@HImom Zoloft is typically well tolerated and often the first line anti-depressant given to the elderly. Common initial side-effects are headache and nausea. There can be a range of more sedation to more alertness depending on the individual. Dangerous side-effects can be mania, typically in someone with bipolar illness. It can also, like all anti-depressants lower the seizure thresh hold, I know your dad drinks alcohol so you should check with the pharmacist as to the safe alcohol limits with that medication. Don’t expect to start seeing changes for a few weeks. Hope it works for him.
@MaineLonghorn sorry your dad is having these challenges and you are away. Does your sister live nearby? The irregular heart rate (typically atrial fibrillation) can cause the heart not to work as well and therefore fluid can back up to the lungs and as @HImom causing shortness of breath. It can also cause decreased blood perfusion to the kidneys causing decreased kidney function. This can typically be managed and people live well and for a long time with an irregular heart beat.
@GTalum and @HImom, thanks. Yes, they think his issues are due to not moving around much for a week. SO infuriating, because the NP said they needed to move him a lot and my sister asked about it multiple times a day. The staff always had an excuse as to why they couldn’t get him up.
My sister lives right in Austin, fortunately. But she has two jobs that require 50 hours a week on paper (more in reality).
Update: He is doing much better today! Sister said she can tell he’s better because he’s complaining and advocating for himself. He’s also concerned about Mom and telling people to take care of her. His kidney numbers are looking better and they may not need to do dialysis. They will put in a pacemaker on Monday.
@HImom is zoloft being prescribed for depression? It can take 4 weeks or so to really see the effects. I don’t think there are a lot of troublesome side effects normally. GTalum gave you some good info.
My dad was Rx a very small dose of ritalin to help with initiation. That was more due to his brain injury than depression but it is supposed to have the effect of giving the senior that “push” to engage in an activity.
@HImom, just in case, there are plenty of other SSRIs and other antidepressants to try.
For what it’s worth, at my fieldwork placement, many of the clients take Zoloft with no issues, and it’s on top of a lot of other meds for psychosis and other serious mental health diagnoses…
Thanks for all the reassurances. We are keeping our fingers crossed it helps lift his mood and makes him more engaged and active. He’s really not very interested in much these days—everything is “no matter.”
surfcity, I really felt for you when reading your story…such scenes are ahead for many of us.
Mainelonghorn the balance of fluid gets off when MD’s are focused on kidneys. I had to advocate for worse kidneys and improved fluid, in the hospital recently, but it sound like your Dad’s kidneys are too iffy for diuretics.
I went to my cozy support group and the social worker told me to be careful with doing so much and I went home and got really sick! Type A flu.
Ironically I got it from my mother, whose flu shot tamed the flu into a one day mild cold, but I have a raging fever and ache all over etc. So physically she is doing better than me after a long month of hospitals, surgery and rehab.
@compmom - two years ago I did the same thing. Rushing back and forth between hospital, ALF, and home and I ended up with the flu for the first time since I can remember. Got my flu shot both years since.
And I had a flu shot! Sick as a dog. Enforced rest. I am responsible for colostomy care, but I talked with the visiting nurse and she changed the wafer. This is one way to reduce my mother’s dependence. Honestly, if she survives during my illness she will survive if I go see my daughter!!!
Feel better, @compmom. Too easy to wear oneself out…
Being so sick is a lousy way to put it on the table, yet you make a good point about the advantage of knowing the whole situation can not depend exclusively on the constant availability of one person. (As well as the desirability of seeing your daughter.)
@compmom I hope you are feeling better soon. I remember when I was in the thick of it with my dad and stepmother (although not nearly as thick as what you’re going through with your mom!), I went to a wedding in Israel. I felt like getting away for 9 days was like planning for the Normandy invasion. There came a point when I realized that there was no way to control everything, and I got on the plane. It was exactly what I needed. And as a bonus, my daughter who was going through her own crisis (she was a high school junior) came along and it was exactly what she needed too. I really hope you get to visit your daughter soon.
I posted an update about Dad and added it to his Facebook page. This morning, he replied in the thread, thanking everybody for their thoughts and prayers. It’s a good sign that he’s back on his computer!
Aw that’s great that he posted. He’s pretty tech savvy!
I visited my daughter last year. I literally had one foot on the plane and one foot off when the Al called. She was sick and going to the hospital. The entire front row heard me talk to them, as I decided quickly what to do. I put the other foot on the plane and went and had a great time.
What’s different now is the colostomy. The AL has made me responsible for it, essentially. However, I have done enough to get that started, trained staff etc. etc… The Al said to me “It won’t fail for lack of trying.”
At this point, either it’s going to work, or it’s going to fail.
Every time we go on vacation, one of my kids seems to end up in a crisis. Now I guess I’ll have the same issues with my parents.
@compmom, oh, my dad is amazing. He’s involved with a start up company and is supposed to fly to the Caribbean soon on a consulting project. He’s speaking at an engineering conference in London in July that I will also be attending. He led a conference on forensic engineering at UT in February. He’s on the Board of Directors of the retirement facility where he and Mom will live - not because he’ll be a resident but because of his professional credentials. So you can see why the downturn after his surgery was devastating. He is one of the strongest, most accomplished people I know (he’s in the national Academy of Engineering and was the first American inducted into the Russian Academy of Engineering). My sister struggled to get the hospital staff to understand that after a nurse practitioner told her, “81 is 81…” Ack.
My 90 year old mother-in-law is in the hospital. General extreme weakness, and doctor thinks it may be heart failure. Feeling sad, and worried for my wonderful father-in-law. He’s very strong, intellectually vibrant and until recently was certain he’d be the one to “go first” Now it looks like the best case scenario is a move for them both to assisted living. I thought I’d share here because you would understand what this feels like…
His kidney numbers are looking better and they may not need to do dialysis. They will put in a pacemaker on Monday.