 |
 | Home | Contact Us | FAQ | Search & Site Map | Link to Us |
 | Sign In | Join | Other 45 Sites in Network |
Medical Forum / Diseases and Disorders / Alzheimer's / March 2004Question re: Respirdol - and other assorted wee hours of the morning rambling
anyone used Respirdol and noticed an INCREASE in delusional behaviour? My MIL has been on it for almost 2 weeks, and far as I can tell, it's doing the opposite of what it's intended to ... almost 3 a.m. ....she had a nightmare and was impossible to convince that it WAS a nightmare/bad dream ... she's absolutely convinced that she has to hide the dog in her room because ~they~ came into the house and told her that they're going to take him away if he keeps causing problems Perhaps explains why she's been trying to drag him with her everywhere the last few days - yelled at me the other night because she thought I was going to let him out of her room when I went in to give her her pills..... and came up to get him out of my bedroom CONSTANTLY the other day when he decided to have a nap with me (I was home sick... for all the good it did me...she does make it rather difficult to have a nap) She's finally given up on convincing me of it.... finally just whispered to me not to mention it and maybe they won't come back, and staggered off to bed again ...(leaving me with yet another mess to clean up in the washroom ...that's 2 today, after not having any since New Years .... my ~fault~ no doubt, for messing with her routines - I had things to do today, so she spent the day with her daughter.) Oh for ....... no sooner got HER back to bed than my hubby fell down the stairs ... my fault for leaving something on the ledge... NOTHING to do with the beer! LOL How to help me convince her that there aren't any strangers in the house... make lots of noise that she can't define. 2 other ~new~ behaviours this week.... whined and complained the other day "you left me for a LONG TIME!!!" .... actually were only gone an hour longer than our normal workday, AND had caregiver and then her daughter in with her while we were gone on a business trip.... normally is bent on convincing us that she doesn't need us, and telling us that we shouldn't feel obliged to stay with her .... if we want to go away, or even to move out, she'll manage just fine on her own. And has decided that almost everything she's given to eat by anyone other than me (so far), is too spicy .... tinned alphaghetti, a stew I made (that she ate for me without complaint), etc, etc.... it's all too ~hot~ and she won't eat it. Am thinking that dates back to a week or so ago when one of the caregiver's did accidentally give her a far too spicy for her dish ( I always take her portion out before I season it, but didn't think to label the leftovers for the girls; I always just know that the bigger one is ours... changed that now) Will suggest that they try sticking to particular favourites (like waffles with lots of syrup) for this week... hopefully she'll get over that one Well, she seems to have settled, and now hubby's whining... guess it's bedtime LOL Too much coffee today! When Ida got VERY bad, seeing and imagining things, the Dr. put her on Risperdol. For us it was a big help. If you are in any doubt about the effect of it, you might want to try stopping it to see if she gets worse or better. When we backed off to a lower dose we noticed Ida would get worse delusions, but we did it anyway because less of it helped with her motor skills. Only when the delusions were very discomforting and upsetting to her did we continue with the full dosage the Dr. suggested. I definitely didn't see her getting "worse" because of the Risperdol, what I noticed is that she seemed more sleepy and unable to put her thoughts together enough to "think up" a good delusion. There were times when that was a very good thing. Now she still asks to go home once in a while, and where is her little dog, etc. but she doesn't imagine cows that are starving that she has forgotten to feed or imaginary babies that she just gave birth to that were hungry and needed to be nursed, or any of the other disturbing worries that had us in fear that she would leave the house in the middle of the night to search for these animals or people. We can deal with the level of delusions she gets right now..... nothing like it was.. The Risperdol seems to take the element of "care" out of them, if you ask me. It had a deadening or flattening effect, which in the case of disturbing or stressful delusions is not so bad if you think about it. Early on, I told the Dr. that if there was anything he could give her to make her happier or calmer, I was all for it.  SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) she wasn't having anxiety or delusions (other than that she's just fine and doesn't need help) prior to going on it.... also wasn't up during the night, although apparently she told the doctor that she was.... I'm going to start going to the doctor with them from now on... not take the daughter that normally does it out of the whole thing... that would just cause problems... but enough already.... either my parnter or I need to be going .....we are NOT getting any information beyond prescription changes from my SIL .... and I'm thinking he has very little real info to work with, also .... already handled it with SIL and she's fine with it We're starting with a family meeting in the near future.... doc suggested it, apparently (he's likely as frustrated with the poor information flow as I am) > When Ida got VERY bad, seeing and imagining things, the Dr. put her on > Risperdol. For us it was a big help. [quoted text clipped - 33 lines] > > (To reply to me personally, remove sox) > she wasn't having anxiety or delusions (other than that she's just fine and > doesn't need help) prior to going on it.... also wasn't up during the [quoted text clipped - 9 lines] > it, apparently (he's likely as frustrated with the poor information flow as > I am) Good move, Lee. I never let Ida go to the Dr. alone either. She has absolutely no memory of what has gone on in her life currently, so her answers are not of much value unless it is a question about something she is feeling this very minute. SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) hasn't gone 'alone' in years... but the daughter that takes her just isn't up to it..... never more clear than when the home care people were trying to get a medical history .... they asked basic questions, and my SIL didn't have a flipping clue .... not the words, not the concepts, nothing.... she's just not capable > > she wasn't having anxiety or delusions (other than that she's just fine > and [quoted text clipped - 24 lines] > > (To reply to me personally, remove sox) One thing my husband did was create a reasonably detailed medical history of my MIL with all the pertinent details (names of all her doctors and contact numbers, details of every surgery or major illness she ever had with the dates, vaccinations, chronic problems, past and current medications, timelines for her AD etc. etc. Our family doctor helped us with some of the information (a few calls were made). He kept it up to date on the computer, and any time we had to go to see someone new (or take her to emerg), we'd print off a current copy and hand it to the staff since MIL couldn't answer questions and it got to the point where we'd really be wracking our brains to recall certain things. Doctors were always kind of amazed, but I had enough in my head without trying to recall when she had her kidney stone etc. or when she stopped drug A and went onto drug B. It doesn't replace having someone intelligent with them at the doctors, but at least it means the doctors have the correct information on her history, which can be half the battle. Mary G. Mary, I do that for myself. I have one sheet that contains my medical history with dates, and another that lists all my meds, prescription and over the counter. I could never ever remember it all myself. Gwen Signature========================================================== Forgiveness does not change the past, but it does enlarge the future. - Paul Boese ========================================================== | One thing my husband did was create a reasonably detailed medical | history of my MIL with all the pertinent details (names of all her [quoted text clipped - 16 lines] | | Mary G. You know, this is what makes me wonder sometimes. There is some discussion about whether or not Mom actually has Alzheimers. She is 90. Did not begin to have Az like symptoms until she was 86 or so. Still doesn't have many of the things I read about here. But some, she does. And the last cat scan showed "age related cerebral volume loss and microangiopathic ischemic changes" She is continent still, most of the time, eats, walks, no delusions. Just no memory to speak of. She can still read but does not comprehend. Has trouble finding words sometimes. This may just be dementia from Whatever. She has had small strokes. Anyway, this complicates matters somewhat, because although she doesn't remember, she is still pretty acutely aware of what is going on "right now". > When Ida got VERY bad, seeing and imagining things, the Dr. put her on > Risperdol. For us it was a big help. [quoted text clipped - 28 lines] > Early on, I told the Dr. that if there was anything he could give her to > make her happier or calmer, I was all for it. > You know, this is what makes me wonder sometimes. There is some discussion > about whether or not Mom actually has Alzheimers. She is 90. Did not begin [quoted text clipped - 7 lines] > somewhat, because although she doesn't remember, she is still pretty acutely > aware of what is going on "right now". Hi Lesanne, There are so many causes of "dementia" that all present themselves just like true Alzheimers disease which is diagnosable (for sure) only by an autopsy, as I understand it. Mini strokes is one of the causes. All in all, the way they manifest in the person's mind is often very similar and the way we deal with the manifestations is also similar. SignatureEvelyn (To reply to me personally, remove sox) |
Reply to this Message |
 Sign In
 Join
 My Latest Posts My Monitored Threads My Blog My Photo Gallery My Profile My Homepage Start New Thread Enable EMail Alerts Rate this Thread
|
©2009 Advenet LLC Privacy Policy - Terms of Use
This website includes both content owned or controlled by Advenet as well as content owned or controlled by third parties.