Monthly
News: February/March 2012
“Hell”operidol and Back
Grandma on no medications
whilst she was at home
Grandma
on antisphycotic drugs in D6 nursing care to protect her and others
from harm????
April 2010 … was a life changing experience for us as
a family. My dear Grandmother, aged 84 at the time, had many health
issues including depression, diabetes, high blood pressure, urinary
incontinence, cancer growths and was on a cocktail of drugs prescribed
by her doctor. Further, she understandably had many urinary tract
infections and was frequently given antibiotics.
However, after Easter that year, everything seemed to change in
an instant. My sweet sane Grandma, a kind, loving and gentle soul
who would do anything for her family, suddenly took on an unpredictable
hostility, rambling and babbling abusively and in this demented
state she could not sleep properly and was even unable to attend
to her daily care. She became her complete opposite.
She was quickly diagnosed by a psychiatrist to have acute Alzheimer's
Disease and Dementia. A nurse myself, I wondered, how on earth
could Alzheimer's come on so suddenly? The psychiatrist had mentioned
however that one of the medications Gran was on for urinary incontinence,
oxybutynin, could have contributed to the severity. She was prescribed
yet more medication.
She was very poorly and the prognosis was not good. It was so
distressing to see her like this that we had nothing to lose as
a family by deciding to care for her at home. To give her some
inner peace and happiness we felt we at least should try an alternative
solution.
Our first decision was to take her off all drugs. As Gran was
not able to manage her food, we had to feed her. Our second decision
was to clean up her diet. Amazingly, within two weeks her skin
had greatly improved and her head had cleared. She was almost
like the Grandma we knew and loved so much. She was eating again
on her own and performing personal care independently. We could
now have proper conversations with her. We thought it too good
to be true!
The psychiatrist, in reassessing her, was equally amazed but said
to keep anti-psychotic drugs on hand in case she relapsed. Again,
being a nurse and having worked in dementia wards, I found it
odd that relapses, in and out of Alzheimer`s could be considered
normal. I had been taught that it was a progressive disease, not
one from which could oscillate from completely insanity and an
inability to manage daily personal care back to completely normality
for a few weeks. Was this diagnosis of Alzheimer's Disease completely
mistaken?
After a few weeks, Grandma started to decline. Then she became
really well. Then she declined again. The same pattern kept evolving.
It reached the stage at which my mother found it too difficult
to manage and she succumbed to trying the anti-psychotic drug
to see if it would help? Unfortunately the only thing this drug
did, was help her to sleep a little but her other symptoms worsened.
I knew this direction was definitely not the answer. If it had
been, then Alzheimer`s would be cured.
From Bad
to Worse
August 2010 … Things went from bad to worse. Grandad
explained me that when Gran used the bedpan, that her urine contained
a thick and grainy substance. I thought, this did not sound good?
Could it be a serious urine infection? She was also very constipated.
At this stage Gran had a fall and broke her arm. On admission
in hospital a urine sample showed a serious urinary infection
(surprise, surprise). This was the first urine testing since her
diagnosis in April. Alarm bells rang in my mind. Grandad had explained
to me that in her past history she had been very prone to urine
infections and had often been on antibiotics.
This possibility had not been ruled out at the first appointment
with the psychiatrist. I know that an uncontrolled infection can
allow ammonia to accumulate in the body and that it can cause
strange mental aberration, such as a delirium that resembles dementia.
To me, it explained why Gran tended to be very sane when on top
of the infection but deteriorating when infection was rampant.
No wonder the anti-psychotics were not very effective. Maybe the
cause of her acute “Alzheimer`s” was a urine infection?
Because Gran had the label 'Alzheimer`s patient', no-one listened
to my concerns. To those in the orthodox medical system, the urine
infection was a secondary problem.
Now to Haloperidol
Gran had not been tested for resistant strains and many
antibiotics had failed. Finally they looked at this but only after
they had started administrating another anti-psychotic drug, Haloperidol,
to supposedly treat her dementia. Then, when given the correct
IV antibiotic, she was almost civil again and wanted to return
home. However, because they had given her haloperidol they assumed
this was the reason she was better.
