Rispidirone- Nervous To Take

[Definitely..maybe]

im seeing a new psychiatrist (because my old one moved) and am a little concerned about the medicines he prescribed day one.
He kept me on
Zoloft
Klonopin
Xanax
Lamotrigine
Trazadone

And added
Prazosin
Rispiderone

I'm not super vain or anything but have struggled pretty significantly with new food issues and weight issues and obsessive thinking and know some of these are hefty weight gainers.
Honestly I may need to gain some weight but I need to do it under my own control, not meds making it skyrocket as that would be dangerous to me currently (as agreed on by my other doctors) and mentally would really stress me out. I'm sorry to be so annoying.

Do you guys have any advice or alternatives or experiences?

Thanks for any help!

 

[joeylittle]

Can you say a little more about what your diagnoses are and which of those meds are daily and which are PRN? Also, what symptoms did you go to the new psych with - anything new?

 

[Definitely..maybe]

Diagnosed with
Ptsd (complex ptsd)
Crippling anxiety
Depression
Obsessive thinking
Rumination
Disassociation

I think those are my main issues now.

I take Zoloft and lamotrigine daily, klonopin/xanax as needed (some days none at all/some days 2 Xanax to sleep or klonopin to calm me down during the day/panic attack) trazadone to sleep.
I'm supposed to add 1 respiderone twice daily and prazosin at night.

Thank you so much for any help!!

 

[joeylittle]

Well, trazadone for sleep and prazosin for sleep, that's a little odd to have them both. I'm surprised you aren't supposed to just switch them. But I'm not a doctor, not a doctor, totally 100% not a doctor. I've been on both those drugs. I had to replace trazadone with prazosin because I could not tolerate the vivid dreaming side effect of trazadone.

Using the xanax as a sleep aid would be ultimately good to discontinue, in my non-doctor opinion, especially as you currently have two other sleep meds (traz and praz) for sleep. But xanax for relief is a different thing, if you need it for that. Klonopin makes sense. Both those drugs (xanax and klonopin) are addictive and will lose efficacy if taken too frequently.

Did this new psych tell you what the risperidone was for?

And how long have you been on zoloft vs. lamictal? Like, did you start the zoloft and then lamotrigine was an add-on?

 

[new gamma rays]

I've been on seroquel a long time, and very briefly tried switching to risperdal. Honestly Risperdal didn't do much at all, just made my thinking kind of fuzzy. It doesn't have nearly the sedating effects of Seroquel, and it is generally not considered among the big weight offenders as far as I Know. I wouldn't be worried about taking it. I wouldn't expect a huge difference either way, but that was just my experience, maybe because I am so used to the massive impact Seroquel has.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Obsessive thinking isn't a diagnosis, it's a symptom. Same with rumination. Both are parts of other diagnosis'.

Honestly you sound overly medicated. Two benzodiazepines? WHY? They can cause dependency issues.

I will repeat, you sound entirely overly medicated and I'm not surprised you can't study.

 

[Definitely..maybe]

@Solara i know they're symptoms- @joeylittle asked for diagnosis and symptoms so I was answering the question.

I agree, it's too many. I don't take each one every day, my doctors recommend alternating on different days depending on needs. Xanax is for panic attack emergencies and sleep, klonopin is for days where anxiety is overwhelming. However most days I try to make it through without either. I feel like I've just been given a cocktail by doctors and told to be my own pharmacist. I've even specifically asked for a schedule to take these meds at rather than just having me guessing every day. I think I'll keep up my search for a new doctor.

Thanks for the input and advice guys!

Also @joeylittle the trazadone also gives me horribly vivid nightmares and a foggy morning, but it seems to ease the daytime depression. Horrible trade off.

Thanks again guys!

 

[joeylittle]

the trazadone also gives me horribly vivid nightmares and a foggy morning, but it seems to ease the daytime depression. Horrible trade off.

I'm going to just challenge this a little bit, and suggest you talk specifically to the doc about what the trazadone may or may not be doing for you. Again - not a doctor, but I've taken all your drugs, which just means I've read and talked to a few psychs about them in detail. The amount that the traz is contributing to ease the day depression, as you put it, is likely very, very marginal. Whereas the dreaming side effect is quite heavy-impact.

Trade the possible small anti-depressant benefit for a better nights' sleep and non-foggy morning (is the way I see it).
If Zoloft was your first anti-depressant, make sure you are looking at the zoloft/lamictal combination and discuss whether you should substitute a single SNRI for the combined pair of those. Lamictal makes your head incredibly fuzzy, affects focus, memory, concentration, and if you are adding risperidone I do not think (personally) you want to also be in lamictal.

I agree with @Solara - you are (in my opinion) over-medicated, in that you are now taking new medications to counter the side effects of other medications. That's when you need to aggressively step back, evaluate the whole picture, and replace some things with more aggressive cognitive work.

Totally, totally my opinion.

 

[Deleted member 1860]

Uhm ok you stated it was a diagnosis in your reply so I was going on that.

 

[shimmerz]

I would take JoeyLittle's advice on this stuff. She is the queen of prescription drugs, in a good way. She knows her stuff. Have you checked these drugs for side effects and interactivity? Do you know what they all are prescribed for you for? I would call my dr to task on that. Solara is right, it seems like you are over medicated with a number of redundant drugs.

Your two other posts make a lot of sense given this information about your drug list. I wonder if sorting this out would help with the inconsistencies that show up elsewhere in your life.

 

[Queen Boudica]

2 benzodiazapines. For what reason? You are being overly medicated. Check these meds out check out how long you are supposed to take them for. Benzodiazipines are not supposed to be long term. This is wrong.

The weight issues are the least of your problems with these meds. Get yourself to see someone else.

These meds are respiratory suppressants. Add Xanax and you could be overdosing so easily.

 

[Queen Boudica]

What did your old psychiatrist prescribe? What justification has this guy given for prescribing this list of drugs which when interacting together could have major overdose possibilities. This is wrong.