Medication

[GinaC]

Am puzzled why my loved person with Dementia behaves in a child like fashion over medication. Is this the need for control? An assertion or a kick against the need for medication?

 

[Greenpears]

My dad doesn't refuse his, but in a similar childish way gets very sharp with my mum if he decides it's time for his and she doesn't get them that very second.

 

[Beate]

She might simply believe there is nothing wrong with her so no need for medication. Very common.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi Greenpears and GinaC, welcome to TP
Calling someone with AZ "childish" or "child like" isn't helpful nor is coping with the condition in fact using the term "child" in relation to AZ is a bit insulting to a grown adult suffering from an illness over which they have no control.
Sorry, just the way feel about what you've said.
K

 

[Margi29]

Hi Gina and Greenpears

It's just another of the endless list of things our loved ones focus on.
My mum used to self medicate until I caught her taking three tablets when she only needed one !!
So got her a dossier box and it's easier now. Sometimes she gets days mixed up and tablets are missing. She always says it's not her, have only just learned myself to not argue or contradict her.
But it is hard and you both have my sympathy.

Also my dad did not have any patience with my mum, everything had to be there the second he wanted it. He was lovely with me, maybe harder on the one they live with??

Early days for me too, it's like been on a roller coaster x

 

[Bunpoots]

I think the answer is that dementia leads to a blocking of all the connections in the brain that have been built up over a lifetime so the brain is losing connections made in adulthood first so childish behaviour is inevitable if someone lives with dementia long enough to get really bad. Teepa Snow has a good way of explaining this.

I understand what you're saying Kevini but I can't think of a better way to explain this sort of behaviour in a way that most people would understand. Teepa calls it "brain failure".

My mum never wanted to take her medicine and it did remind me of trying to get medicine into a reluctant child. The logic was long gone!! I wouldn't have told mum to stop behaving like a child but the word did come up in discussions about strategies to use to get her to take the pills. Some of which were the same as I had to use for the toddlers I cared for when they needed meds.

 

[Margi29]

I think the answer is that dementia leads to a blocking of all the connections in the brain that have been built up over a lifetime so the brain is losing connections made in adulthood first so childish behaviour is inevitable if someone lives with dementia long enough to get really bad. Teepa Snow has a good way of explaining this.

I understand what you're saying Kevini but I can't think of a better way to explain this sort of behaviour in a way that most people would understand. Teepa calls it "brain failure".

My mum never wanted to take her medicine and it did remind me of trying to get medicine into a reluctant child. The logic was long gone!! I wouldn't have told mum to stop behaving like a child but the word did come up in discussions about strategies to use to get her to take the pills. Some of which were the same
as I had to use for the toddlers I cared for when they needed meds.

Spot on bunpoots

 

[Gwyneth]

I think the answer is that dementia leads to a blocking of all the connections in the brain that have been built up over a lifetime so the brain is losing connections made in adulthood first so childish behaviour is inevitable if someone lives with dementia long enough to get really bad. Teepa Snow has a good way of explaining this.

I understand what you're saying Kevini but I can't think of a better way to explain this sort of behaviour in a way that most people would understand. Teepa calls it "brain failure".

My mum never wanted to take her medicine and it did remind me of trying to get medicine into a reluctant child. The logic was long gone!! I wouldn't have told mum to stop behaving like a child but the word did come up in discussions about strategies to use to get her to take the pills. Some of which were the same as I had to use for the toddlers I cared for when they needed meds.

This is absolutely right. Childlike behaviour kicks in again as the brain functioning and processing rationale shuts down and a self centred focus in the sufferer becomes paramount. My husband simply will not take his pill each morning when left out for him and asks every day what it is for and pretends to hide it. One day I used the dossette box as the pack did not have the days labelled. He had been given his morning pill by me. He started to say later he was feeling really poorly. I thought he had been drinking while I had been at work. I later found he had taken a dose from another day! No wonder he was spaced out. I now hide all medication. Maintaining dignity for the sufferer is so important but with challenging behaviour not seen since I had to deal with my children years ago, it is very difficult at times.