Risperidone

Risperdal® Logo

Brand name(s): Risperdal®

What special precautions should I follow?

Before taking risperidone,

• tell your doctor and pharmacist if you are allergic to risperidone or any other drugs.
• tell your doctor and pharmacist what prescription and nonprescription medications, vitamins, nutritional supplements and herbal products you are taking. Be sure to mention amiodarone (Cordarone); antidepressants; buproprion (Wellbutrin); carbamazepine (Tegretol); celecoxib (Celebrex); chlorpromazine (Thorazine); cimetidine (Tagamet); cisapride (Propulsid); clomipramine (Anafranil); clozapine (Clozaril); disopyramide (Norpace); dofetilide (Tikosyn); doxorubicin (Adriamycin); ergot alkaloids such as bromocriptine (Parlodel), cabergoline (Dostinex), ergonovine (Ergotrate), ergotamine (Cafergot, Ercaf, others), methylergonovine (Methergine), and methysergide (Sansert); erythromycin (E.E.S, E-Mycin, Erythrocin); fluoxetine (Prozac, Sarafem); levodopa (Dopar, Sinemet) medications for anxiety, high blood pressure, or seizures; metoclopromide (Reglan); methadone (Dolophine); moxifloxacin (Avelox); other medications for mental illness; paroxetine (Paxil); pimozide (Orap); phenobarbital (Luminal, Solfoton); phenytoin (Dilantin); procainamide (Procanbid, Pronestyl); quinidine (Quinaglute, Quinidex); ranitidine (Zantac); rifampin (Rifadin, Rimactane); ritonavir (Norvir); ropinarole (Requip); sedatives; sertraline (Zoloft); sleeping pills; sotalol (Betapace); sparfloxacin (Zagam); terbinafine (Lamisil); thioridazine (Mellaril); tranquilizers; and valproic acid (Depakote, Depakene).Your doctor may need to change the doses of your medications or monitor you carefully for side effects.
• tell your doctor if you use or have ever used street drugs or large amounts of alcohol and if you have or have ever had Alzheimer's disease, difficulty swallowing, phenylketonuria, breast cancer, angina (chest pain), irregular heartbeat, problems with your blood pressure, heart failure, a heart attack, a stroke, seizures, kidney or liver disease, or if you or anyone in your family has or has ever had diabetes.
• tell your doctor if you are pregnant or plan to become pregnant. If you become pregnant while taking risperidone, call your doctor. Do not breastfeed while taking risperidone.
• if you are having surgery, including dental surgery, tell the doctor or dentist that you are taking risperidone.
• you should know that this drug may make you drowsy and may affect your judgement and thinking. Do not drive a car or operate machinery until you know how this drug affects you.
• remember that alcohol can add to the drowsiness caused by this drug. Also, using alcohol or street drugs can cause your symptoms to return and make your condition harder to treat.
• plan to avoid unnecessary or prolonged exposure to sunlight and to wear protective clothing, sunglasses, and sunscreen. Risperidone may make your skin sensitive to sunlight.
• you should know that you may have increases in your blood sugar (hyperglycemia) while you are taking this medication, even if you do not already have diabetes. If you have schizophrenia (a mental illness that causes disturbed or unusual thinking, loss of interest in life, and strong or inappropriate emotions), you are more likely to develop diabetes than people who do not have schizophrenia, and taking risperidone or similar medications may increase this risk. Tell your doctor immediately if you have any of the following symptoms while you are taking risperidone: extreme thirst, frequent urination, extreme hunger, blurred vision, or weakness.It is very important to call your doctor as soon as you have any of these symptoms, because high blood sugar can cause more serious symptoms, such as dry mouth, upset stomach and vomiting, shortness of breath, breath that smells fruity, or decreased consciousness,and may become life-threatening if it is not treated at an early stage.
• you should know that risperidone may make it harder for your body to cool down when it gets very hot or warm up when it gets very cold. Tell your doctor if you plan to do hard exercise or be exposed to extreme heat or cold.
• you should know that risperidone may cause dizziness, lightheadedness, and fainting when you get up too quickly from a lying position. This is more common when you first start taking risperidone. To avoid this problem, get out of bed slowly, resting your feet on the floor for a few minutes before standing up.

Last Revised: 01/01/2005

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