Thanks all who have helped me over recent months with my many questions about my Mum who had declined considerably in recent months after UTI's.
After 3 mnths of constant agitation& anxiety, not eating, up & down behaviours, etc etc, the Care Home GP, Manager & Mental Health Nurse said they would try Mum on 0.5mg of Lorazepam in the morning.
First few weeks she appeared a lot better. Then we noticed she was quite lethargic ( sort of expected with Lorazepam) but also her speech was pretty much incoherent apart from very short sentences. However she was eating again and cooperative with showering & dressing most of the time.
Care Home Manager suggested Mums speech could be a progression of her Alzheimers. We werent convinced.
After another consult, as she was still a bit up & down, they decided they would up Mums dose of Nortriptyline at night which is an old type of anti depressant but in a low dose can be for pain which Mum had been taking for 4 yrs for pelvic & bladder spasms and tolerated.
We felt with the two meds Mum was now over medicated as we would go in to see her in the morning about 10am and she was asleep, and was also wobbly on her feet. No falls though.
So I asked if they could try not giving her the Lorazepam and only on a as needed basis, after reading some prior posts on TP.
So happy to say after now 3 weeks of increased Nortriptyline and no Lorazepam at all for a week, my Mum of pre Lorazepam and even UTI's going back to March is back!!!
Under no illusion that it will last but I hope for a while at least.
Staff report she is happier, engaging more, eating & drinking better.
Mum has no issues with her speech other than where she was in March wth word finding, & forgetting what she was going to say, but at least she can hold a bit of a conversation.
Reporting back to the Manager today as they are trialling the no Lorazepam for 2 weeks before consulting with GP & Mental Health Nurse again.
After 3 mnths of constant agitation& anxiety, not eating, up & down behaviours, etc etc, the Care Home GP, Manager & Mental Health Nurse said they would try Mum on 0.5mg of Lorazepam in the morning.
First few weeks she appeared a lot better. Then we noticed she was quite lethargic ( sort of expected with Lorazepam) but also her speech was pretty much incoherent apart from very short sentences. However she was eating again and cooperative with showering & dressing most of the time.
Care Home Manager suggested Mums speech could be a progression of her Alzheimers. We werent convinced.
After another consult, as she was still a bit up & down, they decided they would up Mums dose of Nortriptyline at night which is an old type of anti depressant but in a low dose can be for pain which Mum had been taking for 4 yrs for pelvic & bladder spasms and tolerated.
We felt with the two meds Mum was now over medicated as we would go in to see her in the morning about 10am and she was asleep, and was also wobbly on her feet. No falls though.
So I asked if they could try not giving her the Lorazepam and only on a as needed basis, after reading some prior posts on TP.
So happy to say after now 3 weeks of increased Nortriptyline and no Lorazepam at all for a week, my Mum of pre Lorazepam and even UTI's going back to March is back!!!
Under no illusion that it will last but I hope for a while at least.
Staff report she is happier, engaging more, eating & drinking better.
Mum has no issues with her speech other than where she was in March wth word finding, & forgetting what she was going to say, but at least she can hold a bit of a conversation.
Reporting back to the Manager today as they are trialling the no Lorazepam for 2 weeks before consulting with GP & Mental Health Nurse again.
