glad, thanks for your concern. She is in a senior apartment. Safety is utmost of course, she has visitors there every day and every evening for a few hours just no one sleeping overnight. I am in my 50s and not new. :) Have been on the AgingCare site daily for six years or more. She has lots of docs, I spend my days making phonecalls and checking 100 things.
Z, her being alone overnight has me concerned. Do you have cameras installed to monitor her? A neighbor could report her as an at risk person. APS would then come in to evaluate her. You would be wise to call the Area Agency on Aging to get her evaluated for needs. Course much m would have to be awake.
There must be some med to help mom through the day with her anxiety. Has a antidepressant been tried? Mom taking so much Seroquel during the day really bothers me.
Have you thought about a second opinion? Maybe palliative care is not appropriate. Has she been seen by a geriatric specialist or a neurologist?
‘Morning - no, just Tylenol would cut the pain for her which was nice! This seroquel is the first time any kind of heavy drug has hit her system. I think the constipation was mostly due to the sudden decline in movement. She gets a probiotic in her pills. I try to keep her fiber high, but drinking too little water is still our #1 hurdle! She’s had pericolace in her a.m. pills for a couple months now and it seems to do well for her. Combo of softening and stimulation, highly recommended. :) She’s five days in on the seroquel and it’s hard to see her so knocked out! When she’s awake she still screams back at commercials, lol, no great effects yet. Btw, I simply had to give it in the a.m., no one’s there with her overnight. Discussed it with the doc.
Thanks to both of you! She had a pronounced TIA in April (has surely had others, based in the vascular dementia we saw in scans). In May/June she got wicked pain in thigh/low groin area and had nonstop constipation issues. Couldn’t move freely for two months (more mobile now, not in pain, yay). Saw a lesion on kidney during the scans.
Our health network has a combined office for hospice and palliative. The hospice came out but it wasn’t a fit, the palliative came and felt much better.
Just left a msg. for the palliative nurse and asked her to help me schedule an appt. with the neuropsych. I can see now that this could potentially help us nail down a better drug, so we’ll give it a try! Found out last night that the morning visitor yesterday let her miss what would’ve been fourth day of seroquel :( have to go myself this morning now. Having an awful struggle finding and keeping caregivers in rotation. Hope you both have a great day!
Zdarov, I can only speak about my experience, but I recommend seeing a neurologist. My family already had a history with ours since he's also my daughter's specialist. Ours is only in the local office once a week, but we usually don't have any issues getting in to see him within a week. Your mom's MD should be able to suggest one. And your mom sounds like me - I hate water. LOL. Fortunately, my mom downs a 32oz bottle of flavored water (no salt/sugar) a day.
Hi, Zdarov. My almost 85 yo mom had a few episodes 2 months ago. She was having either vivid dreams or hallucinations, or both, (not certain if she was awake or asleep each time) that her deceased husband appeared and said he was "coming soon to get you, babe". The first instance put her in the hospital overnight for excessively high blood pressure and chest issues. A couple of days later, same dream/hallucination and another call to the EMTs, only this time she refused to go to the hospital. A visit to her MD and neurologist followed and she was put on Seroquel. She was back to her normal self (for a person with dementia/ALZ) in just a couple of days. During her 2 month neurology check up last week, he took her off it, upped her anxiety medication and added Rivastigmine (Exelon). She has only been on the new meds for a few days. I'm obviously concerned about the change (she's in 3rd stage kidney disease, though improving), so we shall see. Please do make certain to stay aware of any changes and let the MD/specialists know what's going on. (For example, I'll be calling both the MD and the kidney specialist today to let them know my mom's on Exelon now.)
Thanks, kirah! I haven’t taken Mom to a neuropsych it seemed pointless and it’s a really long wait. I feel like s/he’d prescribe something Mom wouldn’t take anyway. She drinks very little water, I think dehydration is her #1 problem both mental and physical! Can’t make her do it. I hope this new mix will be great for your mom! I’m scared to get on the ‘try one drug, stop that one’ thing but maybe that’s just what I should do.
Thanks, glad! I hadn’t heard of FTD and maybe it comprises the vascular dementia she does have, but the article didn’t make it obvious. The pills are so tiny, not sure how you managed to cut in half! It is her palliative doc who prescribed it. Have almost done the neuropsych route a few times, but getting her to appts. is pretty hard now - not impossible. She seems to be adjusting to the seroquel okay, just praying it does something for her. Glad to hear it worked for your mom! No other drugs have been discussed yet.
Hi all - I wonder if adding to it will ‘wake up’ this thread. I’ve done a search through past threads on this drug, there are many from 2010 and forward! I saw some great comments and discussion.
Not sure the OP on this ever returned. Just started my 87-y.o. mother on this four days ago, first time on any psych drug although she could’ve used one 15 or more years ago. Now I’m able to give her something without her knowledge and am doing it. (That was after much consternation and talking to health professionals.)
The first days have definitely been weird, like the things the OP posts, and that was expected. By discussion with her palliative doc we’re starting low (25mg), once/day a.m., not p.m. because no one is there overnight to monitor her, and my request to the doc was for anxiety and agitation vs sleep.
