Skip to main content

When do you decide about starting meds?

When my husband was diagnosed with FTD, the dr offered meds for memory and for behavioral. My husband declined, and I agreed.

We rarely take meds for anything.

The memory clinic recently asked for a 6 month update, and I sent them a list of how he has been acting. Most of the time he is fine, cooperative, and reasonable.

But he has moments, like yesterday, I didn't turn the corner quick enough for him while driving, so he yelled at me and then refused to talk to me for the rest of the day or do anything for himself.

Another time I wouldn't change lanes when he wanted me to, so he didn't speak to me for the rest of the day, and took off as soon as we got home. Fortunately he only went to McDonalds, and I could track him with the Life360 on my phone.

Or the time I wanted out of the store when it was packed with Christmas shoppers on a Sunday, figuring I could come back during the week when it was less crowded, he didn't speak to me for 2 days, refused to eat and went to bed early.

I have given up trying to jolly him out of it now, I just let him be mad and carry on as usual.
The memory clinic feels he needs to be on meds, and wants me to see a behavioral specialist. I had figured that wouldn't be necessary unless he got violent.

Then the more I thought about it, I realized it might be good to have on hand, because it could change suddenly.

On the other hand, how would I get him to take the meds?? How do I get him to agree to let the dr prescribe them?

He is still insistent that he will take no meds. And too with-it, to sneak them into him.

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Conversations with Rob

 Rob:  Where's the relish?? Did you forget to buy some? Me: Yes, I bought a bottle, is it not in the fridge? Rob: No, I looked and it's not! Me: Not in the pantry? Rob: No, it's not there! Me: Well, I am sure I bought one. Soon the whole family is hunting everywhere for the relish. So strange, where could it have gone?? Well, I found the relish. It was on the counter, right next to his hotdogs - where HE put it, right before sending us all hunting for the relish!

All About Rob

  You asked me to let you know what you need to watch for with Rob. I really do not like to talk about him, when he is listening. He gets upset, and then I have to deal with his anger. I prefer to keep him happy as much as possible, That can be a full-time job in itself. Since he will be in a familiar place, he will probably be just fine. Changes in his routine can get him agitated, but most of the time he is pretty good. Most of the time he is quite jolly, can be the "life of the party", which is not who he used to be! LOL If he does get agitated, he might simply refuse to talk to anyone. I have learned to ignore him when he gets like that, and he usually gets over it. Other times, he has suddenly stormed out of the house and taken off. Fortunately I have a Life360 app on my phone, that I can track him, and know where he is. I usually just let him come home when he is ready. Sometimes, if he gets frustrated about being unable to figure out how to do something he used to be a...

The Driving Incident

  Dealing with the guilt, even though I know I did the right thing. On Friday, I sent an email to the memory clinic and reported Rob's driving incident. Today our family doctor called and said the memory clinic sent my email on to him, and the clinic wants to do more testing right away. That's a good thing. But then he asked if Rob knew I had sent the email. Had I discussed the incident with him? (I tried but got nowhere). How was he going to react? (He has been getting violent when he gets frustrated lately) They are likely going to take away Rob's driver's license, which means he may lose his job - and it feels like it's all my fault. I had been up all night long terribly sick when the doctor called and wasn't so coherent myself. But you have to perk up, make sense, remember details, and make arrangements, no matter how you feel. I feel like I am sneaking around behind Rob's back, and I want to go hide in a hole and not deal with any of this. — feeling ov...