Posted by fachad on April 15, 2002, at 19:19:11
In reply to remeron and diazepam, posted by gregm2 on April 14, 2002, at 9:07:40
That's a powerful cocktail with whopping doses for a geriatric patient.
There are specific warnings about giving hydroxyzine to old folks, because it lasts a long time in the body, has anti-cholinergic effects, and causes confusion and falls.
Also, diazepam in the elderly is usually not a good idea because it lasts a long time in the body and builds up over time, again causing confusion and falls.
Usually, docs like to give geriatric patients short acting benzos - Ativan, Serax, and Xanax are favorites, because they pass out of the body quickly and do not have any active metabolites.
Does the Remeron make him eat a lot and sleep all the time?
> My father is 75 years old and had a depression crisis 3 years ago. He was hospitalized and his condition was diagnosed (?) as organic psycho- syndrome. He has tried several medications (anti-depressants, neuroleptics) and suffered with a lot of side effects (e.g. anorexia, parkinsonism due to the neuroleptics, etc).
> For the past year or so, he is taking the following medication:
> Remeron (mirtazapine): 45 mg daily (15mg morning, 30 mg evening
> Stedon (diazepam): 7.5 mg daily (2.5 mg morning, 5mg evening)
> Memodrin (aniracetam): 1500mg daily (750mg morning, 750mg afternoon)
> Atarax(hydroxyzine): 150 mg daily (50mg, 3 times daily)
>
> He has followed the above scheme for more than a year now, and has been relatively OK moodwise. During this time, he almost never went out of home (one reason is that his legs are not very strong).
> For the past 2 weeks he is feeling anxiety and the doctor has increased the diazepam dose by 5mg (up to 12.5). The result is that the anxiety has only decreased a little, but he seems like he is "lost" and confused (he does not talk a lot, he "stares" on the wall, he does not answer if we ask him a question).
> I am worrying that taking benzodiazepines (diazepam) for such a long time may be harmful, and also in combination with all these drugs. We have been to a lot of psychiatrists and the current doctor who follows his case is a neurologist. Please help with any suggestions!
poster:fachad
thread:103032
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020408/msgs/103165.html