Johnson & Johnson has been under fire with multiple lawsuits, many of which stemmed from Risperdal deaths and irreparable injuries.
Originally, the FDA only approved the drug for schizophrenia or mania. However, the drug maker encouraged off-label uses regarding children, especially within the autistic population, the elderly, and others, ending in disastrous outcomes. While it is never advisable to come off a drug like this one too quickly, certainly programs exist that can provide safe and gentle tapering methods.
As with many other prescription medications, adverse symptoms may range from mild to debilitatingly severe or even fatal. Combining this medication with alcohol or other drugs, or even colas or tea, increases the risks many times over. For anyone who is taking Risperdal, the following common side effects should be noted and reported to your caregiver or doctor immediately should they emerge:
- In males, increased breast tissue and milk production (only correctable with surgery)
- In young females, early onset puberty
- NMS (Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome – a potentially fatal set of conditions that include muscular rigidity, tachycardia (racing heart), and other symptoms.
- TD (Tardive Dyskinesia – potentially irreversible muscle movements, for which no known treatment exists).
- Patients with diabetes or other glucose abnormalities are at increased risk of coma and potential death.
- Elderly patients, especially dementia patients – doubled risk of coma and death
- Muscular spasms, i.e., neck, face or back
- Loss of memory
- Sleep disturbances, interruptions, insomnia
- Aggressive outbursts, anxiety, pacing, agitation
- Tics, twitches, involuntary twisting body motions
- Restlessness, compulsion to rock, sway, march, keep moving
- Vision impairment, blurred vision or other problems.
- Shuffling walk
- Skin eruptions, rashes, itching
- Urination problems – impaired or excessive
- Cannot speak or enunciate clearly
- Cannot swallow normally
- Rigid muscles, i.e. face becomes mask-like, eye muscles cannot move, etc.
- Inability to remain focused or concentrate
- Shaking, especially of the fingers and hands
- Tremors, trembling
- A general weak feeling in the limbs
Be sure to contact your medical care person as soon as these or other troubling symptoms appear.
Holistic Risperdal Withdrawal Treatment
Risperdal withdrawal allows a person to opt out of that side effects that became more problematic than the extant conditions they suffered prior to the prescription.
There are programs where the focus is not to treat the label. Compassionate, effective holistic-based treatments can significantly help a person to recover their mental and emotional health. Sometimes it is humane and necessary to mask or numb symptoms. However, in a long-term health recovery plan, other strategies may better serve.
The primary focus of such programs is to investigate and restore mental health naturally. Actions can be done to help isolate and correct the actual causes of mental and emotional distress without further drugging.
Clearly, it may be prudent to taper off medications which are seen to cause more harm than good. However, it is imperative to assess each individual situation very carefully. The dangers of adjusting dosages too suddenly or aggressively are well-documented, so care must be taken to avoid these risks. Programs which use correct tapering, timing and sequence of treatment protocols, can be most helpful to individually tailor the most optimum path forward.
Safe Risperdal Tapering is Only the Beginning
Recovering from toxic medications can continue well after completing a taper and can achieve even more benefits. Perhaps a person is seeking a stabilized emotional state, or to improve sleep quality. Perhaps a person might wish for the return of calmness and peace, return of muscle tone and control, and increased physical energy. Keep hope! Many find such improvements are very attainable using holistic medical approaches.
