Guest guest Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 to in Dallas - I have not posted here for a long time as life has just been so complicated but your post moved me to do so. PLEASE do a search on this site for posts re: ativan. My MIL for whom I caregive has been on Paxil now for agitation 5 mg for about 2 years - it has not seemed to have any adverse effects and when I talked to the Behavioral Neurologist Consultant about her and meds it was not one he considered a problem. Also she takes 25mg Imipramine and 20 mg Geodon - the Geodon helps with hallucinations. The Imipramine was originally started to help with bladder leakage but it also has helped with aggitation. We had no success with Seroquel but many have. I found the agitation was helped dramatically by just reassuring her that I knew she was scared but we'd get thru it together whatever happens. Hope some of this is a help Sandy (OH) Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 My dad is on Trazodone - 25 mg (I think...I forget the dosage now that I'm no longer giving it to him). He takes it at 8 pm and it presumably calms him down. Lately, he's been up and not able to sleep but, to the best of my knowledge, he doesn't appear to be agitated anymore. Hope this helps. Abby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hi, , I'm sure you realize that Ativan (lorazepam) is one of the benzodiazepines that many have found to be a problem in combination with LBD. Given that, you're instincts are probably right about wanting your mother off of it, not just on a lower dose of it. Ativan and Seroquel don't really mix very well anyway. The dose of Seroquel seems quite high, yet depending on her symtoms, age and weight it may well be appropriate, yet keep in mind that the adverse reactions to it can look a lot like the symptoms you are hoping to control. If she is in a controlled setting with a regular routine, possibly the Seroquel dose could be titrated slowly downward just to see whether or not her agitation is dose-related to her Seroquel. Desyrel (trazodone) is a good antidepressant yet it has side effects that some of the newer ones don't and I believe the newer ones are generally more compatible with LBD. I think antidepressants can be a good addition to the drug regimen, especially for LO's who know they have dementia and that " things are not right " - as my elderly mother knows. This creates a feeling of great loss and depression. My mother is also fearful when nothing looks or feels familiar and we have found a low dose of Seroquel and Zoloft help this. Her hallucinations are somewhat controlled but they don't seem to bother her or me or the nh staff so it's not been one of my goals to have them eradicated. Another factor that might be considered is the amount of caffeine she might be ingesting via coffee, tea or cola. Caffeine is a stimulant and can cause great agitation, especially for people like LBDer's who are prone to it. So I do encourage you to remove caffeine as a possible source of problems. My mother has been on Namenda (memantine) for 8 months and I found that she regained some control within her environment and this alleviated some of her agitation, too. I titrated her up very, very slowly to let her reach a good plateau at each dosage level. She " landed " at 10 mg at bedtime and 5 mg in the morning and cannot tolerate more than that. If your mother happens to be taking any other medications, there may be other factors to take in to consideration, too. Sending a long, soothing hug to your mother and to you and hoping some of this information is helpful. Deb > I talked to my Mother's doctor today and she has taken Mother off of the Ativan. She said > she had talked with the nurses and Mother has had Ativan 9 times this month. She said we > would try it for awhile and see how it goes, but the nurses may need something to give her > when Mother gets very agitated. She said she might want to allow them to give her a > smaller dose of Ativan. > > My questions to the group is: Is there a tranquilizer that is acceptable for LBD? Is there > something else that can be given for agitation? > > Mother is on 100 mg Seroquel twice a day. This has not stopped her hallucinations. The > doctor did suggest that they might change her dosage of Seroquel. > > I suggested antidepressants to the doctor, but she didn't seem to think that would help. > Mother says she is not so sad as she is scared. She is not scared everyday, but I think the > fear is what causes her to be agitated. > > Any suggestions that anyone has for helping with the agitation is welcome. > > in Dallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hi, , I'm sure you realize that Ativan (lorazepam) is one of the benzodiazepines that many have found to be a problem in combination with LBD. Given that, you're instincts are probably right about wanting your mother off of it, not just on a lower dose of it. Ativan and Seroquel don't really mix very well anyway. The dose of Seroquel seems quite high, yet depending on her symtoms, age and weight it may well be appropriate, yet keep in mind that the adverse reactions to it can look a lot like the symptoms you are hoping to control. If she is in a controlled setting with a regular routine, possibly the Seroquel dose could be titrated slowly downward just to see whether or not her agitation is dose-related to her Seroquel. Desyrel (trazodone) is a good antidepressant yet it has side effects that some of the newer ones don't and I believe the newer ones are generally more compatible with LBD. I think antidepressants can be a good addition to the drug regimen, especially for LO's who know they have dementia and that " things are not right " - as my elderly mother knows. This creates a feeling of great loss and depression. My mother is also fearful when nothing looks or feels familiar and we have found a low dose of Seroquel and Zoloft help this. Her hallucinations are somewhat controlled but they don't seem to bother her or me or the nh staff so it's not been one of my goals to have them eradicated. Another factor that might be considered is the amount of caffeine she might be ingesting via coffee, tea or cola. Caffeine is a stimulant and can cause great agitation, especially for people like LBDer's who are prone to it. So I do encourage you to remove caffeine as a possible source of problems. My mother has been on Namenda (memantine) for 8 months and I found that she regained some control within her environment and this alleviated some of her agitation, too. I titrated her up very, very slowly to let her reach a good plateau at each dosage level. She " landed " at 10 mg at bedtime and 5 mg in the morning and cannot tolerate more than that. If your mother happens to be taking any other medications, there may be other factors to take in to consideration, too. Sending a long, soothing hug to your mother and to you and hoping some of this information is helpful. Deb > I talked to my Mother's doctor today and she has taken Mother off of the Ativan. She said > she had talked with the nurses and Mother has had Ativan 9 times this month. She said we > would try it for awhile and see how it goes, but the nurses may need something to give her > when Mother gets very agitated. She said she might want to allow them to give her a > smaller dose of Ativan. > > My questions to the group is: Is there a tranquilizer that is acceptable for LBD? Is there > something else that can be given for agitation? > > Mother is on 100 mg Seroquel twice a day. This has not stopped her hallucinations. The > doctor did suggest that they might change her dosage of Seroquel. > > I suggested antidepressants to the doctor, but she didn't seem to think that would help. > Mother says she is not so sad as she is scared. She is not scared everyday, but I think the > fear is what causes her to be agitated. > > Any suggestions that anyone has for helping with the agitation is welcome. > > in Dallas Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted March 22, 2004 Report Share Posted March 22, 2004 Hmmmmmm....maybe it's that large dose of Seroquel thats got your mom agitated? Courage Agitation questions >I talked to my Mother's doctor today and she has taken Mother off of the Ativan. She said >she had talked with the nurses and Mother has had Ativan 9 times this month. She said we >would try it for awhile and see how it goes, but the nurses may need something to give her >when Mother gets very agitated. She said she might want to allow them to give her a >smaller dose of Ativan. > >My questions to the group is: Is there a tranquilizer that is acceptable for LBD? Is there >something else that can be given for agitation? > >Mother is on 100 mg Seroquel twice a day. This has not stopped her hallucinations. The >doctor did suggest that they might change her dosage of Seroquel. > >I suggested antidepressants to the doctor, but she didn't seem to think that would help. >Mother says she is not so sad as she is scared. She is not scared everyday, but I think the >fear is what causes her to be agitated. > >Any suggestions that anyone has for helping with the agitation is welcome. > > in Dallas > > > > >Welcome to LBDcaregivers. > > > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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