Posted by med_empowered on December 10, 2005, at 17:41:30
In reply to Re: Is 1mg of Risperdal a high dose ? » med_empowered, posted by Tepiaca on December 10, 2005, at 10:05:55
are you sure schizoaffective is accurate? usually, schizoaffective represents a sort of mid-point between Bipolar type I and Schizophrenia--the patient usually has hallucinations (WITHOUT mood problems) for at least 2 weeks, plus (usually) some "negative" symptoms of schizophrenia--blunted affect, that kind of thing.
Its worth noting that some shrinks dont think the schizoaffective disorder diagnosis is all that meaningful. Some patients basically resemble bipolar patients (with more psychosis); others resemble schizophrenic patients (with more mood issues). Unlike schizophrenia, the prognosis for schizoaffective tends to be pretty good.
Anyway,1mg/Risperdal for a psychotic disorder isn't high; its probably on the low side. That said, no matter what you're being treated for, you need to proceed with caution with antipsychotics...the ideal should be the lowest dose for the shortest period of time.
Some people with schizoaffective respond well to mood-stabilizers (lithium, depakote, tegretol, etc.) without an additional antipsychotic...in this respect, some schizoaffective patients are more bipolar than schizophrenic. Perhaps you could try that? Triletpal, Depakote, Keppra, and Lamictal could all be good options for you; I personally wouldn't try Lithium just yet, b/c of the blood work and side effects, but it certainly is a better option than antipsychotics. Also, anti-anxiety meds help people with schizoaffective *A LOT*--Klonopin, Ativan, etc. could reduce your tension *tremendously*. BuSpar could help, too, but a benzo would help faster.
So..I guess I think you should first ask your doc to explain exactly **why** he thinks you're schizoaffective. You don't seem to have problems with psychosis...shizoaffective really isn't a good diagnosis anyway, and its certainly not one to go spraying around on somebody just b/c they're treatment-resistant.
In terms of dosage for YOU...although 1mg is pretty low for a psychotic disorder, if YOU don't like it, YOU don't like it. You can switch meds (again, I'd recommend low-dose abilify) or lower your Risperdal, or *better yet*, ask your doc to try a mood-stabilizer without an antipsychotic.
Good luck!
poster:med_empowered
thread:587615
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20051203/msgs/587859.html