Thinking about meds….

LaneyG

While my husband was in the ER there was a day where he did not get his morning meds until 1:30. He was bright, alert, lucid, calm until the late meds kicked in then his nasty side returned. Many of you have been into this journey longer than I have so you probably know. I need to keep in mind that some symptoms may be brought on by too much med or the wrong med. I’m anxiously waiting to see how he is at the end of this hospitalization.

harshedbuzz

It's possible the medication is not working as intended.

But it's also possible that morning is his "good" time of day. Dad was much calmer/pleasant from wake-up until about 2pm.

He may have been showtiming. Given that PWD can only maintain the façade of "normal" for a short period, if he'd only been in the ER briefly at that point, showtiming could explain it.

Most oral medications for mood/behavior are prescribed to offer a fairly steady level in the system. Most are not "fast-acting"-- If his behavior turned not long after he was given his meds, it's very possible what you were seeing was the previous dose wearing off rather than the newly administered one causing problem. Dad too a low dose antipsychotic-- the dose he needed to take the edge off aggression during sundowning was given with breakfast. He was a late riser, so probably closer to noon. If that was skipped, he would have seemed fairly pleasant right up until 2 or 3pm when things would predictably go sideways.

It's worth discussing with his doctor.

HB