Don't know were to start such a long story,mother 81 been on meds for arthritis for years also anti sickness meds and now also for alzheimers. We are a large family dad still alive 5yrs younger. Mum totally obsessed with doctors and meds, eldest sister went to docs yday as mum had kidney infection and only certain med she can take,sis got this, 2 mins after taking she said it was making her sick, we told her couldn't be tab as it wouldn't even be in her system. When she got another sis in later got her to phone doc and got another tab. This on back of on fri she said tabs in her weekly pack were wrong, eldest sis ck and told her were right, following day mother then despatched my brother and sister in law to chemist with pack only to be told all ok. Eldest sis at end of tether as she takes time off to take her to appoints etc and tries to push her to stay active etc to no avail,is this normal for alzheimers. Lack of exercise etc, do we keep the peace and let her sit in corner or do we push her to try and keep going
Recent diagnosis, mother obsessed with tablets and sickness
- Thread starter Mags1
- Start date
Hi
My husband has Vas Dem, Alz, heart disease & prostate cancer
He has always been obsessed with his health and will take any tablet that is available or lying around.
Over the 4 years of his dementia he has seen so many medical professionals (sometimes every day of the week for his various conditions)
He now has no idea what his tablets are for (he is on 9 per day as well as asthma inhalers) but just takes them when I give them to him. If he complains, I ignore or distract him - chocolate seems to work best !!!
Maybe you could try this or something similar.
He now is saying he is fed up with going to hospitals & doctors & is refusing to go - even when the hospital tells us he needs treatment for his prostate cancer.
So again, this may happen with your situation - when she no longer realises that she is getting the attention she craves, the obsession may eventually die a natural death.
As far as getting my husband to be active or participate in activities, I wore myself out with the pressure of trying to do this and the more I tried, the less he would cooperate.
He now goes to day care twice a week and although they started taking him swimming and to the gym, he has now told them that he wont go any more, so they respect what he says and don't take him.
I have come to the conclusion that although we, as carers, try to do what we think is right, it is not always what the partner/parent wants to do and nobody can make another person do what they don't want to do. We just keep on trying though.
My husband has Vas Dem, Alz, heart disease & prostate cancer
He has always been obsessed with his health and will take any tablet that is available or lying around.
Over the 4 years of his dementia he has seen so many medical professionals (sometimes every day of the week for his various conditions)
He now has no idea what his tablets are for (he is on 9 per day as well as asthma inhalers) but just takes them when I give them to him. If he complains, I ignore or distract him - chocolate seems to work best !!!
Maybe you could try this or something similar.
He now is saying he is fed up with going to hospitals & doctors & is refusing to go - even when the hospital tells us he needs treatment for his prostate cancer.
So again, this may happen with your situation - when she no longer realises that she is getting the attention she craves, the obsession may eventually die a natural death.
As far as getting my husband to be active or participate in activities, I wore myself out with the pressure of trying to do this and the more I tried, the less he would cooperate.
He now goes to day care twice a week and although they started taking him swimming and to the gym, he has now told them that he wont go any more, so they respect what he says and don't take him.
I have come to the conclusion that although we, as carers, try to do what we think is right, it is not always what the partner/parent wants to do and nobody can make another person do what they don't want to do. We just keep on trying though.
You have made me feel so much better
Thank you for responding to me, your resonse has been a great help, I think we need to sit down as a family and agree who looks after what. Mother seems to be playing us off against each other!!thank you for your help
Thank you for responding to me, your resonse has been a great help, I think we need to sit down as a family and agree who looks after what. Mother seems to be playing us off against each other!!thank you for your help
Hi Mags
We too have been through a medication obsession. In a way it demonstrated MIL's determination to fight what was happening to her - if only she could get hold of the right combination of tablets she would be right as rain again. Consequently when she lived at home, she would phone the doctor or call ambulances very often. Once she moved into the CH she was desperate to get home so she could visit her own doc's and get hold of the "right" medication. She would follow the carers round the home asking for her medication all through the day whether it was medication time or not. The phase has more or less passed now, but at the time it was very distressing for both her and us to see.
