I have mentioned this before, but I really need to vent. My DH and his restlessness, anxiety and repeated questions on what are we doing, where are we going,etc are literally driving me crazy. I have become a mean person because nothing seems to satisfy him or calm him down. He is now back on Wellbutrin and is also taking resperidal. He is no longer on Namenda or Aricept due to thinking he was not being helped by these drugs. He is so confused. I would rather him be asleep in the recliner then to feel the way he does. He is not happy feeling this way either. Believe me, I have discussed this with his drs. and here we still are. I realize some if not all is probably the natural progression of the disease, but there must be some way to calm him down. The latest visit was with a psychiatrist who seems interested in helping us, but I am impatient for something to help before we lose all our patience.
Sounds like he needs medication adjustment. If he is on Wellbutrin AND Risperadol, he should be much calmer. You said you discussed it with the doctors............what was their advice? Sometimes it takes an anti-depressant a couple of weeks to kick in, and sometimes it's not the right one. Others have to be tried.
Who took him off of the Aricept and Namenda? That is not usually recommended until the end because those drugs slow the progression, but once taken off, the patient regresses, then does not fully regain the level of functioning they had prior to being removed from the drugs.
I am learning that the neurologists usually don't like to prescribe the anti-depressant and mood altering drugs. They leave that to the psychiatrist, so hopefully the psychiatrist you mentioned can help get the right combination of meds.
And as so many here have advised me - If the meds. don't work for him, get some for yourself. Every spouse I know is on either an anti-depressant or anti-anxiety medication.
I don't know if this will help, however, a nurse told my friend when her dad was agitated to try to get him to sit, then give him a dry wash cloth to wring, fold or whatever. It always seemed to calm him.
Sounds like he needs Ativan or other anti-anxiety medication in addition to the Wellbutrin. Some people don't respond to Wellbutrin, but do great on Lexapro. You said he is now back on Wellbutrin. None of those drugs should be stopped suddenly. You have to be weaned off them. You should never just quit taking any of those drugs suddenly. And I agree with Joan, get something for yourself to cope. This is way beyond the normal stress of daily living.
Thanks for all the advice. He has been weaned slowly from any drug he has been taken off of. His Namenda and Aricept has not been doing anything for him for a while now. I am going to give the Wellbutrin a while to work and then see. I think I need some time away and will work on that as well. The psych. said the Wellbutrin should be relieving the anxiety somewhat in about 2 weeks, but take a little longer for the depression. The psch. seems to be very willing to get the drugs right for my DH, so I need to stay sane until then. I do take a mild antidepressent, but might need a higher dose. It seems odd to me that my DH can be calm for almost 3 hours while we watch my son practice football, but can't sit still for 5 minutes at home. I am sure he is bored and does not know what to do with himself, but I can not entertain him all day long! I am going to try the washrag!
Alice - I am right there with you right now. My husb seems unable to "sit" still for more than 5 minutes at a time as well. I have a care-giver that comes in 3x's a week and I am trying to "get out", but sometimes I just want to be at the house, 'thinking' while I work on bills, etc. without interruptions...it seems these days the only way I can get uniterrupted time is to LEAVE the premises...I too feel like I'm at the end of my rope many days ~ tonite i was trying to fix dinner & it seemed he needed to go to the restroom...so off we go...down w/the pants, onto the toilet, fixing all his "stuff" down in there and then my encouragement for him to stay in there a while...no sooner did I get back to the kitchen then here he was, coming right back out...sooooooooo frustrating!! And I don't want to be a grouchy wife/care-giver for the rest of our lives...I will try the dry-washrag too...Thanks for the tips & for listening. And, Alice, you are not alone!!
Alice and natsmom, my husband has started this stage AGAIN - two minutes and he has to get out of his chair, and move to the computer chair, then find some lint on the carpet, then carry it to the trash can, then go to the bathroom, then back to the recliner, and starts all over again. He takes Mirapex for his restless leg syndrome and the last time he did this, I double his dose with his doctor's permission and it stopped! That has lasted one month. I just asked today to up it a few more mgs and was told yes, do so. So, we'll see if it works again! I hope so!
When my DH was so agitated I was at my wit's end. The research doctor said there was nothing to do about the roaming at night and when that happens you need to consider 24/7 care. I was in shock! It all came so fast. I tried the washcloth and hand towel folding thing and Hank put the towel on his head before he got up to pace. My suggestion to the research teams is that they make some sort of arrangement to have a sleep over and see how these patients act. Surely, (if we can get to the moon, as they say) someone can figure out something besides a NH. My situation progressed so quickly that I didn't have to make that decision, but I could easily imagine how that behavior is what ends the CG's life. I had a friend with AD. They put some sort of wrist band on and he was happy to move it from one wrist to the other so maybe that would work.
