There was an incident yesterday with mom’s medication. On Wednesday I counted her cymbalta pills because they were getting low and I wanted to make sure we could get through the weekend since our local pharmacy closes in Saturday, and we didn’t have another lapse like last month, with no Aricept. There were 6 on Wednesday. Now on usual weeks Shaun and I have a system, I take her pill bottles out of the cupboard in our kitchen first thing in the morning, if I have to leave early for work and don’t see her, the bottles are out and Shaun knows to give them to mom when she wakes up. Now this week was different because of upcoming Thanksgiving, Shaun’s schedule changed and he did two overnight trips instead of one, and I had early days Thursday and Friday so I set the bottles out to remind me to give them to her when I got home. When I came home and mentioned she needed her prescription meds, she said. “Oh I saw them out and took them myself!” Very proudly. She’s been doing pretty well lately and I said great! And put them back in the cupboard for Friday (first mistake, I did not check the bottles) again on Friday, I was gone early but home by lunch, and again she said, “I took them myself ” okay. Again I did not check the pill count. On Saturday morning I took down the bottles and Cymbalta was empty!! Oh crap. She doubled her dose, if not more. Which the mg wasn’t a problem cause we were upping the dose from 30mg to 60mg anyway. But now we are out and it’s Saturday when her regular pharmacy is closed, and 48 hour withdrawal symptoms of this particular Med are not good. I got a new prescription (it’s written by a doctor I work at the hospital with) and got to Walgreens in time (they are only 24 hour pharmacies in the city apparently). So these were just minor inconveniences but the real issue was asking my mom if she remembers taking more then one a day. Of course she denied it and became instantly defensive, blamed my kids which made me get defensive. It did not go well to say the least, she did not talk to me until dinner time. It is those times I wish she would forget, but emotionally charged conversation is not something she forgets, ever. 🙁

To be continued..

Published by KaGardn1

I'm trying to live the most meaningful and intentional life possible. Minimalist, Vegetarian, Fierce protector of a full night sleep, Mother, Wife, Daughter -caretaker, Sister, Friend, Nurse. Sharing day to day life with family and friends. A quest to minimize effects of Alzheimer's Disease. View all posts by KaGardn1