I removed yesterday’s post. After thinking about it and after having a situation with mom this morning, I realized I was not being fair to mom with that post. I was frustrated and upset and venting publicly. Sometimes that does not make for a kind post. I was trying to illustrate how mom was reacting to a new medicine and instead felt I came across bitchy and petty.
So, here’s the situation. Mom’s oncologist started her on Lyrica to help manage her neuropathy (tingling in her fingers and toes). I have come to realize that Lyrica is a nasty sort of drug. It is primarily used to control epileptic seizures, to help with the symptoms of fibromyalgia and to treat nerve pain. As one commenter on a website suggested, Lyrica is either a miracle drug or a nightmare drug. Unfortunately we are experiencing the later. Information on this drug suggests that it may take several weeks to work as intended, but that around 15% of people taking it do not make it that long because the side effects can be brutal.
For mom, the side effects were imbalance, confusion and muscle twitches, but I am also seeing depression or mood swings being a problem as well. The worst of these side effects, for me, is the confusion. It has made for some very strange and quite frustrating conversations with mom over the past two days. I talked with the doctor yesterday and she said to stop taking it and that it would take a few days for it to clear her system. I can’t wait for that to happen because the talking to mom is like talking to a drunk.
Mom gave me some advice once. She said that you should never try to reason with someone who is drunk. I must have forgot that advice yesterday. Today I am more standoffish with her, which she has noticed and commented on. I told her that when this medication clears here system she will be able to understand better. For now I am just keeping an eye on her. I also keep telling myself that whatever her reaction is to something I say, that it is the drug talking. That I cannot let hurtful things said affect me right now. It is strange how someone can go from jovial and lucid to confused and upset so quickly, but I guess drugs will do that to people
Anyhow, that is how things are going at the moment. I just hope this is all out of her system before next weekend’s open house. I sure would hate for her to still be confused then. I have stuff to do now, so I am going to end this post and may write more tonight.
I’ve been keeping up to date with your blog even though I haven’t been commenting. I know everything is tough right now and emotions are high and drugs added to that can be very frustrating. If you feel the need to write a venting a post then do so and you can always make that one private and only visible to yourself. I think its important for you to write those posts that may be as you put it unfair. You don’t need to share it with the world but getting those emotional bias posts out of your system can be healthy for you.
I hope things lighten up as the drugs leave your mothers system. I always read up on medication because of those side effects. My hubby’s oncologist had to get creative with him medication during treatment to find something that worked for him and she gave me instructions ” don’t google this!” and of course that made me want to do it more and I did and the side affects were awful. Sometimes we just have to weight the pro’s and cons of medicine and make a decision if going without is better or if there is a better alternative. Hope it all works out.
Thank you! I do indeed have a couple posts that I have marked private. I don’t generally hold back punches when writing my blog posts. I have told things like they are, but every now and then I get a feeling of regret (not about writing down things, but about making them public) so I mark them private and move on.
I generally do not google medication information. I know that there can always be side effects and that they probably aren’t pleasant, but mostly I avoid internet information because they are accounts of other people’s experiences and do not necessarily represent what we are going through. Lyrica, however, came with so many harsh side effects for my mom that I had to see what we were in for. I also wanted to get some self help trying to discern between the side effects and whatever else my mother is going through with the stress of losing dad and planning for a memorial gathering. I can better see the differentiation now that the side affects appear to be almost gone (thank goodness no more muscle twitching).
I don’t think we need to hope it all works out because it will. One way or another. It may not work out how we expected, but it will surely work out 🙂 Thanks again for your reply. Insight from people who have gone through this kind of thing is very helpful.