For the last few weeks my dh has been getting nastier by the day. The Seroquel was working pretty well for a few weeks and even seemed to be too much at the beginning. Last night he wanted me to do something and I said I would in a few minutes when I finished in the kitchen. He came and stood behind me as I was putting the coffee up for the morning and then grabbed me by the shoulders digging in his fingers and shook me. then he went in the TV room and threw a temper tantrum throwing stuff, knocked over a big glass of water, threw a glass coaster across the room and generally made a mess. I give him Seroquel 50mg in the AM and 25 at night crushed in ice cream. This morning he would't take his meds until nearly noon and was nasty and argumentative all morning until my stomach was churning and I yelled at him that I was going to have a heart attack and then what would he do.
Does the Seroquel wear off in a few hours?. Within a half hour after he takes it he calms down and dozes off and on for 4 to 6 hours but is starting to be at me again by the time I am trying to get dinner. Dr said I could use it in the PM but I think he needs it by 3 or 4 pm. Its a strange time to give him Ice cream but I know he won't take a pill then. The only way he takes the am ones is that every day when he asks what they are for I tell him its for his blood pressure and his vitamins. Any ideas, anyone? I can't take much more, I'm tired of being called a stupid bitch.
I don't have any experience in this, but it sounds scary to me. Does your doctor or associate accept phone calls over the weekend? I would think your husband needs a medicine adjustment, but something done better by the doctor. I know that many on this site have had experience with this, and I'm sure they'll be along soon to comment. If your doctor isn't available, do you have a pharmacist to ask. Here in Vancouver, we have a hot line to an R.N. who can advise. I think that Coco had a similar problem. You might want to do a "search" on her comments. Type in her name as follows, with the colon, Coco: and then click on "comments."
Forwhat it's worth, my DH was on Seroquel at 2 different times over the years of his progression. For one thing it doesn't stay in the system, or "build up". Also, the doses you're using are small. By my experience with it, particularly the second time, I figured out the spacing and time for his doses, based on his body's clock. WE were addressing trying to calm him from the anxiety and agitation of Sundowning, so he could go to sleep at night. He was fretting about not being able to go to sleep and everything would spiral. Dr, said to give it at 8 pm. He weouldn't get to sleep until 1:30--2 a.m. He wanted to go to bed around 7-7:30. I backed up his dose to 4 pm, and he'd be calm and able to go to bed between 7:30-8. If needed he could have a second dose in thge early am hours, but we never needed that. I am more concerned with the violence of his actions. That needs to be addressed. A med evauation and adjustmwent , I think are needed. From experience, things can change in the blink of an eye. You cannot rely on him keeping control--he's already losing it. Shaking you can be bad enough to cause whiplash. Throwing things can escalate to you being a target. Please, contact his Dr.
any physical interaction that causes concern should be addressed immediately. we know from many here that things can escalate in a heartbeat and we are never ready or expecting it. there are many on seroquel here what works for one wont for another. dosing and timing may be key. you may want to get with his dr and up the doseage and spread it out more during his more trying times of the day. and or add something else to the cocktail to help keep him more compliant. if upping and adjusting timing doesnt do the trick rather quickly like the others suggest you should consult his dr for maybe an interned medicine adjustment to get this ironed out before it escalates. stay safe. divvi
Thanks for the input. I am going to try to contact the nurologist tomorrow. In the meantime I am trying to keep him calm. A little while ago he just HAD to have the nail clipper while I was on the phone. I told him where it was ( the same place it always is) but he's looking in the living room drawers. Rather than let it escalate I had to go then to the bathroom and get it for him. By then he had forgotten he wanted it. Go figure.
MaryinPa, I wonder if the colder weather has an effect on them. Lloyd has been an S.O.B. since the weather got colder. He has been confrontational for the last 4-5 days. He has been knocking things onto the floor and has broken a few things, too. I have a knickknack shelf he is always knocking off the wall in the upstairs hallway. He even knocks pictures off the wall on occasion. Sometimes I think he will give me a heart attack, too. I am calling the doctor tomorrow to see if he can prescribe something for the agitation. My daughter was out of town since Thanksgiving so I wonder if that had anything to do with it. My poor son is beside himself. He called yesterday mid-meltdown. He called later and said I was scaring him. I was telling him I was going to "off" Lloyd and end his miserable existence. If only I could get away with such a thing. My poor husband is long GONE! I don't know why he must continue down this dark road.
dont forget next full moon is 11/28 next wednesday. it has some very nasty and strange effects on our spouses. its a strange but factful phenomenon that appears mainly with a few days prior or aft of full moon.
Hadn't even thought about the full moon. I know it affects people in nursing homes. Had a friend who worked in one. Said lots of the patients acted out then.
Once I caught on to DH's pattern, I worked out med adjustments for the span of 3 days before through 7 after (total 10). Even he was somewhat aware of being more edgy then. It is real.
This has me wondering - does the nastiness just come as part of the disease, or was there always nastiness deep down that was never given "a voice"? My husband has had a few nasty moments (I've been called a bitchy old lady!) - he was always a cheerful, happy person, at least on the outside. They (he & his siblings) were all brought up to put on a happy face, just like Mom! However, there was a lot of misery in that family - it just wasn't talked about, & always the pretense that everything was fine. I wonder if he felt nasty inside, but just denied the feeling. By the way, he has always been the master of denial! Just wondering if their past or present environment has anything to do with it.
I guess those "filters" disappear & whatever they think or feel can't be faked anymore. Hmmm... wonder if he ALWAYS thought I was a bitchy old lady!! LOL
I do not believe that dementia brings out the true personality. It breaks the brain. While some behavior is from the removal of filters and people will say things that they have kept in before, they are now seeing a reality that is different for them than in the past, and it can be quite scary for them. And a common social situation, someone asking them what they ate for breakfast, is now a test. So they become different, they lose filters and they are now living in a different world. I don't think I would be very pleasant in those circumstances.
Lloyd always had a temper. I really didn't ever see it except for 2 times in all these years when he got so mad that he said "f*** you". He never raised a hand to me ever...until lately with the Alzheimer's. Oh, he was a scrapper when he was in high school, but he just was never like that with me. I agree with Paulc. The poor dears are broken. I know I wouldn't be pleasant at all in his circumstances. He is not part of my world anymore. He lives in his own world and only comes out on rare occasions. I really try to keep everyone from asking any "test questions" which is any question at all unless it is "do you have to poop?", "are you cold?" and such.
When I first started reading about FTD, the authors made it clear that the romantic poetic notion of dementia stripping away the veneer of civilization and revealing our true selves was total BS.
Somewhat off topic, in The New Executive Brain there is a discussion on Tourette's syndrome and why people with it curse. He writes that they use forbidden words because they are forbidden, the impulse to say things you should say is hard to resist. The urge to curse isn't a normal thing, we don't need filters to stop us from constantly cursing, but their brain makeup pushes them to say forbidden things.
My husband was never nasty, aggressive at all before dementia (FTD). He was the sweetest and kindest man I have ever dated. But once he got FTD he lost any empathetic/sympathetic feelings, became angry and yes even did violent-things he never would do without the brain deterioration caused by dementia.
I agree with Paul. At times you might see an exaggeration of certain pre-existing traits, but it's all part of broken brain syndrome, and that's a grab bag. You don't know what will happen. Is as likely to be a complete switcheroo as it is to be anything resembling what came before.