September 2010 … Gran was then put on regular oral haloperidol
and again deteriorated from good to bad. Again I convinced them
to take another urine sample and sure enough, again, she had another
UTI. This time at least they tested the resistant strains and
the antibiotics did their job effectively. Grandma became well
again! The same old pattern appeared.
At this stage I researched the drug Haloperidol. Some of the side
effects that Grandma was experiencing can be caused by this drug:
UTIs, sore eyes, light sensitivity, constipation, hallucinations,
headaches, sore throat, hot and cold, constant restlessness and
weight loss to name a few! It seemed that the drug to treat psychosis
actually causes psychosis and also contributed to further UTIs
which I believe was her initial misdiagnosed problem. It can also
cause pneumonia, heart failure and even sudden death. Continuing
my research I uncovered that according to the FDA this drug should
not be given to the elderly with dementia related illnesses anyway.
It really is intended to treat Torette`s Syndrome and Manic Depression
only.
I had to make myself heard. This harmful drug had to be stopped
but stopping it was easier said than done. Poor Grandma went CRAZY!
The half life of the drug was just awful and we truly witnessed
a time that no one should ever have to go through. Because she
still needed assistance she was admitted to D6, the dementia wing
of the nursing home. Thankfully we managed to get the haloperidol
stopped. The risk she posed to staff – not to mention herself
- necessitated putting her on an alternative drug.
December 2010 … Because my dearly loved and loving Grandma
was still on too many drugs and not on the best diet, I did not
want to give up. I knew the truth behind this awful situation.
The same pattern continued with the UTIs but at least they were
now continuing proper testing and being given 'correct' treatment.
However I knew this whole scenario was no long term answer: the
very things causing ongoing UTIs were still left firmly in place!
As Gran was definitely not making any headway with these drugs,
we managed to gain from her doctor an agreement to have her home,
to see how she progressed with an alternative treatment – without
drugs - for a short while. The hospital staff admitted she was
the worse case they had seen and firmly believed that she would
continue to decline and therefore 'needed' the anti-psychotic
drugs to keep her 'stable'.
Gran was released from D6, the dementia wing of the hospital mid
December 2010 without any medications. We fed her on good living
food for a fortnight. Her mental and physical health improved
immensely. We then took her back to the hospital early January
2011, just to see if she remained stable before we made the final
decision to bring her home late January.
The Hospital Staff Were Amazed
The staff were amazed at the complete transformation
from her crazy behaviour to complete normality, brought about
without using any medical drugs! One staff member quoted “Your
grandma should not be in this wing as she is completely normal
and understands that she is in a mental home”. The only time Gran
became agitated was when another UTI was brewing but because of
perseverance and correct treatment, this then also alleviated
her “delirium”. The trouble is, the ongoing use of antibiotics,
depletes the body of many minerals, especially magnesium.
Bombarded with toxins from numerous drugs and with poor
food options Gran was very susceptible to these horrid infections.
It makes me wonder whether all the people in the dementia wing
were UTI cases in the first place? Significantly lowered magnesium
levels coupled with poor quality food can lead to ongoing UTIs
and the resulting delirium can easily be mistaken for Alzheimer`s
Disease?
Sadly, to have the label 'dementia' and be prescribed incorrect
medications such as Haloperidol for these symptoms, can leave
such cases with “CRAZINESS”, hallucinations, etc. Fortunately,
while Gran was in the nursing home, we managed to get the hospital
to stick to the food that we provided for her.
24 January 2011 … This was the day Gran was supposed
to come back home but sadly she broke her hip the day before and
ended up in the Timaru Hospital awaiting surgery. I thought, oh
no, all this hard work getting her free of these problems and
now she will be subjected to more drugs, antibiotics and obviously
the anaesthetic and surgery, all after all she has been through.
