The Neurologist who is treating my husband's behavior problems, prescribed Zyprexa, along with Seroquel. Any comments regarding the medication? Thanks in advance.
Dear Kadee, my neurologist prescribed Zyprexa a week ago. 2.5 mg once a day. I gave him 1/2 of that in the mornings around 10 a.m. I think it has helped him and he has much less agitation and anger. He deals with traffic much better. He still gets agitated when going to a restaurant and the food isn't there in a few minutes. He also has been getting a bit sleepy in the afternoon and even closes his eyes to take a quick nap. Although that doesn't happen every day. He seems more confused at times and gets words wrong. This morning at 4 am. he woke me up and was very agitated and confused. I got him back to bed around 5 a.m. This has never happened before. The neurologist suggested giving him the other 1.25 mg. before bedtime. I hope that works.
It is so hard to know if the meds cause certain behaviors. I know that Seroquel caused him to really zonk-out. Even 1/2 Seroquel made him eat the roses in the vase and he had problems with his fork. He had never done that and I know it was the Seroquel. He is also switching from Aricept (10 mg. ) to Galantamine. He is currently on 16 mg and in another 10 days on the full 24 mg. dose. That could also cause some problems, I would imagine.
I was very scared when I researched Zyprexa. However, I've decided to approach it as a researcher. I thought that giving him the pills for a short while and observing what happens is not going to harm him. I stay in communication with the neurologist and describe what happens to him.
kadee DH was rx'd zyprexa for the time he was aggressive earlier in the disease. it was that or have to place him as he was unruly and verbally nasty. i dont think there is much choice other than what med they will get when they are violent or physically aggressive. especially in a facility where the safety of others is a concern. zyprexa worked well. but i do remember starting out with low dosings and working up to a level dose after a few wks. the right dose works well. as with most black box meds its always good to doc any real side effects and report to neuro. sleepiness is one of the side effects and also can raise blood sugar levels in some so it would be good to monitor his blood sugar levels every so often just to be sure its ok. i dont think we were on it more than 4mos. and then DH moved into a more docile and less aggressive stage and we cancelled the med for something less potent. goodl uck.
Not sure if this is whats going on with DH. He is going through somthing that is a first for us. Not sleeping..up at 1 or 2 in the morning. He says "I'm going to die" or "I hate myself" or "I going to leave." As I said, this is a first and I'm not sure you'd call it agitation but then I don't know what else to call it! Last night he was up at 2. He finally went to bed about 4 (I didn't) was up at 7. Tood a long nap around 10. He will lie down, sometimes sleep, sometimes not and then he's up again. I'm going to call his neuro on Monday. At one time I could give him melatonin and he would sleep. That hasn't worked in the last 3-4 days. Right now he's listening to his music and singing away just like he normally does. Is this a progression? I know I need some sleep but my main concern is what to do for him.