How can I stop chemical cosh sedation of my wife?

Dougie.Steel

New member
May 9, 2019
9
0
Hebden Bridge
Have gone through two DST meetings to try to get ongoing healthcare funding.
After the last one the social worker for my wife communicated that we would get the funding If I agreed to accept medication.
The care home were keen to use sedation when my wife had a UTI and this eventually was initiated via the dementia psychiatrist without notification to me.
This was then stopped after I wrote to the GP and social worker and Demetia Psychiatrist by the GP who accepted my preference to get a baseline off Metrazapine for depression and Lorazapine for anxiety.
I and family and friends feel she has improved cognitively though she is more upset as she is more present of her plight (she is in a care home) which I feel is a natural reaction to a bad situation.
They have now postponed the forthcoming meeting and invited back in the psychiatrist who had discharged my wife after I refused to restart the medication.
They have now called a 'best interests' meeting and feel they are going to 'over rule' my representations or the fact that she has improved as they say it will be in her best interest as they did when she initially put on these when she was in hospital.
 

Lawson58

Registered User
Aug 1, 2014
4,332
0
Victoria, Australia
In Australia we have just had a Royal Commission into Aged Care and the interim report, just released, has been damning about the use of medication (mainly Risperidone) to deal with difficult patients and physical restraints for long periods of time. It was very critical of lots of other things and now our government wants to wait until the full report comes out, in a year's time. And that is disgraceful. We all know what needs to happen and so much can be done immediately.

One of the things that came out was that the drug was useful in only ten percent of patients so its use is definitely questionable.

So I cannot offer you any suggestions but encouragement to go with what you believe is right. So much is wrong with the whole system that we must do whatever we can in the best interests of the patient.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,683
0
Have gone through two DST meetings to try to get ongoing healthcare funding. After the last one the social worker for my wife communicated that we would get the funding If I agreed to accept medication.

Eligibility for CHC funding is based on care needs so what the social worker has communicated about getting the funding only if you agree to the medication doesn't make sense. Did they explain why the funding was dependant on accepting medication?

Do you have Health & Welfare power of attorney? It seems from your message that you might, as medication was previously stopped when you objected. Who has called the 'best interest' meeting and invited back the psychiatrist who previously discharged your wife? What medication is it that they want to put your wife on, and who is it that wants to put her back on it - the care home? Sedation can be necessary in certain circumstances but shouldn't just be used because it is the 'easier' option for the care home.

Sorry for all the questions but it will help to establish exactly what's going on and hopefully people here will be able to offer better advice. We had a situation where Mum was being over sedated in hospital,to the extent that she wasn't eating/drinking/mobilising for several weeks. In the end we had to give them a copy of our power of attorney and asked them to explain exactly why they felt that stopping her from eating/drinking/mobilising was in her best interests. They didn't answer but the medication was stopped the same day. Hopefully there is a family member or someone else who can attend the meeting with you to support you.
 

Dougie.Steel

New member
May 9, 2019
9
0
Hebden Bridge
Eligibility for CHC funding is based on care needs so what the social worker has communicated about getting the funding only if you agree to the medication doesn't make sense. Did they explain why the funding was dependant on accepting medication?

Do you have Health & Welfare power of attorney? It seems from your message that you might, as medication was previously stopped when you objected. Who has called the 'best interest' meeting and invited back the psychiatrist who previously discharged your wife? What medication is it that they want to put your wife on, and who is it that wants to put her back on it - the care home? Sedation can be necessary in certain circumstances but shouldn't just be used because it is the 'easier' option for the care home.

Sorry for all the questions but it will help to establish exactly what's going on and hopefully people here will be able to offer better advice. We had a situation where Mum was being over sedated in hospital,to the extent that she wasn't eating/drinking/mobilising for several weeks. In the end we had to give them a copy of our power of attorney and asked them to explain exactly why they felt that stopping her from eating/drinking/mobilising was in her best interests. They didn't answer but the medication was stopped the same day. Hopefully there is a family member or someone else who can attend the meeting with you to support you.
 

Dougie.Steel

New member
May 9, 2019
9
0
Hebden Bridge
Thanks for the replies.
There has been no explanation as to why funding is medication dependent. They attempted to backtrack when I objected by saying 'did you hear the DST chair say that'?. No but the social worker for my wife relayed that message after the DST funding meeting in the presence of a family witness.

I have lasting power of attourney for my wife for Health and Welfare.

The care home were very keen to increase sedation to be able to cope when my wife was becoming agitated as a result of a UTI. The care home then invited the psyciatrist to medicate.
The person who ran the DST meeting cancelled a post DST meeting that was arranged when I objected because he wanted the psychiatrists input even though the psychiatrist had dicharged my wife after I refused the recommended medication of Metrazapine for depression and lorazapine for anxiety, then it was called a 'best interests' meeting.
The psychiatrist also wanted to put Jean a choline esterase reuptake inhibitor to preserve memory.

I had objected to that because of the side effects of confusion and falls as she is a high fall risk.
 

Louise7

Volunteer Host
Mar 25, 2016
4,683
0
The care home were very keen to increase sedation to be able to cope when my wife was becoming agitated as a result of a UTI.

So if sedation was given was this just for a short period until the UTI cleared up, rather than something that continued after the UTI had cleared?

I refused the recommended medication of Metrazapine for depression and lorazapine for anxiety, then it was called a 'best interests' meeting.The psychiatrist also wanted to put Jean a choline esterase reuptake inhibitor to preserve memory. I had objected to that because of the side effects of confusion and falls as she is a high fall risk.

I and family and friends feel she has improved cognitively though she is more upset as she is more present of her plight (she is in a care home) which I feel is a natural reaction to a bad situation.

Depression and anxiety are common in those with dementia, and prescribing medication tends to be a case of trial and error - what works well for some doesn't work for others, and some will get side effects but others won't. You won't know how the medication will affect your wife until it's tried, and some medication will take a little while to work, with initial side effects later reducing/stopping. There are plenty of posts on here from those who have found that Mirtazapine and Lorazepam really helped. It's a case of weighing up what will help your wife and prevent her from being upset all the time, which may be due to her condition rather than her surroundings.
 

Dougie.Steel

New member
May 9, 2019
9
0
Hebden Bridge
The mitrazapine was given for a long time and the Lorazapine was given routinely by the care home contrary to the prescription which stated only as and when required for agitation.