another drug Oxazepam

[cris]

Hello everyone. I had to take Susan to the doctors this morning. He has now prescribed Oxazepam. I do not think that the Fluoxetine was helping as much as it used to when first taken. My worry is that when I read about Oxazepam many of the side effects - like memory loss, confussion, shaky movements, aggression are what we are trying to avoid.
Can others comment please if they have any experience of it.
cris

 

[sue38]

Hi cris,

I have no experience of the drug in question. However with all drugs I think there is a big difference between possible side effects and likely side effects.

One of the listed side effects of a well known headache tablet is 'headaches'

I suppose the only thing you can do is to try it to see if it suits Susan.

Sue xx

 

[Sandy]

Hi cris,

There is some info on this drug on the main Alzheimer's Society web site (half way down the page):

http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/Caring_for_someone_with_dementia/Unusual_behaviour/advice_drugsbehaviour.htm

Take care,

Sandy

 

[zonkjonk]

My mother was prescribed that drug last october to be taken on a "as needed" basis as she was crying excessively and extremely anxious.the slightest thing would upset her. this was about 3 weeks prior to her first respite.

she has now been permanently placed and the NH are not continuing with that drug as she has settled well. During the period of time she was on that drug, I did not observe any side effects.
around that time the only change I saw in her was that she cried less but tended to nap a lot more during the day. But by that point she couldnt really do very much except watch tv...that would send me to sleep for sure.
she did not have shaky movements or aggression.
the doctor advised that it could heighten her dementia, but I decided to try it because of mums mental distress.
mums dementia was very bad at this point and I did not notice any marked change due to the drug.
good luck with it,
regards,
jo

 

[cris]

Thanks Sandy. I have seen some web sites, and that Alz. site also gave some useful info.

Thanks Jo. My Susan does not seem to be as bad as your mum, but because she is aware of the illness she is also more anxious. Thank you for your feedback.

cris

 

[zonkjonk]

my mum may have been aware thus causing her anxiety.I just dont know.
Upon her diagnosis I drove her home, and told my brother mum DOES have AD...we as a family tend to gloss over the reality and Mum was aware only that she had AD ...interpretation...memory problems
but looking back on that day I dont know if she had the faculties to comprehend what her future would be with AD...I doubt it
her best friend said she was "very scared"
certainly during her first respite she commented upon how "old and sick" her fellow residents were...my response
"oh you are not sick like them...you have just got alzheimers"
which seemed to reassure her.
I still dont know if she knows her fate...I believe and hope not.
to protect her, I will never tell her, and she is beyond asking.
fortunately I have medical POA so I can make the right decisions at the right time.
I cannnot begin to imagine how a person would deal with knowing all about dementia and being diagnosed with the same
It scares me and haunts me
some stupid finding reckons that if you exercise your mind by doing crosswords you diminish your chance of getting AD
my mum up until 8 months ago did the daily crossword and all the puzzles in the weekly mags
now she cannot even read....or get a glass of water or dress or shower

when I came home with the prescription for aricept for mum I jumped on the net and about 2 hours later I was DEVASTATED.
Mum at that point was 68 years young.
But Chris, unlike your Susan, mum never felt suicidal (or I never knew about it)
Stay Strong,
Hugs,
Jo