Ativan - Alzheimer's

[ketriz18]

Zyprexa and Seroquel are psychotic medicine. Zyprexa has less side effect than Seroquel but it's an expensive medicine.Haloperidol is an old medicine for anxiety and has horrible side effect. Ativan is prescribed for anxiety,agitation, restlessness and difficulty in breathing. That's why it is also given to hospice to calm them and to relieve them in shortness of breathing. It is also prescribed for those who has sundown symdrome.

These are the medicine given with AD. Aricept for memory retention, and forthe earlystage of AD,they are given: Namenda, excelon or low dose of Zyprexa. Usually it is accompanied by anti-deppressant medicine like Xanax, Prosac, Zoloft,Risperdal, it depend to the needs of individual. And because Alzhiemers change their sleeping pattern, they wander at night and sleep at day time they are given sleeping pills like Trazodone, Ambien, Klonopin, Remeron or Ambien. There's a lot of medicines regarding this disease but these are the most common prescribed. Some help but most of them not.

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

I have made my point with the ativan and I guess it is up to each to do the same

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

Ativan I have been taking for my Anxiety I have just come to the TOTAL conclusion is the cause for all my probs with my memory loss and I have STOPPED taking it with doc in my TX plan ..........
Just my opinion

[Gypsyworks]

I am off of an Alzheimer's diagnosed case, because they refused to accept my observations while administering Ativan to my patient. I am trained in the Field of Alzherimer's, and am also Med. Certified. Upon entering the situation in the home, I went directly to the medications that were prescribed to my new patient. I found conflicting drugs. Ativan, and RemRon. Ambien and Lunesta. the latter have very serious side effects when used in conjunction with each other.
I accompanied my patient, and her family to her Physician. I explained my observations of the patient, after taking Ativan for agitation. She began to have tremors, or what appeared to be restless legs. She had skin tears on her shins, from her recent stay at a skilled nursing facility before coming home. She was on a regimen of anti-depressants, blood pressure medication to keep the blood lowered. I assume their diagnoses of Alzheimer's was a Vascular Dementia.

Her Doctor insisted on administering Ativan for what they call " Sun-downing" A catch all phrase. After approximately 30 hours of episodes of crying, and other behaviors, non stop. The night Caregiver left immediately, stating he couldn't bare to see her suffer.( He panicked and felt helpless). I helped her son take her to the Emergency ward of a nearby Hospital. Immediately after our arrival to ER, she became very calm and lucid.

I described to the attending Physician my observations of my patient,while taking Ativan. At approximately 4:00 in the morning, the Dr. ordered an injection of slow acting Ativan, the drug of choice for Alzheimer's. Within one half hour, my patient had severe tremors, and the Cardiac Monitor showed her heart rhythm all over the charts. The decision to give her the Ativan, was supported by her family Dr., as well as the ER Dr. She was climbing out of bed, off the walls and having a major Neuronal Glitch. I feel that once a Dr. has diagnosed a patient with Alzheimer's, he/she is given Carte Blanche to use this Patient as their own personal Guinea Pig. Finding an above board Dr. is the most important factor.

One of the reasons for Conflict of Medication is the process of ordering and receiving them. Each time a Dr. orders, and then cancels a new drug, it is up to the Caregiver/family, to place the discontinued medication in a safe place. If a mail-order company is late in getting a medication to a patient, and the Dr. sends a Prescription to a Pharmacy, then these two companies have no protocol for alerting the Caregiver of the conflict of medication. Not knowing the other is filling the conflicting Prescription.

It is up to the Dr. to control the medication, and to keep the family informed of all changes that conflict with each other.

Hope this info. helps you in your decisions on Medication. This has to be the toughest job you can encounter in your life. Peace be with you.

[SnowyLynne]

After being on many antidepressants some with no good results others with worse results I was put on Remeron.It was a life saver for me,but am now on the highest dose of it......45mg...........

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SnowyLynne

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

Hi there and WELCOME
Your input is very valuable .........thank you so much I do hope that you will continue to come around and be part of this forum

My mother was on Ativan until I basically did the same .and as per your patient this showed her reactions to this med

Stay with us plz
LYN

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                                        Long  Time Member of da Family

[wendy4413]

I am worried that this thread may be "dead" as no one has posted recently. My mom has 24/7 caregivers, very good Alzheimer's treatment program. They are saying, as I see is typical, that she is entering a new phase. She is not sleeping at night and is more aggressive and slightly combative. They want her on Ativan or a similar medicine so she, and they, can sleep. She never remembers any of her nighttime activity and denies it. When she had knee surgery and was disoriented and agitated, she was given Ativan. She became psychotic, ripped her clothes off, tore out the IV, etc. I know that it can have a reverse effect on Alzheimer's patients. Can anyone suggest an appropriate medication, based upon your experience (I know reactions are quite individual)?

