Risperidone long-acting injection

About risperidone long-acting injection

Schizophrenia is a mental health condition that causes disordered ideas, beliefs and experiences. You will have been prescribed risperidone to relieve the symptoms of schizophrenia. Such symptoms include hearing, seeing, or sensing things that are not real, having mistaken beliefs and feeling unusually suspicious. Risperidone works on the balance of chemical substances in your brain to help control these types of symptoms.

Long-acting, or 'depot', injections are used for maintenance once your symptoms have been eased by taking tablets. The injection slowly releases risperidone into your body to stop your symptoms from coming back. You will need to receive the injection regularly, every two weeks. The main advantage of a depot injection is that you do not have to remember to take tablets every day.

For information about taking risperidone tablets every day see our medicine leaflet called Risperidone (Risperdal).

Before having risperidone long-acting injection

Some medicines are not suitable for people with certain conditions, and sometimes a medicine may only be used if extra care is taken. For these reasons, before you start having risperidone injections, it is important that your doctor knows:

• Wenn Sie schwanger sind oder stillen.

• Wenn Sie ein Herzleiden oder eine Blutgefäßerkrankung haben.

• If you have liver, kidney or prostate problems.

• Wenn Sie Probleme mit Ihrer Atmung haben.

• If you have any of the following: epilepsy, depression, Parkinson's disease, raised pressure in your eye (glaucoma) or a condition which causes muscle weakness, called myasthenia gravis.

• Wenn Sie jemals eine Gelbfärbung der Haut oder des Augenweißes (Gelbsucht) oder eine Blutkrankheit hatten.

• If you are scheduled to have eye cataract surgery.

• Wenn Sie einen Tumor an der Nebenniere haben (ein so genanntes Phäochromozytom) oder wenn Ihnen gesagt wurde, dass Sie einen "prolaktinabhängigen Tumor" haben.

• Wenn Sie eine seltene vererbte Blutkrankheit namens Porphyrie haben.

• Wenn Sie eine allergische Reaktion auf ein Arzneimittel hatten.

• Wenn Sie andere Arzneimittel einnehmen oder verwenden. Dazu gehören alle Arzneimittel, die Sie einnehmen und die rezeptfrei erhältlich sind, sowie pflanzliche und ergänzende Arzneimittel.

How risperidone long-acting injection is given

• Before you start the treatment, ask to read the manufacturer's printed information leaflet from inside the pack. It will give you more information about risperidone and it will also provide you with a full list of the side-effects which you may experience from having it.

• Risperidone injection will be given to you by your doctor or nurse at two-weekly intervals. It is given by injection into a muscle in your buttock or upper arm.

• You may be asked to continue taking your tablets for a few weeks after you have started the injections. This is because it can take a few weeks before you feel the full effect of the injections.

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• Your treatment will require careful monitoring to make sure that you get the best possible benefit from risperidone. Keep your regular doctor's appointments so that you get your injections on time and your progress can be checked. If you miss an appointment for an injection, contact your doctor to arrange for another appointment as soon as possible. This is so that you can be given the injection without any further delay.

• If you are due to have any dental treatment or an operation, please tell the person carrying out the treatment that you have had a risperidone injection. This is important because it may interfere with any anaesthetic you receive. If you are having cataract surgery, it is particularly important that you tell your surgeon that you are on risperidone. This is because an eye problem known as 'floppy iris syndrome' has developed in some people and your doctor will want to advise you about the risks of this.

• If you buy or take any 'over-the-counter' medicines, check with a pharmacist that they are suitable for you to take with risperidone.

• If you have diabetes you may need to check your blood glucose more frequently, as risperidone may affect the levels of sugar in your blood. Your doctor will advise you about this.

• If you drink alcohol, please ask your doctor for advice. Alcohol increases the risk of side-effects from risperidone, so it should be avoided.

Can risperidone long-acting injection cause problems?

Along with their useful effects, most medicines can cause unwanted side-effects although not everyone experiences them. The table below contains some of the most common ones associated with risperidone long-acting injection. You will find a full list in the manufacturer's information leaflet supplied with your medicine. The unwanted effects often improve as your body adjusts to the new medicine, but speak with your doctor or pharmacist if any of the following continue or become troublesome.

Wenn Sie andere Symptome haben, von denen Sie glauben, dass sie auf das Arzneimittel zurückzuführen sind, sprechen Sie bitte mit Ihrem Arzt oder Apotheker, um weiteren Rat einzuholen.

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