system
Any suggestion for having bi-polar, dementia, etoh and severe anxiety?
human
My mother in law has a plethora of diagnoses and a ridiculous number of prescriptions. The list includes bi-polar, dementia, problems with etoh and severe anxiety. She is taking lithium, gabapentin , benztropine , divalproex, lorazepam and ferrous sulfate. She has been in and out of hospital over the last three months. She has lucid days but due to the lack of consistency we are having a hard time figuring out what to do. She is at a stage today that I am not comfortable leaving her alone. She had a psychiatrist but doesn't seem to follow up and she isn't interested in " talking " about her problems. She wants a pill to fix her. She has definite addictive behaviors but as a counselor I really hate the labels and the lack of teaching being done in her case. How do we find out how much of this is medication and how much is really disease? And is it a disease that she can learn to deal with behaviorally via a good treatment program or is it a real biological issue?
gpt
HiThanks for using healthcare magicIn bipolar disorder, patients present with number of symptoms and in her case, i think, chances of bipolar illness as a primary disease is more. Diagnosis mainly depends upon the mental status examination and for that you have to consult a psychiatrist. In treatment, she needs mood stabilizer like lithium or valproate with antipsychotic or antidepressant that depends upon symptoms.Thanks