I invite you to log onto the home page - www.thealzheimerspouse.com - and read today's blog. I am curious to know if anyone else has had an experience like mine with fiddling around with their medications.
Joan.. In my humble opinion, all medications need to be fiddled around with. It is a system of trial and error, with many errors and many trials. What works for one may not work as intended for another. For myself, I rely on inner strength and shy away from any type of medication. In the past five years, I have taken about 12 aspirin, 1 vicodin, and nothing else. I often wish I could medicate myself into a happy stupor, or become a raging alcoholic, but some inner barrier prevents me from doing so. I did have a glass of wine and a beer during the holidays, and I suspect the effects will have to last another 11 months. However, as with all medications, my suggestions is for people to experiment with different things and see if the "personal clinical trial" is having the intended effect. Case in point. I am calling our pcp this afternoon to request a prescription for pioglitazone HCL for my dw. I read the side effects and there are basically none. The price is under $15.00, and I will buy a two week supply. Then my eoad dw clinical trial begins... It may have no effect, but I am sure I can notice if any improvements and benefits are obvious. We do not have much to lose, and the risk is not very severe. Who knows..it may have some positive effects, either long term or short term, but it will be worth the effort...
I couldn't agree more, Joan. I'm comfortable on 50 mg and even though I've had a sore leg and tummy troubles the last few days, I'm not nearly as tense in dealing with DH as I had been in past episodes.
But I learned this a long time ago - our daughter was fairly severely depressed until she started Paxil some years ago. The change in her behavior, her equanimity, was unbelievable - but I could always tell when she was skimping on it or didn't refill when she needed to. And it would always take awhile before she was back to her "new normal."
Joan, your blog made me think about my situation. A couple of years ago my PCP started me on Buproprion, 150 mg daily. I couldn't notice any difference, so he increased it to 300 mg daily. At my last visit, in November, I again said I couldn't see that it was doing anything, so he had me taper off and stop. I now know that it was doing something. The last few days have been quite bad, with me being very impatient with DW when she can't do something and feeling very tired and depressed. After reading your blog I called my PCP and got permission to start the medicine again. I hope it works.
Wow! Knowing that you are a physician as well as a caregiver, made me feel so much better about my situation. Hopefully, you'll start to feel calmer very soon.
Joan, one thing I try to avoid is treating myself. When I was in medical school we were taught that: "He who treats himself has a fool for a patient and an idiot for a physician". But I do discuss my ideas with my PCP.
Brand new to this. I am a wreck, but mostly because my husband is. He's having awful anxiety and obsessive thoughts. Every three hrs. at night it's either, "Why am I so anxious," or "Let me explain why I might go to jail." (This is a man with impeccable history who has seized upon something spurious.) What in the world shall I do? Dr. gives him Seroquel and Xanax. Pretty much like aspirin. My husband is also on about 20 other meds for all kinds of illnesses, from heart disease to diabetes to prostate problems. Help!
Joan, I'm up to 100 mg of Zoloft, and I still cry at the drop of a hat, He's also taking 100 mg. and .25 xanax cut in half 2x per day. so there we are.
I see you are new. Welcome to the website where you will find help and support. Tell us more about yourself.
Is your husband on some kind of antidepressant? My husband is on cymbalta and seroquel which has helped his agitation greatly without making him overly sedated. He was diagnosed with FTD right before his 59th birthday. He is now 60 and I am 51.
damejulian--You are new here. Welcome. If the Seroquel and Xanax aren't dealing with his anxiety call his Dr. and tell him. Not every med works for everyone. Sometimes you need the dose adjusted, sometimes something else entirely. Multiple illneses make it even hard to get a good balance on this. I've been dealing with Learning disabilities,. Mental illness, enlarged prostate and Vascular Dementia for years.
Coming here is the best thing you've done for yourself. Joan will welcome you soon as will many others. Please share with us a bit about yourself and your situation. Do you have a diagnosis? Any idea how far the dementia has progressed.
We are here and will do all we can to help. Carosi
I have been on Lexapro, 10 mg evenings for about a year and xanax as needed. The overall situation has caused me to have a diagnosed anxiety disorder TG for FMLA. Lately I've had to take my xanax 1/2 to 1 tab daily. I monitor this situation with my psychologist who serves as my counselor. She cannot prescribe meds but is very familiar with interactions and tells me that when I max out at 20 mg Lexapro there are meds to be added that will add another level of help.
My DH was recently diagnosed with Corticobasal Degeneration (CBD). That does not really change anything, but it means more physical losses and he is totally aware of his losses. Latest setback is his myclonic jerking has increased AND when he is not jerking, his muscles feel like one huge charley horse all over his body. Got past the Excedrin helping VERY suddenly so been up mostly all night 2 nights now and doing what needs to be done w/doctors during the day. I've been off work 2 days and moving into 3 plus at least one more next week to go to the specialist in another town, so now my anxiety over work (OMG I can NOT lose my job and insurance) is kicking. In. I agree with the better living through chemistry. I resisted quite awhile and now wonder how I managed (...it was not well I can now see). Thanks for your candidness.
