http://www.mentalhero.com/?p=49 One mother's story blog of severe mental illness in her young adult son. Wed, 08 Sep 2010 15:55:38 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.7 hourly 1 http://www.mentalhero.com/?p=49&cpage=1#comment-277 Hero Wed, 03 Feb 2010 02:45:05 +0000 http://www.mentalhero.com/?p=49#comment-277 Thanks for your comments, Rob. As it turns out my son is now maintaining his weight in the high 150's, and that seems to be acceptable to the doctor. He is back on the Risperdal, and thank goodness it does not seem to be causing serious weight gain. (knock on wood) I can't believe he made it through the holidays without gaining back some weight (always a struggle for me), and we are making a habit of weighing-in weekly to monitor the situation, up or down. Thanks for your comments, Rob. As it turns out my son is now maintaining his weight in the high 150’s, and that seems to be acceptable to the doctor. He is back on the Risperdal, and thank goodness it does not seem to be causing serious weight gain. (knock on wood) I can’t believe he made it through the holidays without gaining back some weight (always a struggle for me), and we are making a habit of weighing-in weekly to monitor the situation, up or down.

]]> http://www.mentalhero.com/?p=49&cpage=1#comment-276 Rob Wilkens Tue, 02 Feb 2010 21:12:58 +0000 http://www.mentalhero.com/?p=49#comment-276 Abilify for me made me very nervous an antsy. Risperdal for me (and not same for everyone) made me deal with the symptoms better, but i was still having some, for example, delusions of reference where it would feel like everyone around me was talking about me all the time. But the risperdal kept me calm and i didn't react to it, even though i felt the fear. I tried something new last month, and i've got mixed reviews on it: First, it hasn't caused me to gain or lose weight, i've been maintaining around 175-183lbs since october of last year. I weighed 178 this morning. Second, a negative, is that i have cotton mouth (dry) on this med. Let's just say it's a good thing i've learned to drink filtered water (from a pitcher) and enjoy it almost as much as sugary sodas (i still have soda, but less often). Third, this medication relaxes me to the point where i need to be woken up in the morning (alarm, phone call, knock on door), or otherwise I'll sleep past noon. Fourth, and finally, this is the first drug i've taken where i have not experienced any symptoms at all once i switched to the 300mg dosage. I don't have delusions of reference, i don't hear voices that aren't there (I did on risperdal in both cases), my moods are remarkably stable. I am hesitant to give the name of the drug, because (1) it is expensive, (2) As far as i know, it only works for me and not others, (3) I don't want to be responsible for you switching to something that doesn't work. But i'll give the name anyway, it's seroquel xr. It's not a wonder drug (like i said sleepiness and cotton mouth are bad side effects), but it actually controls the symptoms of my illness. Abilify for me made me very nervous an antsy. Risperdal for me (and not same for everyone) made me deal with the symptoms better, but i was still having some, for example, delusions of reference where it would feel like everyone around me was talking about me all the time. But the risperdal kept me calm and i didn’t react to it, even though i felt the fear. I tried something new last month, and i’ve got mixed reviews on it: First, it hasn’t caused me to gain or lose weight, i’ve been maintaining around 175-183lbs since october of last year. I weighed 178 this morning. Second, a negative, is that i have cotton mouth (dry) on this med. Let’s just say it’s a good thing i’ve learned to drink filtered water (from a pitcher) and enjoy it almost as much as sugary sodas (i still have soda, but less often). Third, this medication relaxes me to the point where i need to be woken up in the morning (alarm, phone call, knock on door), or otherwise I’ll sleep past noon. Fourth, and finally, this is the first drug i’ve taken where i have not experienced any symptoms at all once i switched to the 300mg dosage. I don’t have delusions of reference, i don’t hear voices that aren’t there (I did on risperdal in both cases), my moods are remarkably stable. I am hesitant to give the name of the drug, because (1) it is expensive, (2) As far as i know, it only works for me and not others, (3) I don’t want to be responsible for you switching to something that doesn’t work. But i’ll give the name anyway, it’s seroquel xr. It’s not a wonder drug (like i said sleepiness and cotton mouth are bad side effects), but it actually controls the symptoms of my illness.

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