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

We really cannot state A Particular med but I know my dad was better on Nemada

I believe the NH and Retirement homes use too much ativan to keep the patients "Mellowed out"
Just my opinion
Snowy may know of different meds
I hope she will post to your question

All the best to you
Stay with us

God Bless
LYN

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  _{^{DX With Crohns,Pyoderma Gangrenosum,Anxiety/Panic,Fibro & Other DD}}

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

BUMPING this for newer members..........

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  _{^{DX With Crohns,Pyoderma Gangrenosum,Anxiety/Panic,Fibro & Other DD}}

[durusi]

I am the only other person here. So, how is it that we can have say, two to three good weeks, where things run fairly smoothly and then all H--- breaks loose?I was told by my family doctor that ativan, xanax, and other short acting anti-anxiety meds can result in nightime aggression with alzheimers patients. My Dad takes Serax, a long acting anti-anxiety and sleep aid at bedtime. For the most part I haven't been able to correlate aggression with it, although as his disease progresses, he is becoming more combative, argumenative, irritable, and generally unstable. we can have weeks where we get along fairly well, and then for seemingly no reason at all, this combative personality emerges, where he talks dirty, swears, says things that I never heard him say, just mean nasty, ugly things, generally directed at me. Is it the disease? Is it the meds? Is it the weather? Is it the full moon? I sure would like to know. Of course when I raise it with him, "he never said it", "he never did it". I'm the one imagining it all. But believe me, yes I'm depressed, yes I'm exhausted, yes I wish someone else would take over for a while, but no, I didn't imagin it.

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

HUn
YOu are not alone in this
I have been where you are and no I did NOT imagine it either

Benzo's suck as Xanax and ativan I dont think are the best
way to handle an AD loved one

To have them drugged to the point of a zombie is not right IMHo

I wish you could get some help sweetie
I hear your fatigue in posts

God Bless

LYN

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                                        Long  Time Member of da Family

[mommakris]

My father has been in a health care facility for a month. He has alzheimers and following a fall which required surgery to stop a brain bleed, we had to place him in long-term care.  After the first couple of weeks, we noticed a drastic decline in his demeanor. He became unable to stand and was constantly kept in a gerry chair. He looked vacant and became basically unresponsive. When we questioned them about his meds, we were told he was being given ativan. After researching the alzheimers assoc. web-site and other places, we found this was NOT agood drug for alzheimers patients. Especially not in the massive doses he was receiving. I ask his internal med dr. to review his meds and he said under NO circumstances should he be given ativan. They stopped all meds last week and he is MUCH better. They have added seriquil back in again, but in smaller doses. He was being completely snowed by meds. Chemically restrained, if you will. Please question the dr. who prescribed this med and inquire about alternatives

[durusi]

The short acting Benzo's cause nightime aggression and agitation. I am POA for my father, and was his 24/7/365 caregiver util two days ago he became aggressive, combative, wandered at night, and impossible to care for, without an orderly who could overpower him. He was admitted through the emergency Dept. of the local hospital and there he sits until they can find an alzheimers bed. One police officer who was trying to assist me in caring for him by calling for well-being checks, dropping by to chat with us and so on, overheard the 911 call on the scanner and drove in to the Hospital to lend support even though off-duty. he saw this as explosive potentially situation. Dad was on Serax. I blame the benzos, plus the inevitable progression of AD, for his rages. Thank-you and God Bless you all.

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Hypothyroidism, Fibromyalgia, Facet Joint Syndrome, High Blood Pressure, menopause, Migraines, Chest Pain, Anxiety and Depression/BiPolar II

[mommakris]

It's interesting that I just received a call from my dad's health care center. They are planning to do more aggressive physical therapy in order to strengthen his leg muscles (which were fine before all the drugs they gave him). They want him to be able to get up and wander again in order to relieve some of his agitation. I have been telling them for three weeks, if they would just let him pace he would be much more content. It took intervention on his doctors part, at my request, for them to stop the ativan. Now they see. We all have to be very vigilant about these caregivers and be advocates for our loved ones who can't do it for themselves. My dad is in what is considered a very high end, pricey, health care center. None the less, the people there are under paid and over worked and I'm sure they get frustrated with their patients. I also highly suspect they are restraining him at night since he is no longer 'snowed' by the meds. I will be looking into the legality of that also

[cliffgie]

A friend of mine told me that her husband, an M.D., had died as a result of Alzheimer's. She said he had been addicted to Ativan (Lorazepam). That caught my attention, since I have a 40 year old son who is terribly addicted to Ativan. Getting off the drug is almost impossible, and without good insurance there is little medical support -- a real tragedy.

