autism
"My 9 year old son, who has autism,  was put on risperidone about a year and a half ago after being hospitalized for aggressive and self-harming behavior. It has been very effective with the violent behavior. He is still quite argumentative and has tantrums and meltdowns occasionally but it's much better. The main side effect was weight gain due to his increased appetite. He was always famished! He gained 8-10 pounds in 2 months which is alot for a 7 year old. The Vyvance that he takes for adhd is supposed to suppress his appetite but it wasn't enough to outweigh what the risperidone was doing. After a few months his dr put him on metformin. It did the trick. He lost his added weight. The Vyvance/metformin combo balanced out the risperidone."