My husband has mild Dementia and he seems to be having more panic attacks. Any advice?

If someone were a smoker and "needed" another cigarette, would you give it? Stop medicating someone with Ativan when they do not need it. Step back and let him work through his memory and in several minutes he will have different ones. Then switch those Ativan pills with sugar pills and he will calm himself.

Tarajane, I'm so sorry he's going through this pain, but I'm glad he can verbalize so clearly what is causing it. Would he talk to a counselor or therapist about this painful memory of his childhood?

My only other piece of input is that my experience of Ativan for panic attacks was a negative one, at least for my mom. In her case it exacerbated her memory loss, she has not been the same since she was given Ativan regularly for panic attacks for about two weeks, six years ago.

Also you might find it helpful to consult with a psychiatrist about your husband's medications if he has only seen a primary care physician. Psychiatrists have much more specialized training. Good luck and God bless.

Big hug, Tarajane. It must be heartbreaking to see your husband go through this, quite different from caregiving for a parent, I imagine! He's on Seroquel, Lexapro AND Ativan? That sounds like a potent cocktail of drugs, all for anxiety/depression/mental function. Drugs can be the solution, but they're often the problem, too. I worry that physicians are too quick to apply drug solutions, and never LISTEN to the patient. Anxiety is quite normal with memory loss, and flashbacks often trigger deep emotions. I played a song from my Dad's youth once and he started sobbing uncontrollably. He was fine after a few hugs, and just said that it touched something deep inside him. However, since your husband has already noted the connection with a bad memory, perhaps he needs to talk about it? I know some people aren't comfortable being a therapist for their loved ones, but it's what so many need towards the end of their lives - just someone to listen, to let them know that everything is OK, and to reassure them that their life has meaning, even if it feels as if it's all falling apart. It sounds like you two have a deep and long-lasting relationship, which is a wonderful thing.

tarajane, I don't know how advanced your husband's VaD is. It sounds like he has some PTSD from childhood events. Do you think it might help him to talk about them with you or a therapist? Or do you think it would upset him further? I think it can be comforting for them to know that someone is there for them and accepts where they are at the moment.

My mother has VaD and also have things that trigger anxiety and crying. She doesn't talk about what happens, but I can walk in the room and her eyes are filled with tears. She usually is angry about something that someone has done -- some change that was made at the church, a family member ignoring her. It usually has to do with a feeling of helplessness that life is changing and leaving her behind. This is different than the bad memory like your husband had, but it affects her in the same way. I let her talk about it, then try to spin things in a more positive light. That doesn't work usually, but it does let her talk out what is bothering her.

I do not see a problem in letting someone have an Ativan if they need it and it doesn't become too frequent. I know you and your husband's doctor have the good judgment on how to use them. If he started requesting them too often, it wouldn't be good, but I see no problem with occasionally supplementing on bad days. My mother usually takes 2 Ativan a day, but some days she asks for an extra during the course of the day. Her doctor prescribes up to 3 per day, so her requests are fine with the doctor and with me if it makes her life easier. She is 89 and in a more advanced stage of dementia, so worrying about the long-term effect of an occasional extra pill doesn't see useful.

Have his thyroid checked. Many times people with dementia don't get checked for other problems. A client of mine was diagnosed with dementia and she was severely hypothyroid. If I don't take my thyroid meds, I have panic attacks and I don't have dementia.

More on the answer above. When they got her thyroid straightened out, she recovered from the dementia. It often is the culprit that most doctors are unaware of. AND get somebody who knows what he/she is doing an endocrinologist who is up on the latest is a necessity. Most doctors are working off 50 year old out-dated lab parameters. The parameters for a healthy thyroid are much narrower than the old standard and people are getting treatment that were passed over before.

In the early days, my cousin would get panicky over just about anything, though I like the theory about smells. ( I put a lot of stock in how smells go to our subconscious.) But, she would get very nervous, start crying and even called 911 a couple of times because her cable remote did not work right. She would get very upset if she thought she didn't have enough cat food. (There were over 50 cans in the cupboard.) She would cry and worry if one of her other cousins wasn't home to answer the phone. She could not be consoled about it.

Eventually, I adjusted to the fact that I could not anticipate or stop her anxiety. Medication was the key for her and it really did help. Ativan didn't do much though. Cymbalta works best for her.

I've heard that it just takes time to get the right med in the right combination and in the right dose.

Ferris1, sorry but you sound very angry. I didn't ask advice about giving him Ativan. I just cleared it for the third time with his doctor we just left. If it takes away the horrible feeling he has and the look on his face then he will get what I give him. He doesn't smoke cigaretts but if he did yes, I would give him one. Dementia is non-curable. Period. I got some wonderful answers from you all about triggers. Thank you

Using Seroquel for dementia patients is 'off-label' . Look up the side effects of Seroquel... it can increase anxiety.

tarajana, sometimes certain smells will trigger a childhood memory. I remember back when I use to sell houses I visited a new client and we went up into her walk-up attic... oh my gosh, it smelled just like the attic in the house that I grew up in. I hadn't smelled that certain smell in over 50 years, but it felt like it was yesterday. But for me the memories were good....

Why I bring up the smell, you mentioned your hubby was using a pencil. Those pencils have a certain odor to them, and most of my generation were really big pencil users. Who knows, maybe that was a trigger for him.