My daughter was on Wellbutrin but had to switch to a different antidepressant because it made her too anxious. Maybe a different antidepressant should be tried.
I agree, if the welbutrin does work in 2wks consider changing to another. not all meds work for each person. its a hit/miss situation and some drs want to stick it out and see rather than change meds too soon. in my case if DH should roam or be too ansy i have ativan on hand, just a quarter of that zonks him out much to my relief for awhile. i wouldnt hestitate to use it if i needed it. keeping them calm sometimes is the best for them. i saw the other day my DH paced himself silly for about 2hrs just walking and yes! with a dishrag in his hand and putting into pocket, taking it out..etc and folding unfolding it..he looked so tired at one time around the track, i said time to stop and get ready for bed, no more walking. he was tired and slept well. i feel if the ansyiness gets overbearing you do need to step in and relieve it with medication. it just wears them out if left on their own. everyday we learn something new. divvi
When my husband was home with me and walking, I used to go for walks with him or send him around the block with the dog. He was always much calmer after a bit of exercise.
Other times, I used his enjoyment of just sitting together and cuddling to get him to be still for a bit. I found that if I could get him to sit still for a short while, he would often settle.
Sometimes a short trip in the car would help settle him down.
Then there were those unfortunate times that no matter what I did, nothing worked.
Mary/Divvi - thanks for the tips on the meds y'all are using to try to work through the restlessness. Therrja-thanks for the tip on exercise outside...it's just soooo hot here that it's not an option, altho the mall might work, however, VERY noisy and those atmospheres are upsetting to DH as well, including the fact that he thinks we are going "shopping", God forbid!! His fav term then is "GAD"...today has been quite an experience...we went to get oil changed in truck @ 9am...(45 min max) @ Ford...under warranty, coupon, you get the picture...anyway, in the waiting room (TV on--man who wouldn't shut up & just had to chat about everything under the stars...in otherwords, noisy!!), started arguing w/me about whether or not we needed to "go get the truck"...trying to calm him, okay honey, you have to trust me, etc....after about 10 min of agitation w/this & others starting to "notice", we walked out into the 'service traffic area' and that helped ~ 10 min later, they were through w/our vehicle & off we went, back home...thought he'd have to tee tee...nope...nothing. Then, after a slight rest, off to the pool service company for info on how to rid our pool of black algae...not a huge deal, but some on our steps, which are stone vs. the gunite of the rest of the pool...we stood there talking with the rep for about 45 min -- no issues @ all :) Then, asked him if he wanted lunch...nope, not hungry; not thirsty...stopped into Banana Republic to see if any sale skirts there for our working dtr in NYC...nope...in there about 20 min...no incidents ~ to our financial advisor @ 2pm w/appt...there until about 3:30...again, so issues. After that, again, offering food - - our fav restaurant -- not interested...home, lemonade - drank just a bit...gave him a 'snack' of left-overs from boston mkt -- just a little -- ate only a bit of it & then just agitation agitation & restlessness...from about 4:30 until 7:30pm...tried EVERYTHING!! Gave him tylenol about 7:30 & suggested shower (so he would pee as none since early a.m.)...he didn't want shower, but finally i just started it & he agreed to do...WHOA!! Such a good thing!! He was LOVING it, pee'd in the shower @ the end...and is now sitting like a happy, content person watching news!! OH MY GOODNESS!! I am so darn tired!!!!!!!!!! He isn't unruly when he's agitated & restless, but just so so restless!! Moving about all the time -- cold sweats -- cool rag on head & rubbing face...then dropping it off in unknown places (finally found it on our mattress!) -- nothing seemed to help him today, until the shower...oh my oh my...I am so exhausted & I just had to vent!! Please excuse me and again, thanks to y'all for the med info...i am trying to keep a lid on this issue, but it's becoming unbearable...right now, I'm just thankful for peace & quiet & water (showers) -- Praying for strength in the days ahead...
Oh, my dear, how hard it must be for you! And I've been reading: peeing in the shower is the latest "green" thing. Gross to me, but it apparently saves water...
Now if we can just get these restless guys onto treadmills and hook them up to generators, we'll solve the energy crisis.