I talked it over with my pdoc, and I decided to stay on Risperdal.
As far as I am concerned All Psych Meds Have Side Effects - at least with Risperdal I am remaining stable enough and I know what to expect when it comes to side effects.
My pdoc is comfortable keeping me on Risperdal as long as my prolactin levels remain near the normal range - we discussed the possibility of me going to Saphris as a backup AP just in case.
It seems that Saphris could be a decent bipolar med.
I am getting to old to play the med go around game, and I finally found a med that works for me.
I don’t think it would be wise for me to switch to another med and gamble with my stability.
Especially if the other med is going to have side effects too. It just isn’t worth it.
It’s hard not to overreact with all the anti-med crowd around. I think you are doing the right thing for you. Which is all you can do sometimes. Being stable and having a life you can be proud of and happy with. Beats all the unnecessary suffering in my book. Even if it does have some drawbacks. This was very much in the train of thought this week so I think we are on the same page.
I’m glad you had a good session with your pdoc and came to an agreement. The med game does suck to play. I finally had to come off of Risperdal because it stopped my period. I was also on Saphris before. The only thing I remember is that the tabs without flavor were horrible. It was like sucking on an aspirin. I really feel that twenty years from now we’ll have meds with minimal side effects, maybe sooner. We seem to be heading that way with the weight neutral APs. And we don’t have the same concern as 1st generation APs. I’m glad you’re stable right now.
I hope some peace of mind comes your way with this decision. The med go-round is very frustrating.
You sound satisfied with this solution and that’s good to hear. I hope all goes well. It’s good that you and your doc can hold an actual discussion about this.
I have come across some doctors who just command and demand that you do what they say.
Glad you got some answers and a plan for going forward.
