He is on Seroquel, Aericept and Ativan. Last night he was coloring and watching TV when all at once he put his pencil down and his book and started crying and said he needed an Ativan he was having a panic attack. I asked him what happened and he finally said he put two colors together and had a flashback about a really bad time in his childhood. I didn't ask what colors I just gave him the Ativan. Is this a common event with Dementia ? This must be awful for him if he can't even color without panic attacks and flashbacks. Can someone help me understand ?
My only other piece of input is that my experience of Ativan for panic attacks was a negative one, at least for my mom. In her case it exacerbated her memory loss, she has not been the same since she was given Ativan regularly for panic attacks for about two weeks, six years ago.
Also you might find it helpful to consult with a psychiatrist about your husband's medications if he has only seen a primary care physician. Psychiatrists have much more specialized training. Good luck and God bless.
My mother has VaD and also have things that trigger anxiety and crying. She doesn't talk about what happens, but I can walk in the room and her eyes are filled with tears. She usually is angry about something that someone has done -- some change that was made at the church, a family member ignoring her. It usually has to do with a feeling of helplessness that life is changing and leaving her behind. This is different than the bad memory like your husband had, but it affects her in the same way. I let her talk about it, then try to spin things in a more positive light. That doesn't work usually, but it does let her talk out what is bothering her.
I do not see a problem in letting someone have an Ativan if they need it and it doesn't become too frequent. I know you and your husband's doctor have the good judgment on how to use them. If he started requesting them too often, it wouldn't be good, but I see no problem with occasionally supplementing on bad days. My mother usually takes 2 Ativan a day, but some days she asks for an extra during the course of the day. Her doctor prescribes up to 3 per day, so her requests are fine with the doctor and with me if it makes her life easier. She is 89 and in a more advanced stage of dementia, so worrying about the long-term effect of an occasional extra pill doesn't see useful.
Eventually, I adjusted to the fact that I could not anticipate or stop her anxiety. Medication was the key for her and it really did help. Ativan didn't do much though. Cymbalta works best for her.
I've heard that it just takes time to get the right med in the right combination and in the right dose.
Why I bring up the smell, you mentioned your hubby was using a pencil. Those pencils have a certain odor to them, and most of my generation were really big pencil users. Who knows, maybe that was a trigger for him.
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