The RX for the RX

When we visited Mom last week I had the opportunity to meet with her psychiatrist.  She was open to my assessment of Mom's behavior and mood.  I told her that I was concerned by her increasing time in bed each morning and the sleepiness that just overtakes her on most days.  We also discussed the anxiety that prevails each evening and leads to numerous phone calls about going home.

The psychiatrist was open to "tweaking" the anti-anxiety dosage in order to yield a less sleepy beginning to each day.  She also suggested that we monitor the change and report back to her in about a week.   So far, I have seen no significant change in the sleepiness or the nighttime anxiety.  This afternoon I had a conversation with Mom's head nurse who told me that the new medication schedule just is not working.  Mom is "testy" and has alienated several residents, including someone at her dinner table who now is afraid to eat with her!  The nurse made it clear that she will report to the Dr. that the meds need to be readjusted because her mood is untenable.

I am at a loss.  I don't want Mom to be sleeping until noon each day--she's then too lethargic/ misses her shower/ needs to be rushed to get dressed in order to be ready for lunch--it's just not a good scenario.  I also don't want people on her floor to be afraid of her and I don't want that meanness to be the most visible part of her personality, since it never was her manner in the past.

So, what do we do?  We need a prescription for the prescriptions.  My mother who used to just take tylenol or excedrin for a headache now is a pharmacy of drugs that have helped to alter her behavior almost as much as the dementia has.  I will leave the solution to the professionals.  But at this point, I may need a tylenol for the headache that keeps creeping over my eyes.