My Father has extreme anxiety about his health and is afraid of dying. He has COPD, lives alone, still drives, cooks but mostly watches TV. He goes to Dr. frequently because he is always worried. 2 of his friends recently died which made the situation worse. He refuses to go to an independent/assisted living place because he doesn’t want to spend the money. Any suggestions on how to ease anxiety? He doesn’t like his preacher and I’m not sure he would go to counseling.
COPD in itself can be anxiety producing, depending on how difficult his breathing is or how often he has "attacks" air hunger terrifying both to the mind and the body, it can become a vicious cycle pretty quickly if you can't calm down. I'm so sorry you are both going through this.
It must be terrifying to lose multiple peers.
Why dont you see if you can find him a resource to meet new friends his age.
Maybe there are programs or activities that would interest him in your community or church.
Do do you have any friends with parents that he could meet occasionally?
Help him develop new social outlets.
(My mother-in-law’s primary care Dr. is taking her off the Xanax because she doesn’t like the drug at all, period. It had been prescribed by the heart doctor. <sigh>
Best set of luck in a search for something that works!
Xanax is a quick acting med, and lasts maybe 4 hours. At low dosages. And it's the "go-to" anti-anxiety med from many doctors. It's really best for "as needed" when you can feel an anxiety attack coming. Or know that you are walking into a situation that will cause anxiety. It works, short-term. It is not the best treatment for chronic day and night generalized anxiety.
And, also, totally on point comment about the Zoloft. I think I was writing my first comment at the same time you were writing yours.
I understand. My mother, 91, is off the charts for anxiety. But, she is very low tolerance for meds, and a fall risk, and has COPD. So, there's only so much we can do as far as meds.
Tip: For depression, it's very tricky. There is no great testing to figure out which of the major neurotransmitters need to be treated. So, most likely, the doctor will just assume it's serotonin; maybe prescribe Zoloft.. Which may not be the right neurotransmitter to try to treat. Also, with elderly patients, they prescribe low dosages and the meds take up to 3-4 weeks to have any effect.
For anxiety, there are many meds that can help.
Tip: Important to know your father's usual schedule, day and night, so you can tell the doctor when his anxiety is at its worst, when your father leaves his house, when your father drives, when your father sleeps, etc.
Also, is your father generally a low tolerance or a high tolerance person with respect to meds?
Ideally...and that's hard to accomplish....you can end up finding the right anti-anxiety med, to be taken at the right times of day and night, so that the meds do not add a fall risk or daytime drowsiness or driving risk or depressed respiratory (since your father has COPD).
Please let us know what happens after taking your father to a psychiatrist.
Yes, I am assuming that you will do that!
When you say he goes to his doctor "frequently" - how often is that, and are you able to go with him?
I'm sorry for your father's situation, and I'm sorry that you're in the difficult position of worrying about him without there being an obvious answer. What I'm trying to dig into a little bit is what you would expect of him, and what is the best you could hope for?
Looking at the option you put to him of moving into an independent or assisted living community: so, you felt, when you suggested this, that if he were less isolated and had more help at hand and more people to talk to, he would feel better? And he dismissed the idea because he doesn't want to spend the money. Was that, would you say, a rational argument? Is he short of money? Does he have other plans for it? Or are there other reasons why he might not like the idea of change?
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