from start to finish, thanks to haloperidol. It's the only med that actually stops the auditory hallucinations, sometimes even from the first peel, and very happy my new doc introduced me will manic. The downside is that this med, when used for maintenance treatment (I tried it with risperdal consta), created a very steep downward spiral, which led to a very serious depressive episode and hospitization. Haloperidol was discontinued immediately and Cybalta was put on the mix. Was a different person within a week. So this "steep curve" side effect was noted and actually "used" when I entered hypomania-mania (another strange think for me is that I dont really get hypomania before mania, it's a "click" that happens in my brain and get a sudden "spike" in my mood diagram - it was from -1 to 3, in a scale -3,+3, in a two days period, thank God I was sane enough to seek medical attention immediately). It was a very nice downwards curve too, not too steep, even experienced a very "zen" and calm feeling during the decent, for a couple of days. But at day 11 started having depressive symptoms, so it was discontinued.

So using haloperidol for maintenance treatment as anti-manic agent, with Lamictal, is out of the question. Any other options?

[edit] I just looked around for evidence that pimozide (Orap) can be used successfully in maintenance treatment for Bipolar and couldnt find anything. All I find is vocal ticks-tourette. I guess this is an off-label treatment. Can you point me to the studies that suggest that? I also noticed that It has a high toxicity profile especially for the heart which is a no-no for me, having heart failure in my family history and early deaths, and also experienced serious heart issues when treated with clozapine.

[edit2 start]

Looked around and found that paliperidone, and ziprasidone have some mood stabilizing effects but the first (Invega) can also cause Hyperprolactinemia, and the second (Geodon) also messes with the heart. But I havent tried any of them so...

I also know that many patients benefit from the compination of lithium+lamictal, the first to prevent mania the second to prevent depression. But lithium messed really badly with my thyroid function and was discontinued immediately (hypothyroidism, I actually developed goitre, you could see the damn thing, and realized that I may have thyroid issues, the docs didnt bother to order a check before that with the lithium levels testing, and actually when adressed the doctor about the issue got a very nice response of "and how would you know where the thyroid glad is located?"-with a nice smirk in his face, but when I showed the position and told him "here, you can see the swelling" that smirk dissapeared. jeez) .

Olanzapine is also out of the question, it caused rapid weight gain (from a slim 55kg to an obese 85kg in 5 months period, I've never been so HUNGRY in my life, it was a TORTURE), and hyperglycemia (which i was already predisposed from my mothers side) and also messed up with my lipid values. Olanzapine came with the added bonus of 2 teeth loss as my dentist explained. yaks. Not to mention adhedonia and brain "numbness". What a nightmare. Oh I'm so lucky when it comes to side effects... (not to mention doctors and the NHS in my country)

I also tried the combination of Depakine chrono+Seroquel XR+Lithiofor and Lithiofor+Depakine Chrono+Solian+Seroquel for several months, which failed miserably - a period full of mixed episodes with psychosis - torture oh torture (I've stated the meds as I see in my files, I'm in Europe so these may have different names in the US, I think Depakine is Depacote there, Lithiofor is lithium)

Lamictal is the only stabilizing meds that worked like a miracle so far.

I also can point you out to this study: Alternatives to lithium and divalproex in the maintenance treatment of bipolar disorder

[edit2 end - I know this is kinda out of topic for the sexual disfunction of risperdal, so if the kind mods believe this must continue as a different thread please refer me to the category best fitted for the topic "Alternatives to lithium and divalproex in the maintenance treatment" because it interests me very much]

Here is the link to a clearly-written article about AAPs and prolactin effects. The author refers to prolactin elevation as a "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" situation related to its sexual side effects.

Prolactin Elevation of Antipsychotic Medications: Mechanisms of Action and Clinical Consequences by Gerald A. Maguire, M.D. (Journal of Clinical Pyschiatry, 2002)

http://www.jclinpsyc...02/v63s0408.pdf

(document is locked and encrypted; one copy only may be printed)

As I suspected. Thanks for the study, I'll email it to the nice "why do you WANT to have periods" intern next time she states "you shouldn't worry about it, it's harmeless". As the study suggests, I wasnt asked in my interview about symptoms that suggest prolactin elevation and actually had to persist to be refered for tests, after she concluded that "It musnt be the med, propably you're premenopausal, take the whole hormone testing first and if its ok I'll refer you for testing". Yeah, a 30 year old woman probably is in menopause. My point was here, "does menopause cause lactation too?", and blah blah blah I've done my research and this is caused by prolactin elevation, caused by risperdal. I got a weird smile and an eye role (how dare I doing a research and not just take her word, I mean she is a seasoned and experienced...intern!)

Tststs...and I'm stuck with the interns that control my maintenance treatment, assigned by the NHS. They consult with my actual doctor when "unsure". This one seemed very sure!

Again thanks Mr_West and martasi2.

Edited by Eli, 20 April 2012 - 12:48 PM.

[bonnieboo]

Both lamictal and seroquel made me feel pregnant. I hated those meds. My breasts were SO sensitive and I was constantly taking pregnancy tests that came back negative. My PMS was so bad that any good done by those meds was counter-acted by two weeks of crazy PMS every month.