Hitting and imaginary person

MarDel0917

My bf 45 eoa has been hitting, punching, squeezing his hand so hard that he is bruised and swollen sometimes. He ia convinced that it is someone else. He said "this is me, mine" about his right hand. "Thats hlm, that's not mine" about his left hand. This "person" takes his things and hides them. He has been on olanzapine (Zyprexa) for sometime now. I did up his dose but he was SOOOO groggy. I know it has to do with his reflection and him not recognizing himself anymore. But the physical pain hurts me to see. I do have an appointment with a geriatric psychiatrist that we made back in maybe April but that appointment isn't until November. We are on the cancelation list.

This just sucks!!!

We are all in this together 💜

Denise1847

I am so very sorry. I would reach out to his primary care and ask for meds. Our PC has done a wonderful job of helping me manage the behaviors. You have to have a doctor available that is going to be responsive to your needs because things can flair up quickly.

JDancer

This reminds me of a case study written by Oliver Sacks. One of his patients continually threw his leg out of bed because he didn't recognize it as pert of his body. Does you BF have a neurologist? they ma be able to help. Good luck, this sounds terrible for both of you.

harshedbuzz

Self-harm is considered a reason for admission to a geri psych unit via an ER admission. That might bring him relief from this behavior sooner than your appointment.

HB

MarDel0917

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/219595#Comment_219595

Yes when I called his neurologist he suggested go to his pcp and get an appointment with a geriatric psychiatrist. Also since he wasn't showing those symptoms at the time of the visit he couldn't do anything.

harshedbuzz

@MarDel0917

Two thoughts—

When a physician is reluctant to prescribe or increase medication based on in-office presentation, sometimes it's helpful to make a recording of the behavior and sending it to the doctor via the patient portal. Dad showtimed like a champ and I got the impression he thought mom and I just wanted to sedate him for our convenience. I sent him a clip of dad when dad was agitated and threatening which got me the 25mg bump in Seroquel I was after.

My other concern with this is that by virtue his cognitive impairment, he is considered a vulnerable adult at risk of abuse. I would address this behavior proactively asap lest some well-meaning mandatory reporter alert APS. Trust me, you do not want this.

My high functioning adult son once indulged in a rare bit of self-injury in 9th grade; a teacher reported to the school nurse and together they contacted CPS. DS had pinched and bruised his jawline in a fit of frustration. The injury matched a woman's (and DS's) hand-size at the time. When CPS interviewed DS he refused to tell them how he was injured out of embarrassment which escalated the situation. DH, DS's pediatrician and his psychologist were able to vouch for my past behavior and DS did admit to doing it. I came very close to needing to move out of my home and only have supervised and limited visits. Given your description of your BF, I could see you at a real risk of a similar scenario with less legal standing than I had.

HB