Hello, Im On 150mg Rispiredone Depot And My Doctors Agreed

Posted on Sat, 12 Oct 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 12 Oct 2019 Answered on

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Question : hello, im on 150mg rispiredone depot and my doctors agreed to get me off them. its saturday so i cant speak to him since hes not in, can any person get off risperidone injection 150mg in 6 months without withdrawal or does it vary person to person

Follow up: Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (11 minutes later)

he says it could take a year or 6 months but im not sure if thats becuase hes worried ill get mentally ill again which is why im on the medication or becuase hes worried ill go through withdrawal. im asking because the medication has side effects and im very sure that even with lower doses of medication ill be mentally sane, so if its the first one it means i will be able to get off them in 6 because im very sure ill be okay mentally with lower doses but if its the second thats bad news because that means i wont be able to get off them without withdrawal unless it takes a whole year

Answered by Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (36 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Generally it does not cause serious withdrawal symptoms

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for using Healthcaremagic.

I read your query and understand your concerns about the antipsychotic risperidone depot and its dose.

First of all I like to inform you that having recurrence of psychiatric problem is common after discontinuation of risperidal provided the disorder is of long term category such as schizophrenia, psychosis NOS among others. However certain conditions such as acute psychosis do not need long term antipsychotic medications and generally do not recur even after discontinuation of medication.

In regard to withdrawal symptoms I do not feel there are any serious withdrawal effects with risperdal discontinuation. With the depot preparation the chances of withdrawal symptoms are very low and I do not think this should be the area of concern.

Regarding 6 months or 12 months concept I think your doctor is taking rational approach as it takes many more months to discontinue depot medications than the oral medications. This is because weaning effect of medications takes much longer in case of depot medications including risperdal.

I hope this helps you.
Feel free to write back to me if you have more questions.
Thanks and regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (42 minutes later)

okay so does say it might take either 12 or 6 months because he thinks i might get withdrawal symptoms if he does it in 6 and if i do hes gonna make it 12? cheers by the way

Follow up: Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (9 minutes later)

based on what you know about physchiatric medicine

Answered by Dr. Ashok Kumar Choudhary (15 hours later)

Brief Answer:
Follow up

Detailed Answer:
Hello,
Thanks for follow up.

Yes it is true that withdrawal/discontinuation of medication totally depends on how our body responds to withdrawal attempt. Depending on the response the time to completely withdraw the medication varies from person to person.

I hope this clarifies further.
Thanks and regards.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar