Refusing medication

[Champers]

I’m sure this has probably been asked before but I’m just after a little bit of reassurance.

Mother is 87, early stage Alzheimer’s and lives alone. I have a carer who goes in once a day to do her medication - BP tablets, thyroxine and Donepezil. Most times she’s ok but every so often she kicks off majorly and won’t won’t let the carer in. She shouts at them and tells them she has never needed tablets and to go away. The agency have instructions to ring me when this happens and I can usually sweet talk her into cooperating as I live some distance away. If she’s in this frame of mind, she’s adamant that she doesn’t need them and why won’t people leave her alone etc.

My husband is very pragmatic and says not to get anxious if she refuses - that one day without medication won’t do any harm (she usually forgets about the refusals and is fairly biddable the next day) and that no one can force her. Meanwhile, I get very worked up and worried if she doesn’t comply.

I guess I’d appreciate someone else confirming this IS the case and I need to stop trying to keep tight control and let things go occasionally.

Many thanks.

 

[Louise7]

Mum missed a Donepezil tablet now and again and it seemed to cause no harm. Not sure about the BP tablets and thyroxine though - maybe best to seek advice from her GP with regards to whether missing these would cause problems?

 

[margherita]

I guess I’d appreciate someone else confirming this IS the case and I need to stop trying to keep tight control and let things go occasionally.

Your husband is right, in my opinion.
Besides, you can't force anyone to take their meds. It is physically impossible.

 

[TNJJ]

I’m sure this has probably been asked before but I’m just after a little bit of reassurance.

Mother is 87, early stage Alzheimer’s and lives alone. I have a carer who goes in once a day to do her medication - BP tablets, thyroxine and Donepezil. Most times she’s ok but every so often she kicks off majorly and won’t won’t let the carer in. She shouts at them and tells them she has never needed tablets and to go away. The agency have instructions to ring me when this happens and I can usually sweet talk her into cooperating as I live some distance away. If she’s in this frame of mind, she’s adamant that she doesn’t need them and why won’t people leave her alone etc.

My husband is very pragmatic and says not to get anxious if she refuses - that one day without medication won’t do any harm (she usually forgets about the refusals and is fairly biddable the next day) and that no one can force her. Meanwhile, I get very worked up and worried if she doesn’t comply.

I guess I’d appreciate someone else confirming this IS the case and I need to stop trying to keep tight control and let things go occasionally.

Many thanks.

 

[TNJJ]

Hi.I have had this very thing today with dad.(On the Vent post)......I wouldn’t worry about the occasional tablet.(The tablets stay in the system for a month)..I would only worry if it is an everyday thing.

 

[Sirena]

I think you have to let go. I could get my grandmother to take her meds if I visited in person, but I lived 2 hours away so I couldn't visit every day. She would sometimes comply with the carers and sometimes not. There was nothing I could do about it, so I crossed it off the list of things to worry about.

 

[Banjomansmate]

I don’t know about the Donepezil but I was warned that if The Banjoman missed changing the Rivastigmine patch for three days he would deteriorate to where he would be if he had never taken them.
He went away one weekend just after he started with them and, despite me trying to ensure that his friend made sure he had all meds with him, they managed to leave the patches at home! His sister-in-law said that by the third day he was beginning to decline in cognition. Luckily I was able to make sure the patch was changed first thing next morning.

 

[Linbrusco]

When my Mum started refusing meds at her care home, they resorted to hiding it or crushing it into food. After a while the paracetamol & laxsol were given in liquid form.
The only one that majorly impacted Mum if she missed it was Quetiapine - anti psychotic.
Things got pretty intense for a while, until she developed a UTI and delirium and ended up in hospital.
We saw a PsychoGeritrician and it was decided to stop all unnecessary meds like cholesterol, bladder meds.
After a while she went back to taking them again.

My only concern is missing too many BP & Thyroid meds over a month and the effects.
Non compliance of thyroid meds over many weeks can impact on her thyroid levels which in turn create a whole new set of symptoms. ( My teen has auto immune Hypothyroidism)
If she misses too many over a while it’s worth trying to get a blood test done.

 

[RosettaT]

I'm on thyroxine as I had radiation for my thyroid gland and now it doesn't work at all. If I miss two or days it impacts, I become tried and clumsy. With BP tablets I don't notice a difference but that doesn't mean there isn't one. I think all you can do is try to make sure she will take them when she is compliant.

 

[Champers]

Thank you for all your replies - really appreciated.

Mother coincidentally refused today and as I’m abroad on holiday, I missed the call from the carer. I rang back and apparently mother had to be calmed down with a cup of tea but still wasn’t having anything to do with the medication. Although we’ve never had a good relationship, she was demanding to the carer that she be allowed speak to me, despite me having pinned a note to her kitchen wall telling her the dates I would be away.

I’m thinking we might be entering the next stage with having to consider residential care.

 

[TNJJ]

Thank you for all your replies - really appreciated.

Mother coincidentally refused today and as I’m abroad on holiday, I missed the call from the carer. I rang back and apparently mother had to be calmed down with a cup of tea but still wasn’t having anything to do with the medication. Although we’ve never had a good relationship, she was demanding to the carer that she be allowed speak to me, despite me having pinned a note to her kitchen wall telling her the dates I would be away.

I’m thinking we might be entering the next stage with having to consider residential care.

 

[TNJJ]

Hi.It will be interesting when I see dad tomorrow ,whether he has missed more of his medication...We shall see

 

[Beate]

The obvious solution is hiding the meds in yoghurt or mousse and never letting on.

 

[TNJJ]

The obvious solution is hiding the meds in yoghurt or mousse and never letting on.

 

[TNJJ]

That will be down to the carers and GP.But dad has "capacIty" so he can still refuse.