Wow. You may have read my previous messages about my Dad's paranoia and agressiveness, that finally lead to an emergency visit by the psychiatrist and CPN earlier this week.
Well the CPN came back to do the carer part of the assessment today and also to tell us what would happen next.
They are very concerned about Dad's paranoia which they say is far worse than they would expect to see in anyone with AD - usually it manifests in some suspisciouness, often the foundation being that the patient can't remember things (like where they have put something) and therefore think that there's a thief about. They spoke about "severe multiple delusions" with associated paranoia and also noted down some other delusional behaviors we hadn't thought much about like his obsession about becoming ill, going to hospital and catching MRSA. Or refusing to eat chicken for fear of catching bird flu. Also of concern was the increasing agressiveness directed towards my Mum. They took reams of notes and from the way we were filling in the carer sheet the symptoms seemed to always lean towards being the most severe you can put down.
Anyways, not only has Dad been prescribed the maximum dose of Quetiapine for his age - this will rise to 150mg per day - they are also going to switch him from Aricept to Exelon because apparently Exelon is more effective in patients who show psychotic symptoms. We are also going to get several more visits next week to see how things are progressing and have been left emergency numbers if things get bad.
I have a feeling that they are doing all this in a last-ditch attempt to get things back under control before hospitalisation becomes necessary.
Well the CPN came back to do the carer part of the assessment today and also to tell us what would happen next.
They are very concerned about Dad's paranoia which they say is far worse than they would expect to see in anyone with AD - usually it manifests in some suspisciouness, often the foundation being that the patient can't remember things (like where they have put something) and therefore think that there's a thief about. They spoke about "severe multiple delusions" with associated paranoia and also noted down some other delusional behaviors we hadn't thought much about like his obsession about becoming ill, going to hospital and catching MRSA. Or refusing to eat chicken for fear of catching bird flu. Also of concern was the increasing agressiveness directed towards my Mum. They took reams of notes and from the way we were filling in the carer sheet the symptoms seemed to always lean towards being the most severe you can put down.
Anyways, not only has Dad been prescribed the maximum dose of Quetiapine for his age - this will rise to 150mg per day - they are also going to switch him from Aricept to Exelon because apparently Exelon is more effective in patients who show psychotic symptoms. We are also going to get several more visits next week to see how things are progressing and have been left emergency numbers if things get bad.
I have a feeling that they are doing all this in a last-ditch attempt to get things back under control before hospitalisation becomes necessary.
