Any input on whether this is safe to take together?

My daughter doesn't have insurance, the medications her son is on cost over $400 a month. My grandson's doctor does help her at times with free samples but not always. He has to take stratera in the morning to get through his day but she wants to take him off risperdal (was prescribed for sleep at night) and put him on one-half of 1 mg of melatonin.

She is going to call the doctor but I was wondering what everyones input is on this?

Seems the more natural way to go about it.

Thanks

Quote from cram315:

Any input on whether this is safe to take together?

My daughter doesn't have insurance, the medications her son is on cost over $400 a month. My grandson's doctor does help her at times with free samples but not always. He has to take stratera in the morning to get through his day but she wants to take him off risperdal (was prescribed for sleep at night) and put him on one-half of 1 mg of melatonin.

She is going to call the doctor but I was wondering what everyones input is on this?

Seems the more natural way to go about it.

Thanks

While there is no documented interaction, your daughter should still procede with caution. Very little studies are done on supplements like melatonin, so their effects on other drugs isn't fully known.

I don't really see the melatonin is a suitable replacement for Risperdal. Risperdal is a pretty complex drug, and it's effects aren't really immitated by melatonin. If the Risperdal is stopped, it may need to be tapered off gradually. Your daughter definately needs to discuss this switch with her son's doctor.

Quote from cram315:

Any input on whether this is safe to take together?

My daughter doesn't have insurance, the medications her son is on cost over $400 a month. My grandson's doctor does help her at times with free samples but not always. He has to take stratera in the morning to get through his day but she wants to take him off risperdal (was prescribed for sleep at night) and put him on one-half of 1 mg of melatonin.

She is going to call the doctor but I was wondering what everyones input is on this?

Seems the more natural way to go about it.

Thanks

Melantonin won't substituite for such a powerful drug like Risperdal which must be tapered off of. Chances are, the Strattera is causing the sleep problems to start with so weaning off that might bring back natural sleep without need of melatonin or Risperdal eventually.

Weening him off risperdal isn't an option since she ran out of the medication and cannot afford to replace both medications. If he didn't have the strattera in the am, he wouldn't be able to function at school.

I see what she is going through to afford his medication, I feel sorry for the elderly who are on multiple medications and on a fixed income.

She is supposed to call the doctor and let me know what he says. I wait patiently. My grandson lives with me and I support him but I cannot take on over $400 a month in prescriptions in my financial obligations.

I am not sure what risperdal does (and for that matter strattera), can you explain it to me.

Thank you!

Quote from cram315:

Weening him off risperdal isn't an option since she ran out of the medication and cannot afford to replace both medications. If he didn't have the strattera in the am, he wouldn't be able to function at school.

I see what she is going through to afford his medication, I feel sorry for the elderly who are on multiple medications and on a fixed income.

She is supposed to call the doctor and let me know what he says. I wait patiently. My grandson lives with me and I support him but I cannot take on over $400 a month in prescriptions in my financial obligations.

I am not sure what risperdal does (and for that matter strattera), can you explain it to me.

Thank you!

It's sad we don't have a better system here in the US for people on prescription meds. My own parents struggle with meds too for blood pressure and glaucoma as they are expensive too.

Risperdal is an antipsychotic, a major downer of sorts. It's used off-label for anxiety and sleep issues. It can have major side effects like Tardive Dyskinesia and diabetes, keep in mind side effects can be culmative(happen after many years on drug). It's not to be taken lightly.

Strattera is not as bad, it's an antidepressant but not an SSRi. But it can cause problems as well, in fact my nephew was on it but my brother-in-law didn't like dealing with some of the common side effects such as the sleep problems, so they ended up dealing with my nephew's ADHD with things like tutors and more patience which seems to be working at least for now. Also, Adderall caused him mood swings and aggressive behavior so they took him off that too.