please, help, someone in the medical field. is this normal?

Question

my mom, chf, cirosis, just got over a broken pelvis in Dec, all healed, still a little pain. Doctor has her on paxil, trazadone, klonopin, atavan, plus all her heart meds, stomach medication, lasix, potassium, nifedical,coreg, reglan,metolazone, allopurinol,aldactone,etc. I see four meds here that do the same thing. My 81 year old mom, cant even keep her eyes open even when she isnt tired. She bounces up and down, is full of anxiety, depressed. MY GOD. These doctors arent getting together on her meds. I have asked every one of these doctors if this is normal and they just blow her off. Shes old, and i swear they cant be bothered anymore. She just wants to feel good, NOT DRUGGED. Is there any interactions here???

Answer 1

All those medications can certainly cause her to be drugged. It's too bad you don't have a doctor who will review her meds to see if any can be decreased or eliminated.

I would suggest looking for a new doctor, preferably one who specializes in geriatrics, who will review her history and see if changes can be made.

The first one I would ask about is the Ativan. It's for anxiety, but is very sedating. It should not be stopped suddenly, though, or she may have seizures.

She may also have mental status changes because of her cirrhosis. Her doctor may want to check her liver enzymes to see if this is worsening.

Keep on the doctors until you and your mom are comfortable. Good luck.

Answer 2

She should NOT be on paxil, trazadone, klonopin, and atavan all at the same time....especially if she has liver disease.
lasix, potassium, and aldactone are okay
reglan is okay, but might not do much of anything
allopurinol may not be necessary, but probably not harmful
Time to take her to a geriatrician. A geriatrician is an internal medicine doc who specializes in the care of the elderly ill. She needs ONE doc who can coordinate the stuff that the specialists are giving her. You are right, she does have difficult problems and with chf and cirrhosis she probably doesn't have much time left...but you want her to make the most of it. Good luck

Answer 3

i'm not in the medical community but i was hit by a car and my pelvis was crushed and lots of other things . after you've been on pain meds for a long time when you try to stop your body doesn't produce the the endorphines or whatever they call it that it did before . so you have rebound pain and a huge lack of energy . normally your body produces things that help . the meds stop it from doing that . it takes months for it to get back to taking care of things . so even little things are big . everything hurts . and you have lots of fear of the pain . aniexity attacks , insomnia, depression the works . it's a real bummer man . and i'm a lot yonger than her. i was also in very good shape and fit . i wish her good luck. i was very upbeat before the accident , a hard worker, loving , happy . now i fight to wake up every day . if you get an answer that helps , pass it to me please . but i still have to take meds . i was mangled badly . i refuse most aniexty meds and the stuff that slows you down. but i need them . always being in pain is something noone can understand unless they've been there. you change . your mind changes . your life is turned upside down . you can try all you want and you cannot will it to go away or to be happy . you cannot help the depression that comes with it. you can try to hide it because noone likes to be around a depressed person . but it comes out . just to laugh for real is a great blessing. and i always laughed ( before)you don't want to akd for help , or be the way you are . just a plain ol bummer . i also have an enormous amount of guilt for the way it's screwed up my loved ones lives . everything would be different for them too if i wa ok .

Answer 4

Find new doctors! Your mother's doctors work For Her! You can fire them at anytime. Sometimes I think doctors can become complacent with a long time patient. Ask around for recommendation of other doctors. Schedule a few appointments with a couple doctors and interview them! Go with your mom as her advocate, share with the doctor your mom's health concerns and decide together who would be the best choice for her.

Paxil, Trazodone, Klonopin and Ativan can all cause drowsiness.

My experience with trazodone both with my own use and my mother in laws, and a friend, it's worthless. It did not help any of us. You don't say what the dosages are of any of the these.... So can't say if they need to be upped or not. Clonopin can be habit forming. As can Ativan. All these drugs, while they can help in most instances can also aggravate a condition as well.

Some heart meds, i.e. blood pressure meds can cause lethargy/tiredness as well.


The website below has and excellent drug database fyi.

Answer 5

As Far as her Not Being Able to Keep her Eyes Open, I Suspect the Two Benzodiazepines (Klonopin and Ativan), Looks Like her Doc doesn't Give a Good S***, Find Another Doc Tout Suite. Maybe Not Being Able to Keep her Eyes Open is Due to her Heart Meds (Digoxin?). But Looks Like Polypharmacy. BTW, Metolazone and Lasix?

Answer 6

I'm not a medical professional, but my LORD, what does the pharmacist say? Do all of these meds get picked up at the same place???? I would at the very least sit down and consult with the pharmacist and see if you can get them to contact the doctor about the doses - especially if she is basically getting the same type of med 4x's in a day.

Good luck! I hope somebody in the medical field has some good suggestions!

Answer 7

I agree with norelief comment. Allopurinol is for gout. Definately shouldn't be taking klonopin and ativan at the same time. Should take one or the other. taking all of these is why she's so sleepy. Stick with the paxil, as far a trazadone goes, it can be used for depresion and for sleep. It doesn't seem she has any trouble sleeping and she is taking paxil for depression.

Answer 8

Hate to tell you this, yet there are not any jobs that pay $150K a year interior the medical field to somebody who isn't prepared to put in ordinary hours, and many them. The internship for any medical expert will require 80-a hundred hours a week. you could desire to analyze what else there could be for that style of money with the little bit of pastime you're exhibiting. maximum people who earn that style of money artwork their tails off!

Answer 9

Hi Linda. This is called "poly pharmacy". It is outrageous. You are wise to recognize that this is the primary problem your mother is facing.

There is only one solution. Find a new doctor ... preferably one that is trained in Functional Medicine. (Functional Medicine is 'modern' medicine, which is different than most doctors who are trained to use drugs to mask symptoms rather than 'finding and fixing' the cause of those symptoms - which is functional medicine). You may want to look for a good Naturopathic Physician or that rare medical doctor trained in Functional Medicine.

Best wishes and good luck.

Answer 10

I will play devil's advocate here...many diseases are best treated with combination drug therapy, meaning not just one med will treat one problem. And many meds that on paper it says" they do the same thing", their actions/effects on the body do act differently. As specialized as medical care has become, the heart specialist orders the heart meds, her gastroenterologist probably orders her cirrhosis meds, etc..
I agree that you have a legitimate concern, and certainly one physician should be assessing her overall medical treatment.