Johnson & Johnson has been under fire with multiple lawsuits, many of which stemmed from Risperdal deaths and irreparable injuries.
Originally, the FDA only approved the drug for schizophrenia or mania. However, the drug maker encouraged off-label uses regarding children, especially within the autistic population, the elderly, and others, ending in disastrous outcomes. While it is never advisable to come off a drug like this one too quickly, certainly programs exist that can provide safe and gentle tapering methods.
WARNING: The FDA warns that Risperdal doubles the risk for death in elderly patients, based on trials and studies done on dementia patients.
NMS (Neuroleptic Malignant Syndrome – a potentially fatal set of conditions that include muscular rigidity, tachycardia (racing heart), and other symptoms.
TD (Tardive Dyskinesia – potentially irreversible muscle movements, for which no known treatment exists).
Patients with diabetes or other glucose abnormalities are at increased risk of coma and potential death.
Vision impairment, blurred vision or other problems.
Rigid muscles, i.e. face becomes mask-like, eye muscles cannot move, etc.
Be sure to contact your medical care person as soon as these or other troubling symptoms appear.
Risperdal withdrawal allows a person to opt out of that side effects that became more problematic than the extant conditions they suffered prior to the prescription.
There are programs where the focus is not to treat the label. Compassionate, effective holistic-based treatments can significantly help a person to recover their mental and emotional health. Sometimes it is humane and necessary to mask or numb symptoms. However, in a long-term health recovery plan, other strategies may better serve.
The primary focus of such programs is to investigate and restore mental health naturally. Actions can be done to help isolate and correct the actual causes of mental and emotional distress without further drugging.
Clearly, it may be prudent to taper off medications which are seen to cause more harm than good. However, it is imperative to assess each individual situation very carefully. The dangers of adjusting dosages too suddenly or aggressively are well-documented, so care must be taken to avoid these risks. Programs which use correct tapering, timing and sequence of treatment protocols, can be most helpful to individually tailor the most optimum path forward.
Recovering from toxic medications can continue well after completing a taper and can achieve even more benefits. Perhaps a person is seeking a stabilized emotional state, or to improve sleep quality. Perhaps a person might wish for the return of calmness and peace, return of muscle tone and control, and increased physical energy. Keep hope! Many find such improvements are very attainable using holistic medical approaches.