On October 21st, 2012, our father, William Harrer, lost his battle with lymphoma. Through the last years of his life, we (his five kids) blogged about what was happening. It tells a story of how one family dealt with the end of their father's life. We thought if it can help a family with similar struggles, he would very much want that, and so we are making our blog public. You can read Dad's obit on the page "Dad's Life in a Nutshell" and see for yourself what an amazing life he had.
Monday, August 13, 2012
Stopping Lexapro
Hey there.. I have a concern about stopping or inconsistency or dosing.. I don't think it should be stopped without discussing with one of the Docs... Thanks for the Blog.. it is really helpful!
Cate, I think that is a legitimite concern. Starting and stopping Lexapro may not be the best strategy. On the other hand, I don't think the doctors are always the best source for knowing what's best for Dad. Case in point, Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Nichols couldn't agree on whether Dad needs the diuretic Lasix. Also, a few hours after Dr. Nguyen prescribed a stronger pain killer, Trevor prescribed an even stronger one.
What I saw when I arrived on Saturday was a guy who was pretty out of it. Bill said he had slept until noon. I thought it best to try and back off on his meds. We couldn't stop the pain meds. As his pain appeared to be subsiding, I agreed with Deb's assessement to try going without the Lexapro and I also went from the stronger Oxy pain killer to less strong hydrocodone. I did see an improvement. We played five straight and he was awake a greater part of the day.
It is important to keep this type of dialogue open because his mood and pain level changes day-to-day.
One last point: You expressed the concern that stopping Lexapro may cause suicidal thoughts on the phone on Sunday night. A valid concern, although I don't know how long one has to be on Lexapro before stopping it causes these effects. With someone by his side 24/7 I think we will notice if he has these thoughts. I think the greater risk is of a fall. And, if he is medicated to a point of drowsiness it increases that likelihood.
Thanks for bring this up and hope we can keep this dialogue open until Dad no longer needs all these medications.
Cate, I think that is a legitimite concern. Starting and stopping Lexapro may not be the best strategy. On the other hand, I don't think the doctors are always the best source for knowing what's best for Dad. Case in point, Dr. Nguyen and Dr. Nichols couldn't agree on whether Dad needs the diuretic Lasix. Also, a few hours after Dr. Nguyen prescribed a stronger pain killer, Trevor prescribed an even stronger one.
ReplyDeleteWhat I saw when I arrived on Saturday was a guy who was pretty out of it. Bill said he had slept until noon. I thought it best to try and back off on his meds. We couldn't stop the pain meds. As his pain appeared to be subsiding, I agreed with Deb's assessement to try going without the Lexapro and I also went from the stronger Oxy pain killer to less strong hydrocodone. I did see an improvement. We played five straight and he was awake a greater part of the day.
It is important to keep this type of dialogue open because his mood and pain level changes day-to-day.
One last point: You expressed the concern that stopping Lexapro may cause suicidal thoughts on the phone on Sunday night. A valid concern, although I don't know how long one has to be on Lexapro before stopping it causes these effects. With someone by his side 24/7 I think we will notice if he has these thoughts. I think the greater risk is of a fall. And, if he is medicated to a point of drowsiness it increases that likelihood.
Thanks for bring this up and hope we can keep this dialogue open until Dad no longer needs all these medications.