She was told her brain was shrinking when diagnosed about 8 years ago. Her behavior had become intolerable and after gall bladder surgery she was given meds that just did not work on her and made her hallucinate. Gerontologist put her on Remeron and Celexa and they worked great. Now he is weaning her off the Celexa to see if that is the culprit. Tested her sodium levels and they are fine.
We did a CT of brain today and she was dying with a headache by the time we were seen. Tylenol does nothing and Advil does nothing either which surprised me. Mom is on Coumadin so we have to watch INR for changes.
Has anyone else had this problem or solved it or just have an idea as to what could be done to help her? I have been trying to increase her intake of fluid as she does not drink much and gets angry when you try to push it a bit.
Any input on this would be appreciated!
Mom never had the headaches prior to the new medications being added in. Those medications were a life saver for us as Mom's behavior had become so horrible that we were not able to sleep at night and each day was pure hell. I hate to lose those medications but Mom cannot live any kind of decent life with headaches every single day. We have to find something that can work for us all.
Thank you for all your help, I never knew that seniors were prone to hydrocephalus!
Talk to your doctor about using mirtazapine together with citalopram. Combining these medications can increase the risk of a rare but serious condition called the serotonin syndrome, which may include symptoms such as confusion, hallucination, seizure, extreme changes in blood pressure, increased heart rate, fever, excessive sweating, shivering or shaking, blurred vision, muscle spasm or stiffness, tremor, incoordination, stomach cramp, nausea, vomiting, and diarrhea. Severe cases may result in coma and even death.