Re: Boy did I just learn a valuable lesson

[Guest guest]

At 05:53 PM 9/25/2004, you wrote:

>That just proves once again, that different people react differently to

>medications. The Melatonin never acted as a diuretic for my mom; however

>after giving it to her with great success a few times, it stopped working!

>Now when my mom cannot sleep, the only thing that works is to turn on the

>television and turn it around so she can see it from bed and watch

>television for a while until she gets really sleepy.

The funny thing is that although I'm adopted I share a lot of my

parents' physical " issues. " Melatonin is like a diuretic for me,

too! LOL I hope it continues to work for her. I plan on cutting it back

on nights when she's normally sleepy, and just using it when she's agitated.

d.

[Guest guest]

Dargie wrote:

Alas, the Melatonin seems to have a diuretic effect so there's always a mess

to clean up in the morning.

*********************

That just proves once again, that different people react differently to

medications. The Melatonin never acted as a diuretic for my mom; however

after giving it to her with great success a few times, it stopped working!

Now when my mom cannot sleep, the only thing that works is to turn on the

television and turn it around so she can see it from bed and watch

television for a while until she gets really sleepy.

carol

[Guest guest]

> I think it is a LB thing, cause my aunt's nose is running

continuously & she doesn't take any medication....Beth

Of course, I admit that this could be a coincidence, but it

seems like a

> strange one.

> As I think I wrote about a week ago, the nurse-practitioner was

here to

> see the folks, and after reviewing the information on LBD and

Exelon,

> suggested that I up Mom's dose to 4.5Mg per day. This meant she'd

go a

> week at 4.5 and then up to 6Mg per day. It made sense to me, so I

did it.

> Unfortunately that damn LBD sensitivity kicked in and, well, I

believe I

> outlined the problems. The NP said to take the daily dose back to

the

> original strength which I planned to do, but -- and here's where my

mistake

> comes in -- I skipped her Thursday dose completely. My thinking?

Too much

> in her system to tolerate a whole 3Mg dose at one time. Let it

clear out

> for a day and we'll start again on Friday.

> HUGE mistake. She was up all night Thursday night, and my poor

father had

> to cope with it because I was out cold, sick as a dog with a

migrane. And

> Friday was one of her manic days even though I medicated her at

> breakfast. It was one of those I-can't-stop-talking days. She

wasn't

> terribly difficult to control though she did keep taking off her

gait belt,

> and the top of her water cup (I have no clue why), but every

indication

> pointed to another all-nighter coming up. Since I got to Friday

dinner

> with the headache still intact, I knew I'd flip out if I had to

deal with

> her all night. Fortunately 2 tabs of Melatonin seemed to work

their magic

> on her and she actually did sleep pretty well (as did my father and

> I.) Alas, the Melatonin seems to have a diuretic effect so there's

always

> a mess to clean up in the morning.

> It was worth it.

> What was not worth it was trying to second-guess this

medication. I will

> never again skip a day with her for any reason. It was a pretty

radical

> lesson in just what Exelon is doing for her, though. Without it

she's

> aggressive and hard to control. Unfortunately, with it, she tends

to more

> confusion, and I've noticed her gait is worse. Her right leg is

the bad

> one but she shuffles with her left now.

> So now we're left with the possibility that she will never be

able to take

> more than the minimum dose of Exelon, and even with that, we're

still going

> to have a lot of difficult symptoms. *shakes head*

>

> Oh, question: Someone mentioned yesterday about their LO's

nose running a

> lot. My mother obsessively wipes her nose, eyes and mouth. I

mean, we're

> talking every couple of minutes; I'm stunned she has a nose left

the way

> she goes after it. Most of the time the kleenex comes away dry or

only

> very slightly damp, but I did notice that her nose does seem to run

more

> than normal. Was this a medication-related thing or a disease-

related

> one? I'm sorry, but I simply can't recall which post it was, and

Yahoo is

> so difficult to navigate sometimes.

> Thanks,

> dargie