Hey guys,
So I recently found out that my heart has a condition called prolonged QT syndrome. The doctors think that risperidone caused it to be prolonged to about 471 ms. Has anyone else experienced this? If so, did switching medications help? It’s too bad because risperidone has worked the best so far, but they are taking me off of it. Not sure what the game plan is yet, but they might try me on something else. Latuda or Abilify. Thanks for comments in advance.
To be honest, I’m scared. My apathy though is actually helping me stay cool. Optimism I guess.
search for threads with user @saphire2014 , not to scare you though. I think .470 ms is borderline. You should swithch to another med.
Thanks Mottec. They switched me to Seroquel today and are going to do another EKG in two weeks.
@mrjeremyfisher Probably best to make a EKG’s every six months at least. Just to be safe. Ask them what your Qt is. Anything above .470 warrants concern, according to the guidelines Ive been told.
**Sorry to hear this @mrjeremyfisher.
Hope this works for you 
**
Well; it’s possible that Risp is involved, and, yes, there are numerous alternatives… even besides Abilify and Latuda. Probably eight or ten in widespread use now, backed by 12 or 15 others. You’ve got a lot of wiggle room here.
Thanks notmoses. I am relieved to know of the options. I was getting regular EKGs and they believe it was most definitely the risperidone, based on when the abnormality appeared. Latuda and Abilify carry the least risk for the same syndrome but we went with Seroquel because my heart was normal while on it. Hoping it returns to normal.
Thank you. I get another EKG in a week to see if Seroquel is the better option.
Stay away from Geodon, I had to switch from it because of this.
Big 
to the whole watch out for Geodon too. I took Geodon, and 2 weeks in, my heart felt all kinds of fluttery. I had an EKG and ECG (echocardiogram) done. ECG showed nothing, but EKG for the prolonged QT interval. I was taken off IMMEDIATELY and was told to NEVER go back on it. Word to the wise.
I had heart issues on Abilify everyone has different side effects though and just because that happened to me doesn’t necessarily mean it will be the same for you.
Quel’s got issues, too. (They’ve all got issues. Anything that acts like Parkinson’s when it hits the CNS is gonna have issues.) BUT… at moderate dosages, the liver can handle it. The doc will test your enzymes every few months, watch for cholesterol and/or tri-gly elevations and hypotension (better that the opposite, fer sure). What’s your dose level?
I had similar issues with fanapt.
Working up to 600 mg. Currently, I am just on 100 mg. So far my symptoms haven’t returned (except for anxiety and edginess). To be honest, I would rather have the voices and paranoid thinking return if it meant having a healthy heart.
How long did it take before things returned to normal?
3 months? I think.
Thanks samples32, I’m nervous about it. I hope you are doing well.
I am, thank you.
That’s a somewhat stiff dose. If you’re tolerating 100 mgs well, and you remain non-symptomatic, I’d say stay there as long as you can and be wary of forced titration. Most younger prescribers are not so “by the book” nowadays, and they’ll actually listen to what the pts are telling them as well as eyeball the pts, rather than just slam-dunk the manualized procedure.
Quel is only a moderate cardio-risk, especially at anything below 300 mgs.