The first 2 1/2 years of Caregiving I took care of everybody and everything except me. Originally was dealing with Mental Illness--VaD came later. I took care of Dh, young daughter (10); household, getting him SSDI, finances; his Workers Comp claim-through trial; etc. Joked to friend that I should sign up for a clinical study for a Depression med, that was advertizing for participants. She agreed, seriously, and checked back with me to be sure I did. She told me to make the appointment , she'd drive me to get there. I did. Diagnosed with clinical depression. After study, I was referred to Community Mental Health clinic to continue treatment and opted for some counseling as well. My logic was to have the meds to help me get through and heal, and the counseling to get my thinking straight and to learn how to ID symptoms and triggers and methods to intervene early (symptoms) and avoid, weaken, or nullify (triggers). Took me a little over a year to pll out of it and then I was able to wean off the Welbutrin. I've been handling everything since---by taking care of me. I may not put that first all the time, but I don't forget it. We caregiovers must learn this---It is not selfish to take care of ourselves. There is no one else to do it, and if we don't, we'll end up unable to take care of anyone.
In my normal life--before DH had AD--I'd had many anxious moments, disappointments & difficulties, somehow I dealt, cried, had insomenia, whatever, but never screaming at the walls, throwing myself on the bed, sobbing to where I couldn't hear, so frightened about what I was doing to myself that I fled to the doc. He put me on Xanax and explained that from now on--with DH's AD--my well-being depended on what was happening with DH. He said it wasn't fair, but that's the way it was. The thing is that being a CG 24/7 for someone w/AD is not a normal life. Our normal responses and defenses are overwhelmed. I always knew I was a strong person, but Wonder Woman I am not. I reached a breaking point before I even realized it. The unending stress messes with our body chemistry--it's beyond our control. If a pill--under control--can correct the abnormal imbalance, then it's only reasonable to take it. Far from a sign of weakness, it's a sign of facing reality. Be kind to yourself, w/AD your plate is overflowing.
I agree Bettyhere* Just to add my two cents, my Dh was diagnosed in October 09, officially Alzheimers, a year before that our PCP called it dementia. To me dementia just meant growing older and forgetting simple things. Even though I worried about AD I didn't want it to be, denial, but knew we needed to see a neurologist. We did and the words "he has Alzheimers" was our beginning. I held up fairly well and so did my Dh that day. Little did I know that later I would be in tears at every thought I had or when I talked to anyone, EVERYDAY. My blood pressure was elevated, is usually very low, and I felt like I was having panic attacks. I have never been shaken like this. I asked our dr. for something, and prescribed 50mg. of sertraline (Zoloft). It took hold of me and the crying stopped, the sense of impending doom left, I felt calm again, B/P down. He said I should be on this for at least 6 months before re-evaluating stopping it. Although it gets me through the day I wish I could handle this on my own. I feel in control but I also couldn't cry now if I wanted to. That just doesn't seem right. I'm not even at the place where most of you are, my Dh is still very good but for the repetitivness of questions and very frequent forgetting. His humor is great and he feels bad that I have to take medication. Anyway, I don't think I'll be able to get along without the medication for I know it's gonna be a long haul. Dh is 70, I'm 66, married 45years. Getting old together is wonderful but we have hit a big wall. I'm not even going to consider not taking a pill even if I can't have a cleansing cry.
About 35 years ago, after a miscarriage, the death of a 12-day old son, and a third pregnancy spent primarily in bed, I began taking anti-depressants. I've been on a low dose most of the time since. Every time something went wrong at work or at home, I found myself needing them again. Since my brother and sister have also been clinically depressed most of their adult lives, I've accepted that it may be something genetic. I've also learned that you do not stop anti-depressants suddenly but wean off them very, very slowly. Joan, I suspect you tried to do it too quickly. I think I will be taking them the rest of my life, but I refuse to worry about it. As one doctor said, when I resisted starting them once again (before AD entered our lives), "why would you not want to feel better if you could."
Joan, You are one ahead of me this time. Our DH's have been on the same downhill path these past 2 years(I know I read a lot, but respond less often)I have been validated by your blogs and the responses from others, but I never have thought about getting medication to help myself through this.I have been totally involved in helping HIM get the meds right, organizing our lives so he can be as healthy as possible for as long as possible. And of course, everything I try to micromanage turns around and hits me in the face, or really the gut. I have had spontaneous diarrhea,dermatitis of unknown origin,weight gain and I have now been told to be on a no wheat, oats or barley diet.I think I eat too much because there is one side of me that cannot control one more thing!So maybe a bit of Xanax or a dose of Zoloft will help me, too.Phyllis9
I've done a lot of therapy about childhood trauma and had never been on antidepressants--I seem to be genetically not prone to depression. I finally went on Zoloft last spring at the prospect of house renovations and moving. But my LDL chloresterol went up 50 points, so I weaned myself off it very slowly--skipping every third day then taking it every other day for a week and so on. At some point I had about two bad days when I felt if this is what it feels like without an antidepressant I need to go back on. But after a couple of days that passed, and I felt glad to have my feelings back again. My chloresterol did go back down to my usual level. I do see a therapist for two hours once a week, so I get extra help with emotional coping that way.