Risperdal Moms

[ChrisNY]

Hi there. Alex's impulsive behavior was bad enough that we had CPS called . We have been cleared now, but it is still such a struggle.

Alex was recently put on Risperdal to try and curb the impulsivity issues when it comes to his safety (he was running away down the street, crossing the street without looking, climbing the van and not coming down, climbing out his second story window and sitting on the roof) Great huh!

Anyways, the meds seem to be working great. He is still impulsive and still has his nasty word tics, but otherwise he is doing soooo much better.

Alex is thin to begin with and his Focalin didn't help with the appetite issue either. But now on the Risperdal he just eats and eats and eats, even in the middle of the day.

We are running out of ideas on how to control his cravings. He has always been a great eater off his meds, but now he wants to eat all the time. And he is ravenous it seems.

Anyone else out there have this issue? What do you do about food? We have him on a dye free, no sugar added diet. He can have as many apples, oranges, cheese, pudding, cheerios, peanut butter and those types of things as he wants.

What a quick easy things to have ready for him to eat that might fill his appetite?

Thanks for any advice girls. I truly appreciate your help!!

[snowflake13]

This could just be a side effect you may not be able to satisfy. I would talk to the Dr. about it to see if you cant balance that out a bit. My child was not on this med at the time but went thru a food obsession/need that really was causing dysfunction in our daily lives. It sounds weird but when your kid is stealing peoples food its a concern.
Risperdal can be a very good med, it can also have bad side effects like causing high cholesterol in children. Make sure his levels are being tested for that.
What about beef jerky, good for oral sensory as well as low fat and I think some protein.

[4sweeties]

Weight gain on risperdal is a very common side effect. From what I've read risperdal blocks dopamine, which is key in reward/motivation. Food causes the reward center in our brain to be activiated. I think since dopamine is being blocked when our kids take risperdal, their body is looking to get back some of that pleasure/reward level they were used to. (my theory)

Here's a website that talks about dopamine blocking and risperdal

http://www.naminh.org/resources-medi...-risperdal.php

[ChrisNY]

Thanks girls. He does love Beef Jerky now that you mention it. Before the Risperdal he could give or take it, but lately he loves it. Thankfully I can get it really inexpensively and besides the sodium content it is a great low fat, high protein food.

As for the cholesterol, can it cause it to be high even if he does not eat food with cholesterol? We limit all of our intakes of cholesterol to be a very very little amount. I know for me my good cholesterol is actually too low, my bad cholesterol is right on.

Thanks again for all the help!!

[tarasue]

Chris, Risperdal helped my Ben, but he turned into the Very Hungry Caterpillar. After a weight gain of 15+ pounds, we had to switch him. Now he takes Abilify. Some kids can't tolerate the hunger. Ben cried for food. He'd sneak food and lie about eating. It was awful for him.

We did do quite a bit of air-popped popcorn, which is a satisfying thing to eat. The crunch, the chewing... it helped. But the evening hunger was, in the end, too much for us. Hmm... what else did we do? Oh, yes. Carrots. Lots of carrots. Grapes, too. I'd encourage him to peel the grapes, cut them in half, anything to make the experience of eating take longer.

s to you, Chris. It's so hard to know how to help our kids, isn't it?

[snowflake13]

Thanks girls. He does love Beef Jerky now that you mention it. Before the Risperdal he could give or take it, but lately he loves it. Thankfully I can get it really inexpensively and besides the sodium content it is a great low fat, high protein food.

As for the cholesterol, can it cause it to be high even if he does not eat food with cholesterol? We limit all of our intakes of cholesterol to be a very very little amount. I know for me my good cholesterol is actually too low, my bad cholesterol is right on.

Thanks again for all the help!!

The way I understand, the high cholesterol is med induced and food isnt a factor. My childs number was around 270.

[4sweeties]

We just had a baseline blood draw before we start Risperdal. The three biggies they wanted numbers on were lipid profile, blood sugar, and prolactin (there is a chance for breast tissue growth even in boys).

[BC-MAV]

4sweeties ~ that sounds like a very plausable explanation. I guess that is what my antidepressant is doing. It does have the side effect of hunger and weight gain. It makes me hungery every 2-3 hours. Yep, and it can contribute to higher cholesterol.

On the Risperdal, what about drinking fat free milk before meals to "fill up" and your child gets the protein and calcium but not the calories and fat? My cousin did this with her DD when she was chubby and it helped her to slim down a little. She is a Dr. and so is her DH. Just a thought.

[ChrisNY]

Alex doesn't drink milk He gets all his dairy from low fat no sugar added yogurt and 1% cheese.

I will have to ask the Dr. about getting that cbc done to get baseline levels. We did know about the breast tissue issue. Our Dr. warned us that .2% of children have this side effect, but less than 1% is so worth the wonderful results we are having!