This was definitely going to be a tough time for Gran and for
all of us, all over again. My strength and peace came from my
Faith that good will always come out of bad situations.
9 February 2011 … Gran survived the ordeal and was taken
back to the nursing home again for the needed rehabilitation to
regain her mobility. She was prescribed aspirin daily and also
had a catheter in place. I tried to go with daily garlic instead
of aspirin, as this food does the same job but when they discovered
that at that stage, that we did not have the power of attorney,
they pulled rank and ruled with iron rigidity. I had to let it
go. Oddly, although we were unable to give Gran the natural garlic
for a further ten days after stopping the aspirin.
It was only a short period of time after being back in the nursing
home that Gran started going “crazy” again and doing such things
as throwing her false teeth about. Her legs showed marks and were
in poor colour. I thought to myself, is she getting another UTI
after all the stress she has suffered ?
11 February 2011 … Gran's doctor removed the catheter
and another UTI was confirmed and IM antibiotics were given. This
made a noticeable difference yet again to her mood. Really bad
blood clots had developed on her legs so her doctor decided to
stop the aspirin...
17 February 2011 … Although Gran was now back to behaving
'normally' she told me that she was finding it hard to swallow
her medications and food. I knew that her doctor had prescribed
Panadol for her hip pain and colloidal silver as a natural antibiotic
only as he was amazed at how well she was without drugs. This
was also confirmed to me by the nursing staff.
Suspicions
Arise
Gran told me at one point that one of her medications
was “oily”. I thought this rather odd but inadvertently assumed
that she was referring to the colloidal silver. My suspicions
were aroused however when Grandad informed me that she was in
a “dead” asleep while about to have her tea. I had noticed during
this week that Gran was a to some degree 'up and down' in her
moods.
The head nurse from the nursing home advised me that she felt
that deterioration after her hip operation justified re-medication
with haloperidol, her assumption being that because this drug
was on the PRN ('as required') drug chart, that it had been responsible
for her improvement in the hospital. I called the nurse at the
hospital to check it out and found it was not true.
I discovered that when Gran had been returned to the nursing home,
that this head nurse, although acting with technical legality,
had taken a completely immoral direction and had regularly given
her holperidol from the PRN ('as required') drug area. The doctor,
who did not know the background to Gran's situation, had charted
this in the hospital. However, she had informed the nursing staff
that I was not to find out about this. It appeared to me that
pride was overriding common sense and putting Gran in very great
danger so I rang the ward and spelt out their medical oath, to
“First Do No Harm”.
18 February 2011 … I rang Gran's doctor and he, unaware
of all this immediately stopped the drug and all other medications,
the intention being that Gran would be discharged and under my
care from the 28 February to allow the withdrawal process to take
place... yet again!
I returned from a weekend in Christchurch on Monday, 21 February
... to find just so much had happened in my absence. To recount
...
19 – 20 February … Mum had been in to see Gran after
I had explained what had transpired and had found her in her room,
lying on her bed, very pale, blue in colour around the lips, her
legs swollen and mottled and her feet very cold. She was breathing
very heavily. Mum was extremely concerned and questioned the nurse
as to why a doctor had not as yet seen her. Gran had voiced to
Mum, “I love you Di and pass on my love to Dad”.
Mum stated to the nurse, there and then, that the drugs ... the
haloperidol ... had done this to Gran. She was shocked to see
how quickly Gran had gone downhill in just one week, just when
she was getting well and was hoping to shortly come home. (This
same nurse after many years working here quit her job).
When Grandad went in to see Gran that weekend he was met by her
doctor who felt she needed to get to A&E as there was suspicion
of pneumonia. Again IV antibiotics and oxygen therapy were administered
with good result and Gran was discharged back to the nursing home
the next day.
When I checked on what medications had been given, one
of the nurses from the nursing home confessed guilt, in not telling
me about the Haloperidol that was administered since Gran arrived
back from hospital. No one told me or her doctor what they were
doing! After Gran's return from A&E there was a notable change
in the attitude of the head charge nurse! The side effects from
an overdose of Haloperidol include pneumonia, heart failure and
sudden death.
