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Dr. prescribed ATARAX today,I haven't found any real changes yet, but I think it needs to build up,Not sure,even the med nurse said the PDR wasn't clear,all I found out was the med is an antihistamine( like thats gonna help,,,sheesh, who do they think they are dealing with,JUNIOR...) I am getting really pissed with the band-aid treatment from the mental health officials!
So anyway, they say...call back Wed. pm, or Thurs. am if this doesn't help....meanwhile I just wasted $50.00 on pills to clear my cold up? .I could have taken Vicks for much less than that.
sorry, just venting...
I am past giddy, now the anger is creeping in, my poor friends, much less family...I haven't been this volatile in a long time, I guess I am more aware of my actions today.
Thank you for letting me vent, I am going to think more about this episode and try to find an outlet other than anger.
Oh, Ken, you need to go to your local college and get a Nursing Drug Reference Book.
Atarak is not only a antihistamine, but is also an antianxiety/sedative-hypnotic, and antiemetic (means it's good for upset tummies).
Many of these meds cross over to help more than one condition and may be prescribed for several different things. So, you haven't wasted your money yet. This one takes about 2 days to begin to see a difference.
Sorry it took me so long to get back to you, but school happens and life goes on. Tomorrow I may not be reachable at all as I have clinicals from 6:30 - 6:30 which means I will be gone from 5:15 - 7:30, but I will check in if I get a chance.
I got some good support from Ken this morning and wanted to thank him again and also express my sympathy for his situation. Also, I agree that staying on medications can be a problem for anybody.
Quote:
Originally Posted by J_9
Staying compliant is very hard for the individual as well as the health care worker. This pertains to all medications, not just those that deal with mental health aspects.
I want to give my experience as an example of why this is true. I have chronic pain and I am on a fentanyl patch and a low dose of methadone to control the pain. I need to change the patch every two days and I can only take a shower right before I put on a patch. If I wash my hair at the wrong time, it washes the drug out of the patch and I go into withdrawal early. I resent having to be on these drugs and having people tell me I am an addict (and not being able to take a bath whenever I want).
When I am feeling good or I am busy, I sometimes forget to take the methadone or forget to change the patch until I am in withdrawal. Even when the withdrawal is mild, I'm labile and tend to get more upset about things than I normally do. I cry easily. I too have experienced the shame of having said something or written something to a list that I later regretted. I tend to obsess and perseverate when I am in this state. Physically, I get very hot and sweat or have chills and can't regulate my temperature. Eventualy, my pain gets worse and I feel like I have the flu.
And all this because I had a broken back and have chronic lower back pain. The drugs help me to function-- take care of my family and work, to have a life. But I don't know sometimes whether my feelings are me or the (lack of) drug. I don't trust my instincts anymore. If I have a disagreement with my boyfriend, he tells me it's the drugs not me, and I'm not sure.
I try really hard to stay on my schedule, and mostly I do, but sometimes even when I've been completey punctual, I go into withdrawal anyway, for reasons I don't understand. I don't know if there's poor quality control on the patches or if something like lack of sleep can make me go into withdrawal early. But I'm constantly trying to adjust my dose while NOT increasing the methadone so that I become dependent on higher and higher doses. I feel trapped by this stuff. The other day, I was expecting 30 people for a potluck I was hosting and I was in withdrawal. I hastily took some methadone so I wouldn't go curl up in a cormer and sleep (or worse, cry) in the middle of the party. But then I feel like I have to pay for that later, because I have taken "extra." I'm so tired of trying to remember what I took when and what I need to take when.
I never take anything to get high. I am ruthless with myself and defensive about this. But I'm not sure people believe me. Several people have asked me what the high from fentanyl is like and I tell them I don't know because I have never felt high from it.
Anyway, I feel a lot of sympathy for Ken's challenges, which are so much worse than my own. I think I have an inkling of what it must be like because I too have to deal with cycling moods and drugs. I don't know much more about bipolar than what I've learned from reading this thread or about the drugs he's on. But I do know what it's like to be so dependent on powerful drugs that make you feel better and yet not want to take them.
Good luck,
Asking
Medication compliance is hard no matter what med you are on, whether it be pain, mental health, antibiotics, etc.... It's just really hard and up to basically the nurse (me) to teach why it is so important.
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