Wednesday, October 15, 2008

Effects

Can anyone tell me if risperd*l causes constipation? Isn't that a lovely way to open???? We've upped water intake, added grape juice, exercise and extra fiber foods in the diet but honestly it's not working much. Any advice??? I think the 4 lbs she's gained is all poop. Since she already has poop issues I try to make this a non-issue with me so it's hard to monitor.

The clonid*ne really seems to be helping her sleep better which is a really good thing even though I hate meds. J was waking up every morning with black eyes and bags. This morning there was a great improvement with the dark circles.

The good news is that J made some serious efforts with me last night. She was very helpful in the kitchen. Volunteered to do the dishes and volunteered to give me a foot rub. Yahoo!

Oh...and about this morning....I woke up to Jessi ringing the doorbell at 7:30. That 5:45 alarm meant nothing to me. It was a figment of my imagination. Can you say...rude awakening? Still cannot believe I slept that late?! I don't sleep that late on weekends and I was asleep @ 9:15 last night. What is up with that?

13 comments:

Kristina P. said...

Listen, it sounds like you could use the rest. Take it if you can!

Alyssa's Mom said...

You obviously needed the sleep my friend!

Glad you had a good night - so did we!

I really enjoyed our talk, we will have to do it again.

Stay strong AWESOME MOM!

Love,
Me

Anonymous said...

A quick search says more than 10% of users report constipation, so that seems reasonable. I hope the benefits for J outweigh the side effects.

I took R*sperdal way back when it was new as a depressed teenager who didn't respond to antidepressants. I think that's the one that gave me Tardive symptoms and dilated pupils, the latter of which have never fully gone away. And weight gain and the weird lactation symptoms. None of those really helped alleviate my depression and it definitely wasn't the drug for me. (Z*prexa and Pr*zac, which I think are now some kind of combo pill, worked with fewer side effects. Thank goodness I didn't need to stay on them long, though.)

marythemom said...

Computer ate my comment!

Many of the meds my kids take can cause constipation. We put Kitty on Miralax which was very mild and could be used daily, but had difficulty remembering to give it to her (and she didn't always want to drink it).

We now use sodium duocusate (sp?), little gel tabs that can be given when we give them their meds. Bear has taken it up to 2 times daily. Kitty daily. Now that they don't have any immediate concerns we give them one every other day. Kitty's chronic stomach aches finally went away! She has very little somatic (body) awareness so it took months for us to figure out why she was so miserable! J is lucky she such an astute Mom!

Love,
Texas Mary

Torina said...

It is the Clonidine! Tara was on this for years and it backed her up so bad that she has a permanent "kink" (I'm sure there is some fancy schmancy medical term for it that escapes me) in her colon as a result. We did fruits with every meal and LOTS of regular liquid intake. It dries everything up inside so extra fruity snacks with grape juice help a lot. Did this all start with the farting? Just curious. Cause Tara farted ALL the time when she was on the Clonidine. We took her off it cause of the heart palpitations and constipation and now she is just using melatonin which works better for her.

Jillene said...

Try prune juice--it REALLY works!!

You are probably exhausted and your body needed the rest!! Take it while you can!!

~Dinah said...

I don't know if this helps at all...but my DD had BM issues when she was little and potty training. She got so backed up that she was puking up her food all the time. Anyways, we ended up doing suppositories...which I would NOT recommend for an older, especially RAD child with toilet issues.

But, a couple things that I did that worked were 1) put mineral oil into her drink (water or juice). 2) We finally relented to using a very mild laxative called Miralax. It worked wonders. It is powdered and just a bit in the juice every morning did the job. Literally! :)

Kelly said...

Can't lend any advice but I am glad you got some much needed rest!
Still praying for you and J daily.

MBA Community Ministries said...

Hey!

As far as R*sperdal, we didnt get any effect from it in fact, J got a tic from it.

WE LOVE CLONODINE! IT has been a lifesaver as far as sleep and it works on such low dosages. J has been sleeping well now for 2 years and he is actually growing now that he is sleeping!

Constipation.....I know it is not the greatest but I drink a little caffinated drink like Dt Coke or Dt Dr Pepper and it seems to make me go to the bathroom and poop well. I have also used Prune Juice and regular prunes. That helps! J and S usually are constipated because they are not drinking enough water. Keep pumping the water and get them up and moving with some exercise too.

Hope we all help! I just joined your community and love hearing other moms vent and give ideas!
Your blogs are so funny sometimes because they are so real to our family!!!

Hang in there!

Monica said...

A urologist recommended Miralax for one of my kid's constipation. Also peach nectar works pretty good.

Jeri said...

Our son doesn't have constipation from Risperdol but I'm wondering about the increase in defiance? jeri

withlovefromsumy.blogspot.com/

Tudu said...

I have a couple with BM issues. I give them a stool softner when it gets really bad or to begin with then switch to Miralax when things are moving to keep them moving. LOTS of water.

Holly said...

You must be so tired. I'm glad you are at least getting some sleep.

Keep pushing the fruit juice (try warm prune juice) and fluids.