down the multiple meds path and ?

[majicman]

I am new to this website and forum but hope to get some nice input from others who have gone down the path already. First of all, I am a spouse trying to help, learn and understand, not the one suffering (although I sure am suffering watching my wife go through a tough situation). I recognize everyone's circumstances are unique so I am not going to go into details of my wife's. But, she went through a difficult two years (perfectly normal until age 44) which lead to where things got abnormal to the point that I had to have hear hospitalized to address issues. The judgement was a psychotic episode, generic enough to say they were not sure what caused it but that she definitely had something wrong. She was put on (eventually) 4 mgs of Respirdal and 1 mg of Cogentin. After 10 days in psych hospital she came home and seemed to be pretty good but she started to generate breast milk from Respirdal and that was bothersome and then her outpatient RN started reducing the Respirdal to address my wife's concern. I should note that my wife is anti-drug big time and the RN and I are trying to respect her desires to not be on meds and worries about side effects. I would love her to not be on these meds too. She reduced to 3 mgs of Respirdal and then 2 mgs and 0.5 mg of Cogentin and things really started to get uncomfortable for her in terms of anxiety, restlessness, and severely increased worries. She has had thoughts of taking the Jack Kevorkian route which then really scared the shit out of me because I have a 15 and 12 year old at home. I have had to work from home for fear of her being unattended and trying to minimize impact of her condition on my kids. The RN then prescribed Ativan 0.5 mgs tablets for her to take as needed to address severe anxiety and then when the more disturbing thoughts came into play she suggested Celexa at 10mgs to start. Oh, BTW, we trying to get her off of Respirdal to eliminate breast milk issue and transition her to Abilify which has started at 2 mg. Of course, as anti-meds, all this medication is also causing anxiety and creating a big Catch 22 with us. Are we causing more complicated issues with all these drugs or are the Ativan and Celexa important in the short run in terms of addressing the side effects of the Respirdal and Cogentin withdrawal. Sigh. It is all new and lots of uncertainty and you constantly question if we are doing the right thing. It is a daily struggle to know what will give her ST relief yet keep the end game of getting off meds in mind. I would note that the issues facing my wife before hospitalization have disappeared completely and I do think the Respirdal helped her to eliminate those issues. But now we are on the other side of the mountain, trying to figure out how to get off the drugs that helped her and her having seriousness negative side effects of coming off and making life very scary for her and me. If anyone here knows of family members who faced similar circumstances or if anyone on meds went through the same process, I would love to hear any words of wisdom. I have learned many things from reading posts on this site so took the time to become a member in hopes I could learn more from others. Thanks so much. Majicman

[Guest Vapourware]

To be honest, it doesn't sound like your wife is in the position at the moment to come off her drugs. It sounds like she is still having plenty of issues which medication are most likely required in order to stabilise her. Perhaps it's better to focus on stability first before considering taking her off drugs. You can make a formulate a plan to gradually reduce her medication when she's ready.

You might also have to face the possibility that she might have to be on some form of medication for the rest of her life, especially if the medication is helping her with the anxiety and disturbing thoughts.

[gizmo]

While I can emphasize with your situation, this is is first-person site. I can't give you advice on how to handle your wife any more than I can tell my husband how to live with me when I'm seriously crazy.

Two things I can share, however. First, there are like 20 of other medications your wife can try. Risperdal is not the "all or nothing" choice. Second, NAMI or DBSA might have a support group in your area for caregivers. You may find that uncredibly useful.

[AnneMarie]

Hi Magicman. I am glad that you've found some valuable info reading through posts on this site. That's cool, but as you can imagine, we cannot be all things to everybody. Crazyboards is here to provide a safe place for people with mental illnesses to talk about their own issues and challenges. This is for many reasons, including that too much gets lost in translation when friends and family try to describe what's up with their friends and family. Similarly, no one here is a professional so no professional advice can be given. We can't give you answers, although we can empathize and encourage you to seek out support from organizations like DBSA and perhaps encourage your wife to give CB a look over for her own use.

With that said, I'd like to leave you with a couple thoughts. Stability is part of normalcy. Normalcy is part of emotional/psychological health. If it takes medication to have health, then it does. First things first. Worry about stopping meds after there is health. Second, it is possible that your wife's symptoms are more about what caused her break than about discontinuing medication. Not to say that there is never a link, but many people stop taking many meds, including the ones your wife has taken, without problem. Again, it's a first thing first situation. No meds may be the end game, but you have to be in the game to have an end in sight. Last, I'm assuming that your RN is actually a psychNP if she is prescribing psychiatric medication. Even if so, it may be time to consult a psychiatrist if your wife feels her treatment could better meet her needs.

[Guest majicman]

I appreciate all those who took the time to respond and chime in on their views. I wish the best to all of you.