Lorazepam - is it worth it?

[Rosalind297]

Mum’s doctor has just prescribed Lorazepam (1 mg) for her anxiety (displayed in all of the usual ways including wandering, time dissonance, thinking everything is her fault etc etc). As she often gets up and dressed in the middle of the night, he told us to give her the tablets at night so she would sleep properly.

She has had one tablet and it seems to have sedated her to an incredible degree. She slept all night but almost all of the next day and she feels awful and quite scared as she now thinks the feeling she has is the beginning of the end. Is Lorazepam just a sedative? If so, it’s not what we want or need.

Secondly, the doctor told us to give Mum Lorazepam “as and when”. Despite questioning him about what that meant he wasn’t any clearer. Are we meant to give her one a night for 28 days and her body will adjust to them? Or did he mean us to give her a tablet when she is feeling particularly anxious? We have to go back to see the doctor at the end of February to see how she has got on with them (and then he’d put them on her repeat prescription) so my brother thinks we must preserve with one a night but, as principal carer, I’m not so sure. My view may be clouded because I have tried taking Amitryptaline for a neurological condition before but they merely sedated me and I couldn’t take being a zombie so, with the agreement of my neurologist, discontinued them - I wonder whether Mum May be having the same reaction.

Does anyone have any experience of the early days of their PWD taking Lorazepam?

 

[Tin]

My experience with my mum was yes it did help, but one daily/nightly was only for a short, because it seemed to increase her confusion and anxiety, found her sitting in her wardrobe one night! and when it was a daily dose I did notice that she began to lean sideways and sometimes backwards. So started to gave her only half a milligram and only when I saw signs of her anxiety starting, especially when getting ready for bed, so I guess that's as and when needed. No point giving when she was in full anxiety mode because it only served to bring her 'down' a little and to me seemed pointless giving it to her if she was calm.

I was ok dealing with her confusion and restlessness during the day, even 'sundowning' just became normal and relatively easy to ignore, but when all of this carried on into the night well that is when I needed the help of medication and I had quite a few bits and pieces in my 'night time warrior' pack. each night when needed, trying something different.

Ask the gp if you can try giving your mother half a pill, they are relatively easy to cut with a good quality pill cutter, although sometimes they do not break into 2 full halves. It is a case of finding the right thing that works for your mum and you and when it no longer works, look around for something else.

 

[Rosalind297]

ThanksTin. I had thought about cutting the pills in half but they are so tiny I wasn’t sure I’d be able to do it. Will have to give it more than one night but it’s horrid seeing her like a zombie.

 

[Marnie63]

I used to give mum 0.5mg and it did seem to ease her anxiety a bit, but I only used it when I felt it was really necessary (it was usually when I was going out for a short time and leaving her at home with one of our carers). But the downside in mum's case was that about 24 hours afterwards, she seemed more anxious somehow, it was as if the Lorazepam leaving her system caused more stress. In mum's case, it was the only medication which I found useful at all. All the other stuff that was prescribed (and overprescribed at times) - mostly antipsychotics - just made her very sleepy and made her drool. It was so sad to see her incapacitated even further by the drugs that were supposed to help. But in the world of dementia, any little scrap of relief is worth having.

One interesting 'side effect' of Lorazepam in mum's case was that in the early days, it seemed to open up a window to some clarity, just briefly, which was rather wonderful at the time. Probably just the way it affected mum, and as we all know, everyone will respond differently.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

Something to bear in mind is that lorazepam is an addictive drug. In my opinion, it should be used sparingly and not on a daily basis. I would definitely ask the GP about that.

 

[Linbrusco]

Mums been in a care home 2.5yrs.
She went througha very agitated & aggressive stage so was prescribed Lorazepam when needed.
Even .05mg made her too sedated.
Couldnt walk or talk properly.

After a few weeks they tried Quetiapine which is antiisychotic.
Worked well for Mum without the drowsiness. Mind you she was on a very low dose compared to others.
All medications seem to react with my Mum.
They recently prescribed a low dose pain patch, as Mum had a sore back and giving her tablets is difficult.
Mum was virtually slumped to one side sitting or walking.
They took her off it.

 

[Rosalind297]

Thanks everyone. I am going to try 0.5mg next time and see what effect it has. Mum’s condition is so up and down - some days she’s very very confused and upset and on others, you would hardly think there’s anything wrong with her. It’s difficult to predict when she might benefit from a little sedation.