itching and agitation and yelling

[Guest guest]

Some really great ideas and suggestions on this, thank you

The itching is definitely tied to agitation. Every night at bedtime it strikes

now. As soon as she knows she is going to bed she starts itching. She

doesn’t like to sleep at night – she is drowsy all day and it’s a lot of

work to keep her awake, doing things. Then about dinner time she starts waking

up – but it’s a weird waking up, it’s like someone on drugs (which she

isn’t at this point) and out of touch with reality completely. By bedtime she

is either very tired and crabby and says she wants to go to bed or she is chirpy

and talking and they surprised she has to go to bed. I am having to put socks

on her hands now, secured with vet wrap, to keep her from clawing her face (even

with nails trimmed and filed as far as possible) and tearing the oxygen canula

off. She yells louder and louder – and I am actually worried a neighbor might

hear and we are out in the country – the nearest neighbor about 200 yards away

through brush and woods.

She carried on like this for 5 nights – not sleeping more than a couple hours

then yelling and carrying on all night. Help me please somebody help me please

and on and on. Last night finally I gave in. I gave her the dreaded Ativan

and just .25 ml. It worked and she eventually went to sleep and slept through

the night. She was a little drowsy today but not impaired in her movement

thank goodness. She was also much more cooperative. Tonight getting ready to

bed she yelled at me when I tried to get her to move up on the bed so she

wouldn’t fall (and I wouldn’t hurt my back trying to save her). She got

right in my fave and said with all the anger she must have about what’s

happening to her, “ I don’t CARE!†I had to think quick and tell her if

she cared whether she fell on the floor on her behind – she had better care.

So she said she did care about that and listened a little better. Those times

though are unnerving. Tonight the same thing with the “itching†and she’s

ripped off the socks on her hands twice, pulled off the oxygen and knocked all

the pillows off. So I gave her Ativan again tonight. Keeping hope that it will

work as well as it did last night – and fast. I know it is possible that

even if it works again tonight it may not tomorrow. And already I might have

to give her the rest of the .5 mg dose as it’s been 40 minutes and she is

still yelling help me.

Last night, even in her sleep, she was saying, help me somebody help me please.

Her eyes were closed and she appeared to be sleeping but talking in her sleep.

Her voice was soft and dreamy – and not loud and insistent and she drifted in

and out. Just really wonder what causes all this!

The Ativan is liquid and I give it to her with a dropper and she says it tastes

terrible. So I tell her it’s for the itching. She does remember she has had

medicine for itching. I can give her .5 ml every 6 hours but advised to give

small increments of it to see if small will work and if it does then I don’t

have to use the whole dose, which I really appreciate.

We did try seroquel and it did nothing – no effect the time we tried it.

There was a time that it worked but that was just a few months. I was afraid it

might make it worse also – we never know what we’re going to get with

seroquel and my mil.

Dorothy