Eli5: what does antipsychotic medication, specifically risperdal, actually do to the brain, and what are the long term effectso of it, after a long time (9 months) of taking it? To what degree will the brain revert to its default state after you stop taking it?
In: Biology
I was on risoerdal, then haldol, then geodon. Total of about a year. I had gained a ton of water weight to where I looked swollen all over. I felt very slowed down mentally and had restless legs and very interesting lucid dreams.
Once I stopped I had some trouble sleeping and lost all the water weight. I pretty quickly came back to normal (probably took a month or so to really feel alive again). I had a lot of mental health problems after quitting but after some tough times I ended up figuring out healthier ways of coping. I’d be very careful about stopping if it is for psychosis, but if your pdoc is okay with helping you stop, then you should be okay.
Just watch out for the rebound psychosis that happened to me for a day or so when I stopped. Pretty much was like the opposite of a caffeine crash where I’d been slowed down so much that stopping put me into overdrive. Make sure people are around you.
I’ve been off antipsychotics for 8 years now, aside from an isolated incident where they gave me a geodon shot to fall asleep when I was belligerent due to other circumstances (overuse of recreational drugs).
Good luck!
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