Does anyone have any experience with things going along pretty smooth and then within a week losing talking skills, not making any sense and not having good balance. It seems like he lost it so quick. My stepson says take him to the ER, something is way wrong that he should lose things so quickly. I just had him to the doctor and had a good check up and got some Lorazepam for calming him down. Could this have been the culprit? Should I stop giving it to him and see? I'm very upset with the son as he hasn't done diddly poop to help but now he wants me to rush him off to the ER and say what? He has AD and he is getting worse quickly? What do I want them to do. I don't see it as an ER issue but if I do nothing then he feels like I'm not taking care of things properly. But he has not been here to see any of it so in his mind it happened overnight. Jumpin' George, I'm at my wits end.
Here is a little of the adverse effects which your hb could fit into. Google it for the whole story.
Adverse effects
Any of the five intrinsic benzodiazepine effects possessed by lorazepam (sedative/hypnotic, muscle relaxant, anxiolytic, amnesic and anticonvulsant) may be considered as "adverse effects", or "side effects", if unwanted.[4] Lorazepam's effects are dose-dependent, meaning that the higher the dose, the stronger the effects (and side effects) will be. Using the smallest dose needed to achieve desired effects lessens the risk of adverse effects.
Sedation is the most complained-of side effect. In a group of around 3500 patients treated for anxiety, the most common side-effects complained of from lorazepam were sedation (15.9%), dizziness (6.9%), weakness (4.2%), and unsteadiness (3.4%). Side-effects such as sedation and unsteadiness increased with age.[52]
jules, sorry for your DH quick decline. My DH does a quick decline first thing I do is stop recent new meds and call his Neuro. I have to be very careful about changing meds here because of adverse effects including ones you mentioned. I would bet it is the cause. Have the Dr. prescribe a different Med. or reduce the dosage and see if this doesn't help. Good Luck.
My DH's geriatric psychiatrist will not prescribe any of the benzodiazepine for him-says they tend to increase falls and confusion, both problematic for those with dementia. What type of doctor does he see?
jules i have some lorazepam, (ativan) for only special useage if he has a uti and they have to catheter him or such in the ER. i dont know how much you are using but the ER dr gave DH .5mg during his stay in ER and he was smiley sleeping for the whole day. i told the dr it zonked him out and he told me if i needed it again to only use the min dose or half that so about .25mg. upto 2/times a day ... i have never neededmore than .25mg with my DH-it really is potent stuff. with the side effects you are having i would say its way too much for him. divvi
divvi-I think you are right. The prescription the dr. gave was for 1mg three times a day. I dropped that to half a pill in the morning and at night but I think I will drop it completely unless he gets really angry again. PatB-that is good to know as the falls and confusion are happening. Charlotte-thanks for the research, it makes me sure we will stop taking it for now and see how he does. Imohr-you are right. The first thing I should have done was quick giving him that new pill. I'm still mad at his son though. Thanks all, I feel better now.
I understand that another common cause of a sudden decline is a urinary tract infection--they may not report pain so confusion can be the main symptom.
jules, in my opinion 3mg is way to much to start. if you need to give for sleep try just half of one. with giviing 3 x1mg /day it can build up in the system over a few days if your DH has any issues with liver or kidneys. just being older can sometimes slow down the elimination of medicaitons much less with AD. i know my DH has issues of buildup and within days he will be toxic. ask the dr about it. i feel certain your new symtoms are associated to the high dosing but i am not a medical professional but saw what it does to mine. good luck, divvi
jules, i can relate- mine started two to three weeks ago suddenly with a different stance and gait just from the minute he woke up. They took him off of Risperdone - he had been on for sometime, and think that is the cause of his Parkinsons like symptoms. Then they tried the Lorezepam. For one night, he slept well and then since yesterday his decline seems greater , less than 3 hrs sleep and talking out of his head!! SO I have another call back in as to what to do now!!!
decblu-my husband's doc greatly reduced his dose of seroquel which is similar to resperdone when he started exhibiting Parkinson like symptoms. It worked.
So I talked to the Nurse Practioner today at the dr. office and I had taken my DH off the Lorazepam yesterday. He slept good last night and woke this morning more present than he has been in the last week. He can walk and turn around at a fairly quick pace so I feel it was the drug. The NP said to see how he goes the weekend and if he starts to head down the anger path again we will find something else to try on Monday. We also got an appointment for thursday with the urologist.
Divvi- I never did give him the full 3 mg in a day. One full pill and then halfs and now none. I have also trazadone for sleep but only gave it to him once, didn't seem to do anything. Decblu- My husband was talking out of his head also and would rub my leg or my back all night till I thought I would scream because he wouldn't go to sleep and let me sleep. If I went in the other room to sleep he would just come find me. Today without the Lorazepam for the last day and night, he still doesn't make much sense but he is more present and can walk better. I think some of it is just losing ground.
