Rapid decline in mental health

[MrsAndreaR]

My mother has had physical health problems for years and has been receiving medical care (in Cyprus) to help her for aprox 9years. She is also extremely thin as she has a problem when it comes to food (this may be anorexia or similar but no one has seen fit to label what is happening).
Up until June last year, my Dad kept track of all her medication and who/ what doctors she was seeing - unfortunately he died... For the past year, I have been taking care of my mother as best I can and have discovered she was also seeing a psychiatrist and being 'treated' for depression - from what I have seen, the treatment involved pumping several kinds of drugs into her system rather than finding out what is causing the depression and the possible anorexia has been ignored.
She visited the doctor for a repeat prescription at the beginning of the week but he refused to give her ANY tablets due to her low weight.
As I have an 18month old daughter and my mother was living with us, SHE decided she wanted to go into a nursing home to alleviate some of the stress from me. She moved into the home on Tuesday evening (22 May) and by Thursday morning (24 May) her mental health had deteriorated massively and she had developed severe paranoia. She now believes people are after her and the same people are after me and my family.
We believe the nursing home, possibly on advice from my mothers psychiatrist, dramatically reduced her medication. The medication formerly being taken included Seroquel 200mg, Trileptal 600mg, Citalopram 60mg, Lorazepam 6mg (per day - not in one dose!) and Faverin 100mg plus various pain management drugs and drugs for her stomach (to prevent ulcers?).

Has anyone experienced this before? Can anyone offer a clue as to my mothers rapid mental decline?

[ginnie]

I am so sorry to hear of your mothers Decline. Welcome to Neruo Talk. I hope some folks will come by and help you more. I was a care taker too for both my parents, I do know the stress that comes with any decisions made with our loved ones. If your mom, declined that fast, you need to investigate the medications she has or has not recieved, and for sure check with all her physicians. In my opinion, I would be concerned. If she had been failry stable before, and this occured really fast, that is not a good indication that she has been watched, or cared for enough. Nutrition must be addressed, especially if there is an eating problem or some kind of mental issue associated with it. Seniors need to keep up nutrition, and there are suppliments in many nursing homes to help with this. Please go over all the things you can with those in charge of her care, and find out what is going on regarding her care. Mini strokes can happen that cause real confusion etc, so it is important she gets checked out medically right away. I will keep you and your family in my prayers. I hope she gets stabilized, and that her decline can be reversed, and her nutritional needs addressed. All my best to you and your family. ginnie

[Jo*mar]

Eating problems - might be dental issues , has she been to dentist lately?
Has she given you medical power of atty? To speak with doctors?

But if she was setting a mix of meds and then none or cut back a lot, that could be why the changes in personality.

Maybe too someone is keeping her meds for their own use and not giving them to her?
I don't think a big change like that would have many other reasons ..

Might need to talk with the manager of the home to find out what is going on..

[zygopetalum]

I'm finding your thread a little late and I hope you have found some answers by now.

I think your mom is on way too many psyc meds. Does she have a major mental health disorder and epilepsy? Alzheimers? I think you are probably correct in thinking the nursing home discontinued some of them and that is the cause of her deterioration. I also think its possible that they needed to be discontinued, I hope they know what they are doing and her symptoms will diminish as she adapts. When a med that affects the neurotransmitters in the brain is abruptly stopped the transmitters can 'rebound' and cause symptoms such as agitation, etc. Talk with them to find out what they have done and if they can do anything to help her be more comfortable. Sometimes if there is a big mess with medication they just stop what they can to try to see what is actually needed.

If she does have Alzheimers a change like moving to a facility can also precipitate cognitive problems and confusion but I'd bet on the medication unless there were things about her cognition you didn't mention.

Talk with them and give them a chance but also don't hesitate to assert yourself and be her advocate.

judi

[joycemordoh]

Also make sure she is getting enough water!!
I'll be praying for you.
My mother was on serequel for a little while. She completely lost her appetite from that pill. Be careful of antipsychotics.