I know every patient’s body is different, and that no one who will reply is a doctor or RN (unless you state you are :). Does anyone have new anecdotes/observations on seroquel? I’m dreading waiting two months to see if this is even the right drug. She has moderate vascular dementia, poorly treated diabetes 2, history of depression, borderline personality.
Looking forward to any discussion, or I’ll do a new post if that’s better. Thanks!
Older adults may be more sensitive to the side effects, especially drowsiness, dizziness and lightheadedness which obviously can increase the risk of fall. Call his doctor promptly and report this incident. Do not stop any antipsychotic medication until his doctor is notified because of potential serious side effects.
My mom with Alzheimer's was prescribed Seroquel to treat behaviors associated with sundowning. Her doc started her on 12.5 mg once a day about 4:30 p m. It worked well for mom, helped with behaviors and helped her to sleep better without turning her into a zombie.
Gradually, over the course of three years the dosage was increased to 75 mg still once a day at about 4:30 pm.
While Seroquel worked great for my mom, sometimes other people have the completely opposite effect. My mom could not take ativan, it had the completely opposite effect as was intended. Sometimes it is trial and error to find a med with the desired effect.
That is one strong med, I am surprised that it is being prescribed to an elderly person. Obviously, he is having a reaction to this med. I am very sensitive to meds, so when prescribed I only take 1/2 the dose to see how I will react...we are all different. I would call the doctor and discuss this with him/her.
Responses to these medications can very widely and wildly. Where it may help some it can go the opposite director for others. I am assuming you have reported this reaction? Do look up the side effects also. Some medications have opposite effect on some people. For instance, while nyquil puts some to sleep, for me, it causes restless leg syndrome as does almost anything with diphenhydramine. So it is a shooting match with this stuff whether it hits the target or goes wildly astray. Be certain to let MD and those in charge know about this reaction.
There must be some med to help mom through the day with her anxiety. Has a antidepressant been tried? Mom taking so much Seroquel during the day really bothers me.
Have you thought about a second opinion? Maybe palliative care is not appropriate. Has she been seen by a geriatric specialist or a neurologist?
Have you called
https://www.chesterfield.gov/1486/Seniors?
And good for you asking for a neuropsych exam!
She gets a probiotic in her pills. I try to keep her fiber high, but drinking too little water is still our #1 hurdle! She’s had pericolace in her a.m. pills for a couple months now and it seems to do well for her. Combo of softening and stimulation, highly recommended. :)
She’s five days in on the seroquel and it’s hard to see her so knocked out! When she’s awake she still screams back at commercials, lol, no great effects yet. Btw, I simply had to give it in the a.m., no one’s there with her overnight. Discussed it with the doc.
Our health network has a combined office for hospice and palliative. The hospice came out but it wasn’t a fit, the palliative came and felt much better.
Just left a msg. for the palliative nurse and asked her to help me schedule an appt. with the neuropsych. I can see now that this could potentially help us nail down a better drug, so we’ll give it a try! Found out last night that the morning visitor yesterday let her miss what would’ve been fourth day of seroquel :( have to go myself this morning now. Having an awful struggle finding and keeping caregivers in rotation. Hope you both have a great day!
I hope this new mix will be great for your mom! I’m scared to get on the ‘try one drug, stop that one’ thing but maybe that’s just what I should do.
I would not give her 25mg during the day. She will sleep all day then be awake all night.
Mid stage FTD she needs 24/7 monitoring.
My mom was started n 12.5 mg and that made her sleep. Yes I had to cut the 25 mg tablet in half.
Is this a geriatric doc mom is seeing?
Seroquel has terrible effects for some. My mom, it worked great but could not give her ativan.
https://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/frontotemporal-dementia/diagnosis-treatment/drc-20354741
Not sure the OP on this ever returned. Just started my 87-y.o. mother on this four days ago, first time on any psych drug although she could’ve used one 15 or more years ago. Now I’m able to give her something without her knowledge and am doing it. (That was after much consternation and talking to health professionals.)
The first days have definitely been weird, like the things the OP posts, and that was expected. By discussion with her palliative doc we’re starting low (25mg), once/day a.m., not p.m. because no one is there overnight to monitor her, and my request to the doc was for anxiety and agitation vs sleep.
I know every patient’s body is different, and that no one who will reply is a doctor or RN (unless you state you are :). Does anyone have new anecdotes/observations on seroquel? I’m dreading waiting two months to see if this is even the right drug. She has moderate vascular dementia, poorly treated diabetes 2, history of depression, borderline personality.
Looking forward to any discussion, or I’ll do a new post if that’s better. Thanks!
My mom with Alzheimer's was prescribed Seroquel to treat behaviors associated with sundowning. Her doc started her on 12.5 mg once a day about 4:30 p m. It worked well for mom, helped with behaviors and helped her to sleep better without turning her into a zombie.
Gradually, over the course of three years the dosage was increased to 75 mg still once a day at about 4:30 pm.
While Seroquel worked great for my mom, sometimes other people have the completely opposite effect. My mom could not take ativan, it had the completely opposite effect as was intended. Sometimes it is trial and error to find a med with the desired effect.