I brought Charlie home from the hospital Monday afternoon after his being there for 1 week. Had it been the maternity ward, I would say they gave me the wrong baby. The husband I took in was fairly calm, quiet and easy going through the day. Most of our problems were at night because he could not or would not sleep. The man I brought home was angry, hostile and aggressive. He fought the seat belt all the way home and tried to get out of the car. Thank God the child lock was on. He slapped at me and one of our caregivers who was driving all the way home. Once home he banged and rattled anything and everything he could get his hands on, and he did not go to sleep until 5:00 a.m. He has finally settled down some. I think he was angry at me for taking him there and leaving him. Now that he has the anger out of his system he has been better. However, they did start him on Depakote but I think it is making him worse. He still isn't sleeping at night and seemed more sluggish than usual today. Maybe he was just worn out from the fit he had. Who knows.
There have been many comments on various different threads about the patient coming home from the hospital worse than when they went in (behaviorally speaking).
Sometimes it is due to too many doctors unfamiliar with the AD patient - conflicting opinions, conflicting diagnoses, conflicting ideas on what to do, and incorrect medications. It's important that the doctor who is treating the AD is aware of all the other doctors and medications. I would think it would be best to check with the AD doctor - if he doesn't know what went on at the hospital, tell him about it, including the behavior. If he does know what went on in the hospital, he still needs to know about the behavior.
My husband was put on Depakote and he was agitated. More alert, but more agitated. I was encouraged to give it a little more time, but by 7 days his Neurologist took him off it over a couple days time and tried Klonipin. That was even worse. After just 3 days they stopped that one. Trazadone AND Risperdal were added and that saved the day.
Hospital stays are the pits, everytime my wife is in the hospital we seem to have a constant battle with some of the nurses and specialists who don't know how to deal with or treat a Dementia/AD patient. We finally solved this problem by making sure they call her Neurologist when she is admitted and having him visit her most every day, he is a big help with keeping her off the inappropriate medications and treatments.
Our daughter is a nurse, she is a big help in keeping these folks straightened out too. In the past I have really unloaded on some of the nurses who don't have a clue.