My advice would be for just one of your family to take control of the medication side of things to avoid duplication or confusion but to have a list of meds handy in case someone else needs to step in at short notice. We had to make sure tabs were put somewhere inaccessible and safe - we had a couple of overdose incidents when MIL got hold of the tablets and took too many (they were stored in a box on top of tall dresser, which she climbed up to get
). In extreme cases we've been known to hand over a vitamin tablet or single paracetamol just to stop her fretting about not being given meds.
We too have been through a medication obsession. In a way it demonstrated MIL's determination to fight what was happening to her - if only she could get hold of the right combination of tablets she would be right as rain again. Consequently when she lived at home, she would phone the doctor or call ambulances very often. Once she moved into the CH she was desperate to get home so she could visit her own doc's and get hold of the "right" medication. She would follow the carers round the home asking for her medication all through the day whether it was medication time or not. The phase has more or less passed now, but at the time it was very distressing for both her and us to see.
My advice would be for just one of your family to take control of the medication side of things to avoid duplication or confusion but to have a list of meds handy in case someone else needs to step in at short notice. We had to make sure tabs were put somewhere inaccessible and safe - we had a couple of overdose incidents when MIL got hold of the tablets and took too many (they were stored in a box on top of tall dresser, which she climbed up to get
). In extreme cases we've been known to hand over a vitamin tablet or single paracetamol just to stop her fretting about not being given meds.It does sound that you are at the stage where you need to start using 'little white lies' to help your mum stay calm and not get stressed about the whole medication thing. In addition, you don't want the issue to escalate to the point that she refuses taking ANY medications at all. Things that you can consider are...
Get hold of some sugar free mints that look like these http://www.21food.com/products/sugar-free-mints-with-click-clack-tin-765867.html. They normally come in small tins and I know for sure that Lidl sell them as two tins on a card. As you can see, they look like tablets, so when mum says, I feel sick,..you can quickly dispense a mint and tell her they are anti sickness tablets. They can be used in place of all kinds of medication she might consider she needs, however, don't dispense lots of them on The same day as they can have a laxative effect if a lot of them are taken.
Also agree between you all is that the future approach will be to lift the phone and let her THINK you are speaking to the Dr about what he has prescribed, them come off the phone, tell her it is all ok and the dr has told you so on the phone. If she is not happy, you could dispense a mint saying the doctor has said she can have an 'anti sickness' tablet or whatever. As long as you are satisfied that the dr has seen her and has given her the medication the trick is for her to be content that you have gone and dealt with it such that she calms down. What she won't realise is that over time, these issues start to come to someone's attention, then they can raise issues about whether she needs to be in a care home and not at home. This the reason why it is useful if someone starts to take responsibility for managing this and distracting mum etc.
Fiona
Get hold of some sugar free mints that look like these http://www.21food.com/products/sugar-free-mints-with-click-clack-tin-765867.html. They normally come in small tins and I know for sure that Lidl sell them as two tins on a card. As you can see, they look like tablets, so when mum says, I feel sick,..you can quickly dispense a mint and tell her they are anti sickness tablets. They can be used in place of all kinds of medication she might consider she needs, however, don't dispense lots of them on The same day as they can have a laxative effect if a lot of them are taken.
Also agree between you all is that the future approach will be to lift the phone and let her THINK you are speaking to the Dr about what he has prescribed, them come off the phone, tell her it is all ok and the dr has told you so on the phone. If she is not happy, you could dispense a mint saying the doctor has said she can have an 'anti sickness' tablet or whatever. As long as you are satisfied that the dr has seen her and has given her the medication the trick is for her to be content that you have gone and dealt with it such that she calms down. What she won't realise is that over time, these issues start to come to someone's attention, then they can raise issues about whether she needs to be in a care home and not at home. This the reason why it is useful if someone starts to take responsibility for managing this and distracting mum etc.
Fiona
Recent Threads
-
-
-
-
Beginning of the End for Alzheimer's Disease?
- Latest: SeaSwallow
-
-
-
At a loss in knowing what help I need to assist me in my wife care- Latest: Rayreadynow
-
-
