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Worried about doctor wanting to put her on it.
Hi.......Ativan has been causing severe memory loss. Doctors cannot get her off of it as the withdrawls were so intense for an 84 year old blind woman. She broke a bone in her back and gave her tramadol as it is non-addicting. She took one pill for one week..great for helping her move, but cause terrible nightmares and paranoia. Took her off that. Now the psychiatrist is seeing her decline wants to take her off ativan slowly by putting her on seraquel... I just read about it and am freaking out! It sounds terrible......any experiences??

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Every person reacts differently to psych meds with dementia. Oftentimes, it becomes a trial and error with the individual. In addition, what worked well last week may now not provide the therapeutic effect needed. This is due to changes in the brain.
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seroquel worked wonders for my husband! It was a godsend for us.
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Tramadol is addicting and constipating and sudden withdrawal can cause seizures. Never add or delete meds suddenly, so he is right, low and slow. I have not seen nightmares with Ativan, but I suppose anything is possible.
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Hi sorry about your Mom. My 25 year old daughter is on Seroquel for schizo-affective disorder on and off for a couple years now. She takes two 400mg pills before bedtime. She says it makes her sleepy, hungry and can cause weight gain. All anti-psychotic can cause metabolic syndrome...diabetes. In the past she has been on Zyprexa, Risperdal and the Invega injections and Seroquel is her personal choice. She also takes Zoloft but that is in the morning. Like previous posters said, it is different for everybody because we all have different chemistries.
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In my opinion it should be used as a last resort. It's very strong. My Dad was on it, and began hallucinating, and he broke out in terrible rash. But it kept him from climbing out of bed, and he slept through the night. I demanded he come off of it, and used the Ativan as necessary, and started using 5mg Melatonin, and he slept through the night fine. But of course we can all have different symptoms....To read up on it is a very good idea. You could try it and see. All the best to you. :)
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Can you have them try a lidocaine patch or some other topical med for the back issue? My mom takes tramadol for her various other pain issues. The nh keeps her on colace or something similar as needed for constipation. Seroquel did not help my mom. She's on Lexapro and Remeron, and a very small dose of klonopin.
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Rw, it's good
to hear from you! We love you!
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Seroquel allowed me to care for my husband at home for his 10-year dementia journey. For us it was a miracle pill.

Others in my caregiver group found it did nothing for their loved ones. A few people had side effects and stopped it.

As far as I know, if it isn't working and you stop it there are no permanent effects.

To put the dose in perspective a little, a friend with bi-polar disorder and frequent anxiety attacks takes 800 mg per day. My husband started at 25 and maxed out at 100 mg.

This is a strong drug. It should not be prescribed willy-nilly. But it sounds like your loved one's doctor is proceeding cautiously. One drug at a time, start low, monitor results, slowing increase dose if that is warranted.
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No two people are alike. Some will love......some will hate Seroquel. It's indicated for schizo-effective or bi-polar.
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Thank you so much!! Having used ativan to help her in the nights and now dealing with her not being to get off it and it affecting her memory I am really cautious. Seroquel states do not use on elderly dementia patients........

Drs do not even agree she has dementia...it may all be medicine related and if they could figure out how to get her off ativan without putting her through months of terrible withdrawl like before, we might know more.

but her memory and paranoia have increased in two weeks...so internist wants her in ER for more tests....but she was not up to going today....

I am thinking maybe cat scan???

thank you for all the support!!
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