What is this behavior?
 

Girl calls me from rehab, bent all out of shape, complaining that the resident psyhciatrist has taken her off of ativan, without consulting her or providing a replacement medication.

Now, does she really think I can do something about this? I tell her over and over, that she's over 18, and therefore I cannot intervene. I suppose she could be just blowing off steam. What I do know, is that it makes me feel pretty helpless when she does something like that, for the simple reason that there is nothing I can do.

You're right...there is nothing you can do. Yeah, she's just blowing off steam. Did she ask the doctor why he was taking her off the medication? She's probably just scared, but being where she is, now is the best time for med changes since they can evaluate her body's responses. Hang in there, mom...you're doing fine. :grouphug:

No, she wasn't made aware that she was being taken off of it until she went to get it. The doc didn't mention it. Now she's going to make an appt to see her and find out what's going on. That's another 250 bucks. cha-ching...my only heart burn with the whole situation, is that it wasn't mentioned before, now it's gonna' cost her to find out what's going on.

Thanks, suki. I'm hangin'!

why was she on ativan? that is addictive, probaly why they are taking her off, its a sedative

She takes it when she gets an aura, and she doesn't have a seizure. She only takes it once every week or so. That said, I also haven't noticed an increase in siezure activity if she doesn't have one when she has an aura.

I wonder if she could be mistaking an anxiety attack (or something else) for an aura.

Maybe thats it...When my AD calls from rehab I get really torqued out of shape when she isn't acting like I want (grateful, happy,fully committed, etc.) It sent me into a tailspin when she told me she was bored last week. Ummm..I made it thru her shooting up, dealing, living with an abuser, but NOW I can't deal? This happened to me last time too. There is nothing we can do, but for me it brings up the fear that she's gonna dump her recovery over whatever she's squacking about. I need to :coaster stay off the roller coaster! They are going to go thru alot of emotions in rehab. when my emotions depend on how she is doing i am being codependant and I hate that!!Easier said than done however and you are really new to all this..it's been a year and a half and I should know better! I need to just let the recovery center do their job. Hope that helps..I kinda feel better now:lmao so thanks!

lol@squawking!

There's more. Hubby drove an hour to deliver paperwork that was needed by her HR person. When he got there, girls counselor asked him to come up to her office. Apparently, girl had squawked to more than me, and was making a round of apologies.

I'm sure it's an emotional roller coaster for her, too. I thought about that on my drive home from work today, and it brought me to tears. My turmoil is minor compared to what she must be going through.

I still have a lot of ups and downs, and I'm trying to come to terms with my own shortcomings. It's hard on every one.

Ativan is a controlled substance and is addictive (VERY)...there are other meds that can serve the same purpose and is a more respomnsile prescription for someone with addictive tendencies.

In any case, Ativan is for short term use only.

Ativan is what I get from the dentist because I'm too much of a chicken sh*t to even let him fill a tooth when needed. Oh my....can't drive home on that stuff!!

TM,
my daughter was given ativan to keep her from seizing after trying to withdraw from xanax herself. definitely a short term solution to keep the seizures at bay.
your daughter only gets it once a week or so? interesting.
i have no idea what an aura is, is it a precursor to some kind of seizure?
squawking is right, or quacking. yackety yack yack yack.
sometimes it is just about not getting their way. my daughter will be 18 on sept 20.
we have been on this ride since she was fourteen.

sigh.....
keepinon, i cannot explain, (or maybe you get it) when my daughter said,
"mom, i just dont want to get bored. (when she gets out)
the cold hand that squeezed at my heart.
to me bored equals wanting to use.
geez

Girls seizures are due to seizure disorder/epilepsy. At the facility, taking her meds is her responsibility, someone else just holds them and she has to ask for them. She has only asked for 3 ativan in two weeks, which is really good. While she was doing drugs and drinking, she was taking them almost every day. Just like addiction has a lot of triggers, so can epilepsy. Some people are fortunate that they get it completely under control. She's not one of them.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aura_%28symptom%29

We're aware that there are other medications that can control the seizures, and she has tried many. She's having better luck taking these only when she has an aura, than when she took other medications every day, several times a day.

Once we get past all this, we're hoping to get her seen at John's Hopkins to find out if she is a good candidate for the Montreal procedure. Best scenario, no meds at all.

"My turmoil is minor compared to what she must be going through."hmm - well maybe - but maybe not

PAIN IS PAIN -

yes she is having a difficult time - but honey SO ARE YOU!!!

If she had two broken legs and you only had ONE broken leg - do you think that would make your ONE broken leg not hurt so badly??????

No ma'am - that broken leg would still HURT - right????

PAIN IS PAIN - it still hurts.

I know this is not the main thing that you were posting about - but it just stuck out to me - as codies ~ I know I am great at discounting my pain, hurt and feelings because someone else is having a rough time ~ yes your daughter is having to go thru some tough stuff - but my friend SO ARE YOU.

When my daughter went thru treatment program after program, rehab after rehab, prison stay after prison stay - she would call me "venting, whinning, complaining, etc" about this or that ~ I finally realized I couldn't be a healthy sounding board for her - it wasn't healthy for ME or for HER - we are too close - I can listen occasionally but not often.

So finally I was brave enough to say "Ash, Have you talked with your sponsor abou this, I can see it is really painful for you"

or something along the lines of "That must be really frustrating, I hope you and some you are working with on your stuff are able to help you on that"

It was about setting healthy emotional boundaries.

Giving her the dignity & self-respect to be an adult - I know with her health issues (my step-dad had epilepsy so I understand on the meds thing) this may be a little different situation but just offering my e, s, h for you as things progress in BOTH of your recoveries!

PINK HUGS!
Rita

Thanks, Rita. I suppose it might sound like I'm minimizing my feelings, but that wasn't my intent. I'm just trying to put things into perspective. I'm pretty sure her and her bf are no longer together because of this, I'm sure she has hurt more people than just me and her father, and I can only imagine what other harm she may have done other than to herself. Those were the things I was thinking about. I don't have all of that to come to terms with, or make amends for.

Yes, she does have a lot to deal with!

Good for you for taking care of your feelings too!!

prayers for both of you!!!

I have yet to meet an addict active or in recovery that doesn't LOVE them some ativan! When I was hospitalized I'd count the minutes before my next dose. Its a favorite ;)

Why is it a favorite?

It is very fast acting. In minutes you feel great. The only real side effect is that it is highly addictive. Makes everything tolerable.

Dr.s prescibed it for me the 1st time AD went to rehab ( I was having panic attacks)..its equivalent to xanax although i think xanax may have a little more kick to it.

I had to get off my benzos (like ativan) in treatment, too. They simply did not give out addictive drugs, period. Which meant everyone was off opiate pain pills, stimulants, benzos, etc. The addict mind generally can not handle such medications. We take them more and more often until it is an addiction in itself, or leads us back to our DOC.

Ativan makes the world suddenly move slower and nothing bothers you. It is a wonderful thing to feel, which is why it is so addictive! I hope you can find something else to treat the seizures, something that will not put her at risk for relapse or cross-addiction!