What is amazing was that Gran survived Haloperidol a
second time but sadly I also knew that it was not going to be
easy to go through the withdrawal process... yet again.
28 February 2011… Gran was finally able to get out of
that nursing home and came home to me and complete a further withdrawal
process. She was very happy to leave the “mental home”, as she
described it. Staff were very meek and mild on our departure and
there was no sign of the head nurse.
The closest we were to any apology was when one of the other staff
members mentioned that Gran was far better off the drugs and stated
that it must be the effect of the garlic ...
The next few weeks were very tough going. I felt Gran was almost
a junkie. The side effects of her withdrawal were very bad and
extremely hard, both on her and those looking after her. We also
had to monitor her urine for a further potential UTI every week.
It was not until Grandma was well enough to sign her name that
we could access her hospital notes.
I was horrified to find, that on her admission to A&E with
pneumonia, they had administered more of the very drug that caused
all the trouble … IV Haloperidol x2. The first lot she had not
responded well to so they had given her another lot - until her
doctor intervened and said no more was to be given, he informing
them of what had been happening.
Her notes also mentioned how she was in heart failure and issues
with her ECG. This completely coincides with the information from
my research, the warnings from the FDA that IV Haloperidol can
cause heart arrhythmias and sudden death. It truly is a miracle
Gran is still with us.
Basically, this drug appears to actually make a case
psychotic. Then they give you more to sedate the case. This can
lead to heart issues and sudden death ... especially in the elderly.
With regard to this highly toxic drug, there does not appear to
be too much information available about detoxifying and surviving
for the protection of my dear grandmother!
Gran's withdrawal symptoms were very bad. They included really
bad heart pains, hallucinations, poor sleep, that very on edge
feeling, headaches, sore joints, the feeling of insects crawling
all over her (cocaine addicts get this - they call it coke bugs)
and frequent night urination. Amazingly, she was not getting any
more UTIs.
6 April 2011 … It has been a whole year since this journey
began and I really did wonder how much longer it would be before
Gran 'got through' all this. With her diet it was a real test
to find out what is best for her, after her dreadful experience
with Haloperidol. Gran seemed different and I could not figure
out what to do. Previously magnesium rich foods were helpful but
this time around they did not have the same effect. Lets face
it, the IV administration of this awful drug could well lead up
paths we did not even know existed. I was kept under pressure
finding out more. I was learning a great deal through my dear
grandmother.
12 April 2011 … This week Gran went downhill 'big time'.
She was as mad as a hatter. Poor Mum could not cope any more so
Gran came back home to live with me. She did not sleep for two
days and nights, constantly calling out. She had diarrhoea, profuse
sweating and she felt she was on fire. She no longer was able
to attend to herself personally. We had to feed her again. It
was a very hard time to watch Gran get through. It was almost
torture and at one point I felt there was no hope.
I wondered whether her frequent UTIs were the trouble
again but test results were negative. This puzzled me a great
deal. Her physical symptoms were also puzzling. She became worse
with a high temperature, high blood pressure (something foreign
to Gran) and a high pulse rate. As the day extended, she asked
for water and drank it just so quickly. Her mouth was very dry.
She had rigid upper body movements and explained that she was
finding it hard to get air. I informed her docotr of the situation.
18 April 2011 … Gran was still 'up and down', some nights
she slept, others she did not. Sometimes she was very coherent
and sometimes she shouted loudly. She often experienced hot and
cold episodes and could not tolerate hot days or bright sunlight.
Her body did not seem to be able to regulate her body temperature
any more. I had to shut out the light. It seemed her hormones
were well out of balance.
5 May 2011 … At this point we could cope no more Gran's
hallucinative episodes, her hyperthermia (these were very hot
episodes where the sweat just poured off) and the complete insanity
prompting her to strip naked and show incontinence. She suffered
insomnia, and went without sleep for many days and nights. I felt
Gran's symptoms were some how tied up with the 'Serotonin Syndrome'.
