Elderly Aunt addicted to anti-anxiety drug

[CrystalFlyer]

and I'm starting to worry about her over-dosing. I'll be talking to her GP on Monday but honestly I don't see what he can do unless he switches her to something she could take twice a day. To be honest though the main priority is keeping her health stable and she is at the moment so I know he would be reluctant to change anything.

My Aunt is 89 and lives with my mum. She's very frail but still mobile, has heart failure and is on blood thinners (along with other conditions and drugs).

I do her pill box every week and the last few months I noticed her anti-anxiety drug would be missing some days before it should be and it turns out some days she takes it twice. Which is not what is prescribed.

She's had a few incidents recently which I believe have been caused by her taking too many of the tablets (dizzy, too weak to get out of bed)

She seems to be in a state of high anxiety all of the time and says only taking two tablets helps. I've had to bring the box of tablets home after filling her pill box as she's been taking them out the box recently too.

Anyone any experience of this?

Her gp might prescribe a different medication or, given her age, might let her carry on. Is the increased anxiety due to Covid? What is the current medication?

Toilenstripes She says it's about nothing in particular, she just feels worried all the time. The one thing she's VERY worried about the fact she has no appetite, but at her age and condition her GP doesn't want to go investigating too much. When I've had her to dinner (when it was allowed) she's eaten fine. A lot of it seems to be just in her head.

She's not worried at all about Covid! She sees the news and her neighbour has had it but she's a bit of a "it hasn't affected me, it doesn't exist".

She's on Lexotan 1.5mg

Has she forgotten she has eaten / taken tablets? Might be memroy issues or related to anxiety perhaps.

You can get the pharmacy to make her pills into blister pack pill boxes.

@Thatwentbadly

You can get the pharmacy to make her pills into blister pack pill boxes.

Agree with this. It makes it easier for everyone to administer the correct dose.

I asked the pharmacy at the start of all this to do the blister packs and they said they’re not doing them right now.

But it wouldn’t really help, she would just break open the next day to get the tablet.

It’s not a memory issue, she doesn’t forget she’s taken it - she just feels so anxious she wants to take more.

She seems slightly better the last week. Although I was sure there were 4 tablets left in the box but when I checked there were only 2.

Have you got POA? You can't just talk to her go unfortunately. Does she need a review of the prescription? What drug is it?

It’s a shame there is no obvious way of substituting a placebo, but I guess that would be unethical.

It sounds like her anxiety meds need upping if she needs to take more to feel calm. Tolerance builds up after a while.

I don't think it a good idea to substitute with a placebo (terrible idea!). Unfortunately, benzos are addictive by their very nature. Could you encourage her to talk to her GP about upping dose or a different medication?

I don’t have POA but she has signed a form that allows the GP to speak to me regarding her medical issues.

His opinion is she’s on a very finely balanced amount of medication for many issues and hereally doesn’t want to change the drug or increase the dosage. He thinks the potential side-effects could throw everything out of balance.

She has slightly improved so it might just have been something temporary.

Could you ask GP for a couple of benzos for the days she needs a top up?
I know the reluctance to prescribe but at 89 I doubt it figures.