I asked our neurologist for a drug to use when needed to control dh's anxiety - he gave us Alprazolan (zanax, I believe). I cut 4 mg tabs in half and have given it to him twice. Both times it worked very well and with his generally dark mood since winter's arrival here (we live in Washington state), I've been thinking about giving it to him daily. I read, however about this drug's side affects and it's addictive character and am now unsure about if I should give it to him or not. He also likes his wine and he already drinks too much (imho), so mixing the drug with the wine is not good, either. I could hassle him about his drinking but I've read and been told that he will forget about drinking in time, anyway. The poor man has already suffered too many losses, I can't take his wine, too. In the meantime, I have to suffer his dark moods. How have many of you handled this situation with your loved one?
I have just posted a discussion (before I read yours),my DH is terribly depressed. He has been prescribed Avanza 30mg at night, but by moring the effect has worn off and the dark mood starts again for the day - by night he is just so miserable. He was prescribed Zanax a couple of years ago when he wasn't even this bad, but it made him very confused and when I read the side effects, I took him off it. Like your DH he has lost so much, can't read, write, concentrate on TV, so he hasn't really got much left in life. It is hard to cope with the daark, unhappy moods and keep yourself cheerful, and even partly able to live a life.
My dh just ysterday asked me again "what was that doctor thinking? I just have a little trouble remembering things, after all I'm 80 and doesn't everybody have a few memory problems at my age?" So, we had a pretty rational discussion that he understood at that moment. We are travelling to warmer climes at the end of January and I'm hoping that will lift his spirits. He can still golf and we have a good time together doing that. He loses things easily, but, I can deal with that also. I don't know what stage he is in, some days he's worse than others. Keeping him busy without upsetting his applecart is a bit of a challenge. And, I have a hobby that I'm not willing to forego just yet, so he sits in front of the tv often alone for many hours a day. I keep thinking that I have taken on so much to care for him that I'm not about ready to give up my sewing that keeps me creative and happy. Some days I think I could use some of that Zanax myself. I would like to help him out of his "blues", but not at the expense of possibly creating another bigger problem. I alredy want to run away; but like Joan, I never will because he's been such a good husband all these years and deserves nothing less than my devotion in his hour (years) of need.
I sometimes wonder if dh is suffering from depression. Mostly though just lack of ALL emotion. So I haven't done anything about it. I would not worry about addiction, since AD is a terminal illness. Side effects are a different matter if they make him uncomfortable.