It was at this point that I learned that high magnesium foods
(serotonin rich foods) aggravated her symptoms greatly but a high
protein/calcium diet (melatonin rich foods) were more calming.
However, because of the danger that her symptoms presented, I
felt the need to have her admitted acutely. I felt she needed
medical treatment - an antidote drug to reduce her possibly raised
serotonin levels.
Once in the hospital, she was given a reversal drug, Lorazepam.
It worked instantly and she finally went into a deep sleep.
The next day however, because Gran had the 'label' Alzheimer`s,
the medical team decided that they could do no more for her and
that she should be discharged. I voiced my concerns and informed
this new doctor of what had happened and the possibility that
Gran just may have raised serotonin levels. She agreed the Haloperidol
could have led to Gran`s current problems and conceded the need
to run more tests.
Her current medication, Clonazepam, definitely alleviated
Gran's presenting symptoms. She finally slept and was not so agitated.
Her hyperthermic and muscle rigidity episodes have gone. When
we visited her, she was now able to recognise us all and address
us by name. The doctors also decided to do a blood serotonin test
and the results took a few days to come back. After these few
days had passed the doctors decided not to inform me about Gran's
serotonin blood level. They merely said to me that this test was
unnecessary. I replied, “Because the Clonazepam was alleviating
her symptoms, it proves that her serotonin was too high”? However,
as the medical team had informed all staff not to give myself
or the family any information about her care. Without knowing
we had the power of attorney, we could do nothing.
They called me “dangerous”. I guess in a way, yes, I am … I have
the truth and am not scared to point this out! However, to me;
“dangerous” is injecting IV Haloperidol into 85 year old ladies
and apparently getting away with it!
24 May 2011 … Sadly after 3weeks on these reversal drugs,
her serotonin level flipped back the other way and dropped sharply.
When her serotonin level dropped another UTI emerged. While her
levels were high there were no urine infections. Sadly, Gran's
serotonin level, in going from high to low, could not find a happy
balance point. The staff thought she needed more Lorazepam to
calm her down but now this will only aggravate her symptoms. She
needs another antidote to pick her back up … crazy eh!
She was finally seen by a geriatrician from Auckland,
the first medic to actually acknowledge the serotonin problem
and try to find a balance point … Hallelujah!!! She reduced her
Lorazepam as and re-introduced an antidepressant. These two drugs
work in opposite directions to help restore the serotonin balance.
The Lorazepam reduces the serotonin level but the antidepressant
increases it. The object was to achieve harmony. The drugs now
sorted out Gran and was stabilised. Within a week she was discharged.
There was nowhere for her to go and she was... sent to a D6 unit
in Dunedin! The doctor said that basically, her 'Alzhemier's'
would gradually continue to decline and any stress would alter
her serotonin levels.
This was the hardest time of all for me, letting Gran go. It is
the very thing that we wanted to avoid, especially when we knew
the cause of all the trouble and that now, nobody was accountable.
This is where my utmost Faith had to emerge and where my trust
in my heavenly Father for peace, happiness, healing and protection
over my dear Grandmother, who really deserved JUSTICE, had to
prevail.
December 2011 … Gran has been in a far better environment.
She has had love, good care and far fewer drugs. Her health has
gone from strength to strength. The staff down there agreed, that
the only reason for all that has happened is the incorrect medication.
Alzhemier's Disease progresses with time, not regresses. What
Gran suffered could not possibly have been Alzhemeir's Disease.
Just recently a family meeting was held. It was agreed that there
is no need for Gran to be in a D6 unit and in the New Year she
will be transferred to a regular nursing home, closer to home.
She has finally stabilised and has peace and happiness back in
her life. She comes back home to us for regular visits and it
is hard to believe just how good she is now. She talks coherently,
she knows who all of us are, she feeds herself and no incontinence.
