What to do when a friend is being misprescribed psych meds

06/05/12 | Auntie Mame

[Auntie Mame]

A friend of mine is becoming crazier and crazier, it's almost impossible to talk with her anymore. Today I asked and she freely gave me a list of her medications. I am very scared for her. Here's what she is being prescribed:

Latuda 80 mg

Paroxetine (Paxil) 40 mg

Lamotrigine 200 mg

Topiramate 200 mg 2x/day

Her doctor is not a psychiatrist, just a general practitioner. She says she speaks with him once a week over the telephone, and then comes to his office to pick up her prescriptions which are held for her at the desk.

What do I mean when I say she's getting crazier and crazier?

She talks 90 miles an hour, she can't stay on topic, she's all over the place in her conversation. She's verbally and actively obsessive about certain things, things that because of her bad decisions (probably brought on by all these meds) she's caused herself.

I looked up the meds and it appears the dosages are really high.

I called the Medical licensing board and spoke to someone but they are of no help whatsoever. I'm thinking of calling up the doctor and putting the fear of God into him. I'm not sure what else I can do. She has been getting a lot of moving violation tickets lately, and recently totaled her car but she says it was not her fault. She is in no shape to help herself and has no family looking out for her.

She's very open to hearing me tell her how worried I am about her. I think if I could find some kind of treatment program she would be amendable to checking it out.

[POWERSBOOTHEFAN]

So you are saying that if you pray you’ll no longer be mentally ill? That it’ll go away?

[Flag_This]

"Can these manic episodes last for six months? Because she's been pretty bad for six months although the past week has been off the charts, that I know of."

I'm not a psychiatric care professional, or anything - I can only relate what happened with someone close to me. I guess a person can be in a manic state for a very long time, if they don't receive treatment. The person I know was not herself (but not drastically so) for months, until she went through a period where she basically didn't sleep for about a week, and then her behavior got much worse.

Ultimately she spent about 2 weeks in a behavioral care facility, where they tried various kinds of medication and then she was released. I assume because the insurance ran out, because she certainly wasn't herself.

She did start seeing a psychiatric doctor pretty regularly and things got better, but she still goes through cycles of ups and downs.

Like I said, I'm not a professional, but be prepared for a long road ahead.

[Auntie Mame]

Your description of your experience sounds quite similar. I did go to a pharmacy last night and the pharmacist didn’t seem in the least concerned with these medications. The only thing he said about them was each should be taken at certain times of the day. He thought I was the patient and I didn’t disabuse him of his assumption, hoping I would get better information. I kept looking at him as he pecked on his computer, waiting for him to look at me with that look you give crazy people, but he actually never met my eyes. Apparently there are many people who takes this stuff, he didn’t bat an eye.

I was beside myself with worry last night and everyone here was so very kind and helpful and I’m much better now. THANK YOU ALL. I have a call in to someone for a psychiatrist referral so we’ll see where that takes us. Didn’t hear from my friend today and couldn’t bear to try to get in touch with her since I don’t have my next step ready (the referral to a psychiatrist).