My dh was diagonised with mid-stage Alzheimers in May. I have know he had memory problems after a bleeding stroke and thought that was the issue. After reading a novel about AD "I'm Still Alice" while on vacation I decided to contact his doctor to get him tested. The test said the bleeding stroke didn't cause his memory issues and all the bleeding was absorbed. He has AD. I've been living with this knowledge which has been terrible. I got on an anti-depressant but thought I was doing much better. I read alot and have done a lot of studying about this disease. Mentally I understand, have challenged my self to be creative with my dh to keep us positive and enjoy what we have left each day. Today I read a discussion on the AZ site about "unbearable sadness". I had signed up for a stress coach offered by phone through my health plan. The first call, I had to cancel, because I was going to be late to take my dh to the doctors. She called today and I was feeling so much emotional empathy that I burst out crying on the phone when she asked for some background on why I was stressed. I asked to reschedule. I am too stress to take a "stress call". To cut to the chase, I was directed to an 800 number and was able to schedule time with a counselor in a couple of weeks. I decided this is the best thing to do because I have a lot of anger and resentment toward my dh's grown children who act like they really don't care and he has nothing wrong. They have never asked how am I doing. I have made the decision to no longer contact them and if they want to know about their dad they can call. I think going to the counselor will be an outlet for me and hopefully she will have some good advice on how to deal with them without letting them hurt me or get me upset. Also contributing to this morning was the fact I only took 1/2 of my anti-depressant pill yesterday. I thought I was doing so well. Guess not. I went back the regular dose this morning after the crying spell. Strangely, I feel better, knowing I would get an independent accessment and advice on how to deal with his children. Wish me luck. I see her Oct 2.
I think you are on the right track. Definately see the counselor! If you can still leave him alone getting out by yourself would be good. I belong to Curves and find that the ME time is theraputic. I think the exercise helps the stress. Of course I have also been on an antidepressant for a couple years.
I have also thought I was doing better and cut my dosage in half to later regret having done so. My sadness caused my eyes to"leak" so much that I called my dr to have the dosage increased. Seeing a counselor is a good positive plan. I hope you are soon feeling better.
This is a very personal question but I wonder if any of you would be comfortable saying which med you are on? In the past, really separate from H's FTD I tried generic prozac and it was a disaster. Generic zoloft and paxil were maybe a bit better, but the weight gain? I have taken low dose amitriptyline mostly as a migraine prophylactic, and migraines rule out so many meds....
BTW your children sound like my parents- nothing like empathy!
I am taking sertraline hcl (Zoloft) 50 mg. I have gained some weight but I thought that was because I was eating for comfort. I am now trying to get back on the new Atkins diet. I lost 35 lbs last year before the diagnosis. Do you think the Zoloft is doing it?
I took Zoloft for 6 months or so and did not have problems with weight gain (I eat low carb to manage diabetes). However half the lowest dose (25 mg) shut down my feelings completely, and I wasn't ready for that. It also raised my LDL cholesterol (a very obscure effect, but I found it in a medical journal).
I have a friend who is taking Wellbutrin and it is the first thing that has ever worked for her to help her lose weight.
Unfortunately it is trial and error; they work differently for different people.
I have had fibromyalgia along with some other health issues for the last 20 or so years. They tried me on Elavil, Doxapin and a couple of others to help with the pain. All I did was gain weight. Same thing with Lyrica and Cymbalta. The doctor finally put me on Wellbutrin (buproprian) and it works extremely well. Another good side effect to it was it helped me deal with the stress. When Claude got really bad, the doctor upped the dosage. I take a lower dosage now, but when life gets too stressful, I can up the dosage if necessary.