One of Gran's intitial drugs that she started on for urinary incontinence,
Oxybutynin, was definitely a huge contributor to the start of
her downward spiral. Common side effects associated with Oxybutynin
and other anti-cholinergics include dry mouth, difficulty in urination,
constipation, blurred vision, drowsiness and dizziness. Anti-cholinergics
have also been known to induce delirium. In those with diabetes,
as was Gran's case, Oxybutin can worsen overflow incontinence
as the fundamental problem is a failure for the bladder to contract.
The amazing thing was that Gran, once on this drug, had all of
these side effects and the psychiatrist did mention that this
could have been a contributing factor with the acute 'Alzheimer's
Disease'. One of the side effects of this drug is delirium!!!
The other trouble when Gran was on this drug, was the recurrent
UTIs and the many antibiotics that followed. The doctor who had
prescribed the drug, although ringing my mother a week afterwards
to see if she had suffered any adverse effects did not call back
any more and did not advise my mother of any dangers. Maybe her
so called 'Alzheimer`s Disease' was created by the drugs in the
first place and that we are just too trusting when it comes to
doctors prescribing such drugs???
Good always comes out of bad situations and even though
I would not ever want anyone else to go through what we have been
through – it caused some great pain as a family along the way
- I would not want to 'undo' what happened, as Gran has led me
to one of the keys that unlocks life.
I now know how food can alter one's serotonin level (the happy
hormone level) by either increasing or decreasing it to achieve
an optimum balance just as the correct drugs can do it. However
with food, unlike drugs, it is a far safer way to achieve this.
Hopefully this story may divert someone else`s loved one from
the claws of death and into LIFE … WHOO HOO.
For more detailed information regarding the serotonin level, visit
this link: http://www.betterbods.co.nz/serotonin.htm
Summary
*Urine infections seem to go hand in hand with dementia.
This is the first connection to rule out if someone you know presents
a diagnosis of dementia. Could it be delirium from the urine infection?
* If the urine infection has been confirmed and you choose to
accept antibiotics, ensure your doctor tests for resistant strains,
otherwise the antibiotics may not be effective.
*Too many antibiotics can lead to lowered magnesium levels, this
can lead to further urine infections which can establish a vicious
cycle. It is really wise to increase magnesium rich foods, such
as garlic and parsley, to help prevent further relapses. It pays
to also eliminate and/or reduce high melatonin foods, such as
tomatoes, dairy produce, rice etc.
*Coconut oil (and goo-free coconut products) are very good preventatvie
for people who are suffering with dementia related symptoms, as
they are rich in magnesium and CLA (which helps repair the gut,
where 90% of our serotonin is manufactured - the other 10% of
our srotonin is manufactured in the brain).
*Aniti-psychotics appear to actually make you psychotic so to
avoid the dangerous side effects of these drugs and many other
drugs, the key is to avoid GOO, and in turn avoid disease (which
is explained in my first book, 'Jenna`s Journey' or visit my website,
www.betterbods.co.nz for further information)
*Dementia, Alzheimer's Disease and related conditions, continue
to grow and may well be the largest disease to confront us in
the near future. We are supposed to gain advice from our elders
but sadly many end up in a vegatative state, not even being able
to recognise their younger loved ones.
* What future is there for our children on the pathways of deceit,
when, at such a young age, they too are prescribed cocktails of
dangerous drugs.
Age and disease is a reflection on how many drugs and toxic foods
we are on. The more we have the older and sicker we become. Sadly
there are known cases of children with dementia, so the aging
process has sped up by following the wrong path.
*Justice for my grandmother and many others who are facing other
awful situations, is to stop the root cause ... which is goo.
It is simple, when the cause disppears so too do the harmful drugs.
This would then give us, PEACE, HAPPINESS and HEALTH.........WHOOHOO
x
Blessings and love,
Rachel Tomkinson
“The TRUTH will set you free, but believe me it will ruffle many
feathers along the way”.
Have a
WHOO HOO day
Cheers
Rachel
WHOO
HOO Choice Foods,
A
little crazy on the outside but all good on the inside!