Cliff Gieseke, San Antonio, TX

[SnowyLynne]

Benzos are bad news for anyone with dementia,period!

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SnowyLynne

[Daughter61]

If you are concerned about the medications that are used on a family member or friend in a residential nursing facility, you should be aware that there are laws to protect the residents. And some affect the use of medications.

(1) As a starting point, the nursing staff is probably legally responsible for reporting NEGATIVE CHANGES in a resident's physical condition, mental condition, and social interaction to their family and their doctor. If a medication makes it harder for a resident to walk or feed themselves, if they are more forgetful, or if they are withdrawn; then these changes should be reported to you and the doctor. If the nursing staff refuses to acknowledge it when there is a negative change and/or the doctor hasn't been notified, I'd be concerned about the facility. You probably can't move the resident. But you might want to get more involved. When you are visiting, take pictures or videos and keep a diary of activities. (How does the resident greet you or say goodbye? How much is the resident sleeping. How far are they walking?) If you see any changes, talk to the nursing staff or the resident's doctor. Or you can talk to the state's nursing home investigators.

(2) The residential facility cannot use medications in lieu of "cares." It's my understanding that in the 80's or so, facilities started using the trendy drugs (like Valium?) to sedate residents. The 1987 Nursing Home Reform Act was passed. And most or all states have some version of their own. Nursing facilities are now prohibited from using medications for their own "convenience." It's considered a "chemical restraint." And it's a form of ABUSE against a resident. Unfortunately it's not always clear what it means to use a medication for their convenience. But I think there are a couple of good rules of thumb. There may always be some positive and some negative effects of a medication. But for a drug to be considered effective, the positive should generally outweigh the negative. And the info published on the drugs will usually say that a patient should get the LOWEST dose that works. So if a resident seems to be experiencing a lot of negative side effects (e.g., sleepiness, having a hard time using legs or arms, very withdrawn and non-communicative), it's right to question whether the medication is benefiting the resident. Then start watching the staff. And see if they are taking care of the resident as they should be. First, each resident should have "cares" prescribed for them specific to their condition. Common sense dictates that a resident with memory problems should be reminded of what's going on. The staff shouldn't come in and grab the resident out of bed or pull down their pants without first warning them. Or the resident might get agitated! Especially if a gang of two or three grabs them or strips them. Second, the laws will often require that the facility do certain things to help make the residents stay more pleasant: provide recreational activities (even those bound to their room), pay attention to the resident's likes and dislikes in re to menu selections. Otherwise residents will naturally experience some depression. And third, the residential nursing facility generally has requirements to educate the resident's family about what they can do to help. If the nursing facility isn't using proper "cares" and isn't making even a minimal effort to do things to make the experience tolerable for the resident (that are legally required) and then the nursing staff is specifically requesting the residents doctor for medications (and is always just adding more and never decreasing them) and those medications seem to be making the resident more like a vegetable, then I think there is an argument that the facility is using the medications for their convenience. (Sometimes they are stupid enough to make statements like "We need a regime that works for US" and "We like to use the HIGHEST dose that can be TOLERATED.")

A good starting point for learning how you can help your family member or friend is the National Citizens Coalition for Nursing Home Reform at www.nccnhr.org .

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

Here in Ontario NH are regulated but retirement homes are not unfortunately and many ppl with ad are over medicated imho....lyn
We do also need stricter guidlines for NH here as well as far as i am concerned....lyn

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                                        Long  Time Member of da Family

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

bump important info here imho

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..Co Moderator for Crohns...Anxiety/Panic......Alzheimers

DX..Crohns,,,A/P...Fibro...Seizures..Neuropathy...Pyoderma Gangrenosum..Deaf

I Refuse To Give Up....Others Are Worse Off Than I Am

Donate to WWW.HealingWell.com
MEDS..Lyrica..Dilatin...Pentasa...Folic acid....Ativan..,Diazapam prn..Trazadone at HS..T 4s PRN

NEVER GIVEN UP NOR IN

[Lyn_Kyle_Emerick]

I thinki am gt try remoron as well to see if it helps me to cope better
yu snowy
huggs
lyn

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..Co Moderator for Crohns...Anxiety/Panic......Alzheimers

DX..Crohns,,,A/P...Fibro...Seizures..Neuropathy...Pyoderma Gangrenosum..Deaf

I Refuse To Give Up....Others Are Worse Off Than I Am

Donate to WWW.HealingWell.com
MEDS..Lyrica..Dilatin...Pentasa...Folic acid....Ativan..,Diazapam prn..Trazadone at HS..T 4s PRN

NEVER GIVEN UP NOR IN