Like Pam said a UTI can really throw them off track quickly. If the mood change was sudden and is out of character for him, it could be a UTI and warrants a trip to the ER. They will check him over, take some blood and urine samples. If the UTI is mild they will prescribe anti-biotics and send him home. A fever can be the sign of a severe UTI and can turn into a Sepsis infection of the blood. A UTI can become serious business if it isn't treated.
The urine strips sounds like a good idea. I think I will go get some. He doesn't have a fever but I guess that isn't always present. We just went to the dr. last thursday and took blood and had a very thorough exam, so I think it may just be how it's going to go. Thanks everybody.
i always confirm my idea of a uti with the strip then take a urine sample to the drs office and they do one as well after i tell them mine was positive. i've been doing this for 3yrs. never failed me so far. some meds can alter the results and or you want try to get a 'test' from the midsection stream. ie- let them start peeing a get a sample of urine after its started that way it is a bit more reliable. divvi
Mine have never shown any color, so who knows if they're accurate. But he seems ok. I've used them (rec. by Divvi) when he seemed to be holding on to himself more than usual or getting up and going more (mostly not making it in time)
Okay so my stepson and I just cleared the air. He called and we had a good emotional chat . So I guess that part of things is somewhat better for the moment and a good cry is a cleansing thing. Wheeeew! So with all of us on the same team now perhaps we can figure this out. Drinking water is a good thing but hard to make someone drink who doesn't like to just have water. I find that most of us don't drink enough water.
Then you find something they like: gatoraide, propel, lemonade - anything liquid. My bil would only drink gatoraide so that is what he drank. These are better than no fluid at all.
non sugar Crystal Lite and sugar free Koolaides are excellent as well as they are sweet and we know AD loves! that but no calories or sugar. i have empty water bottles i save and refill with both of these. DH guzzles them down. :)this is how i manage to get him to drink the 2 lts of water the kidney /uti dr wants. works great-divvi
ps some of the sports drinks have added minerals and or potassium so if you are restrictions be careful.
During the warmer months (not many in Maine) I keep a gallon jug of ice tea in the fridge and drink that with meals and in between. DW either drinks that or cran-raspberry juice (sugar-free since she is diabetic)
Marsh, I found your post about iced tea interesting. I ordered iced tea at a lovely restaurant in Newport,RI one cold winter day and they said they didn't make iced tea that time of the year. Being a Texas gal, we drink iced tea year around. I drink iced tea every night of the year with my dinner meal. :-)
Nancy, have you ever had an "Arnold Palmer"? It's a mixture of 1/2 ice tea and 1/2 lemonade. Whenever I go out and want Ice tea I order that. Most places know what it is.
Marsh, that sounds wonderful! I put lemon in my tea, but the lemonade would make it even more refreshing. You're a heavy drinker, Marsh, I can tell that.
I had always heard of a drink called "Long Island Iced Tea" that was supposed to taste exactly like iced tea. WRONG!!!! I didn't like it at all. YOUR Arnold Palmer sounds delicious and I just may whip up a pitcher full this afternoon. It is supposed to be near 90 degrees in Houston. (and muggy!)
It seems to me I read something about not giving artificial sweeteners to people with AD. They do something to the brain--especially aspartame--Equal--I think. Monosodium glutamate (MSG) is supposed to affect the brain as well. The brain has glutamate receptors (?) and I believe some of the medications work in conjunction with them--eating foods with MSG work in opposition to the meds. I think that's why some people have bad reactions when the ingest MSG. Where is Sunshyne when we need her???????????? She could give all the science on these. I'm going to do a search to see if there are any threads on this and bring them to the top.
Well Ladies and Gents, guess what. He has a bladder infection. It took us almost three weeks to get to this diagnosis. I dont' understand it as I have had a bladder infection and thought I was dying. I can't imagine that he has no pain or idea that he has one. One would have thought our regular doctor would have thought about having a urine speciman to check rather than wait for a urologist appointment. Oh my goodness.
jules thats outrageous your reg dr didnt check for that at first visit. now you know to always ask for the uti test every time somethings different with him. almost always its uti in my DH ...we are better at dx than the drs these days! they seem so clueless with AD. hope they did a culture to find out the type of bacteria!! it can come back if its not the right med for the particular bug. divvi
ps my DH alsmost never shows any distress with his uti.. i think pain sensations maybe affected in AD which is a good thing.
Divvi it's true that we see the bigger picture with our people to know what might be going on. The urologist didn't have the lab results or the ulttra sound results even though we did that last week. I had to ask the receptionist to call the lab and see if they would fax them over. The building is right in the same complex. It's a wonder anyone ever gets better with the incompetence we see. I'm not saying that the doctors are all incompetent but their office help could use some help.
a week to get urine analysis is proposterous. we usually get ours the next day or at latest 2days. the ultra sound would take a tad longer but they could get the other going immediately. sounds like maybe a new dr is in order or at min a new hospital. divvi