My mother's psychiatric nurse practitioner (PNP) recently put her on Remeron. She has been on it for three weeks now. There are good effects and bad. She is more attentive and active, which is good. But she is more obsessive and mean. She is also totally off our normal schedule and will not work with me on it. She wants to do what she wants when she wants. This includes eating and taking medications. The worsening of her behavior has been since starting the Remeron.
We go to the PNP next week and I know he will follow my advice on whether to continue the drug. I like that she is not sleeping all day long and she doesn't seem as depressed as before. But the drifting schedule and behavior problems make caring for her more difficult. I don't know what to tell the PNP about staying on the Remeron or getting off of it. Does anyone else have experience with the drug? Any advice is most welcome.
Something that may be is the Remeron has given her enough pep to do things, and that the things she is doing are normal for the non-depressed her. The problem may be that they are making it harder to be around her and do the things she needs. I wish she knew if she felt better or worse. That would make it her decision on whether to keep taking the drug or not. Maybe we can keep using the Remeron a bit longer and see if she settles in better with time. It has only been three weeks, even though it feels like much longer.
I looked up the side effects and saw hypomania was a rare one. I'm not really sure it is hypomania or just that she feels good enough to do things.
Yesterday she spent all day shredding bank statements from the last 20 years. It went on for many hours. I found some extra ones in another place and she thought I had been hiding mail from her. She got mad and said she was going to start handling the bills and everything from now on, and I was not to touch her mail. She'll wait a long time for the bills, since I have most things on autopay and the other bills come via computer.
I do wish she would listen to me, but it's not something she's ever done. I feel now like we're on a new landscape that I'm not sure is stable on not. It's like she's about to fall off a little cliff and crash. It's hard to explain.
And stepdad was on Remeron for awhile not for the tranquilizing effects, but they also enhance appetite.