It's like night and day. My son was out of control when he was not on this med and is able to control himself better now that he is on it. Besides all the weight he has gained, it's been a wonderful thing for him. Published: September 27, 2007 ::

My son was angry, aggressive, irritable, depressed, totally not loving or happy at all, nonstop energy and did not need much sleep, and woke up several times each night. He started this medicine and within 2 days he was amazingly better. He is almost 7 and is on .5 mg twice per day. If we skip a dose, it's obvious, as he's angry and irritable again. When he's on it without missing a dose he is happy, loving, appropriately energetic, sleeps through the night. He still has a full range of emotions and is very caring and loving and social. It has made a tremendous difference to our family as things had gotten very bad and he had even talked about leaving the family and suicide a couple of times. He was on a higher dose (just .5 mg more) and he started having trouble swallowing, so I took him off it for a week while we decided what to do. All his psychological symptoms cam back within 2 days... His psychiatrist wants him to stay on it but I'm vigilant for any swallowing issues and I will give him Benedryl at the first sign of anything. He has oral dyspraxia also so he already had difficultly with swallowing and breath control/cooridination, so it's hard to say if it's the Risperdal or not. He has gained weight, 8 pounds so far, but we are trying to develop better eating habits! Published: August 31, 2008 ::

My 15 year old son was put on Risperdal two years ago as a mood stabilizer, he had a horrible, violent hair-trigger temper punching holes in walls, throwing furniture, and wasn't even allowed to attend his regular middle school, he had to be taught off-campus due to constant explosions directed towards staff and students. Thank God for the Risperdal. He rarely even gets angry anymore, and I'm no longer afraid to confront him if he's behaved negatively. However, the weight gain has been enormous. He's grown a lot height wise, but the weight gain isn't in proportion. He's an athlete, lifts weights 5 days a week and works out with his track team every day. The problem is he's now 300 pounds, at 6'5", and he gained so much weight so fast he even has stretch marks on his waist, hips, under his arms, his shoulders, etc. His size is great for football, to a certain degree but not so much for basketball, as the extra weight really slows him down. He eats healthy, but enormous amounts of food. If not for the weight gain, this would be the perfect medication for him. Kids have started teasing him, even though he's a popular athlete at his high school. His success in school can only be attributed to being on Risperdal. We've had to gauge what's more important here, and since he was basically headed for a life of crime and juvenile detention centers followed most likely by life in adult prisons, we'll take the weight gain. Published: March 19, 2008 ::

My son has been on Risperdal .25 MG since being diagnosed with ADHD last year in kindergarten. Although this is now used in a complete regime of other medications and therapy, I am pleased with how it works for him. It helps him to control his anger outbursts and helps to keep his emotions "even" through out the day. The ONLY bad thing we have experienced is weight gain, he has gained 20 lbs in one year. However, he is not considered obese or overweight, it is an issue for parents to keep an eye on. Published: November 02, 2007 ::

My 4-year old has been prescribed this for his mood-disorder. He has been less angry and less violent. He is very emotional though. Instead of raging out, he cries more. He definately has an increased appetite. Overall, I would say that this is a very effective medication for him. Published: November 22, 2007 ::

My son was diagnosed with ADHD when he was 6 and at first we had him on Straterra and it worked for a little while with his anger and fits, but it didn't help much with his impulsiveness and then it stopped working on his outbursts and when I took him back to the doc, she mentioned this one to me and I figured we would give it a shot and so far it has worked great. He doesn't get angry too much any more and he can actually think about his actions first. Published: January 17, 2008 ::

In only four days have noted great reduction in anger and agitation, no side effects either. We see smiles on our son's face for the first time in two years! Published: February 16, 2008 ::