Posted on 06/05/2012 4:48:53 PM PDT by 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.
G-d alone cannot cure or help mental illness.
Medication is needed.
I guess most of these she exhibits although I don't find her easily frustrated nor is her behavior erratic or uninhibited. I have no idea about increased libido. She does have weight loss, talkativeness, not sure about irresponsibility. She says she can go three days with no sleep or food and it's not a problem.
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've been dodging her phone calls and she leaves these long rambling unintelligible messages that I just delete but today she came to my office and although I made her leave, when I went out to lunch she was out in the parking lot waiting for me in her car.
Actually being in her physical presence, added to those crazy phone messages is what finally scared me enough to try to do something.
Thank you.
I am Bipolar and take Lamictal (a mood stabilizer) and Cymbalta. I would be lost without them.
And no,you don’t want to stop taking them,at least not cold turkey.
I have and it’s really bad.
***She talks 90 miles an hour, she can’t stay on topic, she’s all over the place in her conversation.**
Sounds like my mother-in-law, her sister, her daughters and her son, my brother-in-law (If you know him he probably owes you money). And this is without meds!
The first thing I would do is to research the MD and verify just what his specialty is!
That is very good that she is open to having you help her because at the very least, she could might be open to the suggestion of many here for her to be seen by a psychiatrist if her MD is not one.
As another FReeper suggested, an MD can only prescribe based on information that he/she has and ofter the patient appears to be normal in the MDs office, but is bonkers as soon as they leave the office.
In my wife's family it has taken me two decades to finally get her and her sister first to see a psychiatrist (they denied there was anything wrong) and once I got them to go to the psychiatrist, they only complained of depression, not mania. But antidepressants without mood stabilizers can trigger mania! So if the MD doesn't know of manic symptoms in addition to depression, they may inadvertently trigger mania by prescribing only antidepressants.
Ofter it is only the family members and friends who can report mania to the MD. The patient tends to LIKE mania and can get away with at lot of HYPO-mania (lower grade mania) which doesn't require hospitalization, but qualifies for a bipolar dianosis and the need for a trial of mood stabilizers.
Long-winded way of saying that I have a lot of compassion for the frustrated psychiatrists that have tried to treat my wife's family. Perhaps your friend's MD just needs more information. That is all I am suggesting.
Board certified shrink here.
Most people are not that hard to treat safely and effectively if you know what you’re doing. She could most likely be stabilized within a few weeks outpatient, a few months max.
She’s not in my area, not even in my state, but I’d be happy to see her if she were. Send me mail if she may be headed my way (Puget Sound area), and if she wants to strictly follow my recommendations: I’m willing to work with patients in a reasonably flexible manner, but I’m not interested anymore in going through the charade of trying to treat patients who want to do it “their way.” I’m not sure whether your friend is willing to do that after the loose follow-up she’s now used to - not sure of her part in the loosey-goosey care she’s currently getting, but I’ve found such care is all too often the result of an overt or tacit agreement between patient and doctor, unfortunately. I’m strict, but I know what I’m about, and I get results.
Hope she gets better care.
You have no idea how relieved I am with your statement these drugs are not dangerous at these doses (however, I’m going to stop by a pharmacy right after I type this).
Thanks for suggesting a mental health clinic. Is that a psychiatrists office or is it something different? I’m not really up on all the medical jargon, I try to stay away from those people. I believe she will go with me if I insist. She’s very open to my concerns, unless it’s just an act, I guess we’ll see. But she has never been one to put on an act.
As far as I know she’s not on any drugs like cocaine, but am not 100% positive but pretty sure.
Thank you very much.
“Because she’s been pretty bad for six months although the past week has been off the charts, that I know of. I’ve been dodging her phone calls and she leaves these long rambling unintelligible messages that I just delete but today she came to my office and although I made her leave, when I went out to lunch she was out in the parking lot waiting for me in her car.”
“Unintelligible messages” sounds like possible “word salad” which can be a symptom of psychosis (which my wife experienced for two weeks last month during her most recent hospitalization).
Here is Wiki on schizophasi, or “word salad”:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Schizophasia
In the mental health field, schizophasia, commonly referred to as word salad, is confused, and often repetitious, language that is symptomatic of various mental illnesses.[1]
It is usually associated with a manic presentation and other symptoms of serious mental illnesses, such as psychosis, including schizophrenia. It is characterized by an apparently confused usage of words with no apparent meaning or relationship attached to them. In this context, it is considered to be a symptom of a formal thought disorder. In some cases schizophasia can be a sign of asymptomatic schizophrenia; e.g. the question “Why do people believe in God?” could elicit a response consisting of a series of words commonly associated with religion or prayer but strung together with no regard to language rules.
Schizophasia should be contrasted with another symptom of cognitive disruption and cognitive slippage involving certain idiosyncratic arrangements of words. With this symptom, the language may or may not be grammatically correct depending on the severity of the disease and the particular mechanisms which have been impacted by the disease.
The American diagnostic codes, from the DSM-IV, do not specifically code for this disorder although they include it as a symptom under the diagnosis of schizophrenia.[2]
I’ve found such care is all too often the result of an overt or tacit agreement between patient and doctor,
This is what I've always thought. She scared me today, though. And her openness with giving me her doctor's name and showing me her prescriptions and her "right on" when I told her I was going to call him up and give him hell, gave me pause.
I guess I'll just take it a step at a time and see what happens. You all have calmed me down considerably and for that, I thank you.
“I suggest you first talk to an actual pharmacist, preferably with your friend present.”
Best advice so far.
Find a shrink you trust by referral. Then tell her you are worried the meds are causing problems and tell her you want her checked by the expert you have who is supposed to be good. Then make an appointment for her and accompany her to the new doctor. Have her take all her medicine vials.
Don’t call social services on her unless you think she is going to do serious damage to herself -guarenteed, they will do damage.
Psychiatrist. Now. (Her, not you.)
If you can talk her into it, you might want to ask a pharmacist to review her medication list and see if the drugs and dosages are appropriate.
At the very least, she needs to see someone who knows about psychiatric disorders and meds - will she agree to accompany you to a local mental health clinic or a local general hospital which should have a mental health professional available on a consultation basis -if she beomes obviously dangerous to herself or others (like erratically driving her car) she can probably be involuntarily committed to a facility for a short period of time while a treatment program is developed for her under the care of a competent mental health professionals........
With GOD, ALL things are possible!!!! That’s what Christians believe.
Well,I’m Jewish and I while I believe that faith in G-d is important we also need to rely on doctors as well.
If you have a psychaitric illness you need to take meds to help even out the chemical imbalance in your brain. It’s not going to go away because you pray.
If you have a psychiatric illness you need to take meds to help even out the chemical imbalance in your brain. It's not going to go away because you pray.
We believe in miracles. Faith in God is the MOST important!!
That may be true, but they are probably all caught up in the same magic pill mentality. A good psychiatrist will work with a patient on behavior modification, coping, etc, but also provide medications in the cases where the patient can't function without them. It's never an easy call and unfortunately numerous bad doctors (like this one apparently) are too lazy, too stupid and/or greedy to actually help their patients.
you are kidding me..........that is so bizarre
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