Called to Encourage

As I was getting ready to update Bob's condition, I felt like I was suppose to report on my own. Interesting. My condition. First of all, I never feel alone. The LORD is with me. He brings me peace and He brings me encouragement. I cannot imagine what my condition would be if I did not have Him. Lesson 1: Praise Him Daily; In all situations. Lesson 2: Share the Gospel. Don't let an opportunity go by...even if it is just planting a seed or a spirit filled reminder to someone who has already heard. Lesson 3: Be An Encourager and Love As He Loves Lesson 4: Always Forgive. In His Love - Linda

The Road To Recovery

It has been a few months since I last wrote. My heart just has not been in it. Let me first say that Bob is doing much better. The road to coming off the prescription drug, clonazepam has been a bit bumpy. You cannot just stop taking the med, you must gradually cut the dose. Thank goodness we found a website, www.benzo.org.uk and read the Ashton Manual. It certainly helped both Bob and I to understand just what was happening. I will post more in the next few days.

The Path

For the most part not much has changed with Bob's condition since January. Some days I feel like I see glimmers of Bob and then I am not so sure. January came with his father going into the hospital with pneumonia, then a heart attack, then renal failure. He is much better now and thank goodness because now Bob's mom is in the hospital. She had back surgery and it seems to have been successful. Praise God!
Bob's meds are still the same but with an increase in 1 doseage for the doxepin. He is so fustrated in the progress he is making.

It's A New Year

I have not done a very good job of keeping up with Bob's progress because for the most part we have been doing a lot of one step forwards, two steps back. We have been discouraged and encouraged. On December 13th we ended up at our family doctor because we felt no direction from the specialist. She had told Bob to cut back on the Lorazepam but did not give him any plan to follow. Bob cut the dosage too quickly and ended up worse. Fustrating.

After a trip to the ER and with our family doctors guidance, blood work and a brain scan was done along with seeing a neurologist. All checked out o.k. Thankful for that news.

We have decided to only work with our family doctor at this point because we trust him and we know that he will be there for Bob every step of the way. Our doctor has put him back on Clonazepam, which he has taken in the past for his nerve condition and also doxepin.
The meds appear to be making a difference with the shaking. Now Bob and I need to work on filling his mind with truth. He has struggled with this for so long that he is stuck in a pattern that needs to be broken. I know that for myself, I need to fill my mind and heart with God's word....moment by moment.

The Shakes Continue

Here we are coming to the end of November and the shakes still continue in the morning. There have been a couple of mornings with no shakes at all. It is hard to know what the difference is. So fustrating. I honestly don't know if taking the lorazepam makes any difference at all. Looking at what "I see", I keep going back to the original problem when the shakes started, the high dose of prescribed flouxetine. I have read that during the sleep pattern, the brain during the REM cycle experiences low to almost dormant serotonin. Then when it comes out of that cycle, the serotonin starts to "fire up". Is it possible that there has been some type of damage to nerves in the brain, and that depending on how he comes out of that cycle, shaking may or may not occur? Looking for answers. I don't know if there are any truthful answers except, they just don't know what is causing the shaking.
The other thing that Bob is dealing with is pain in his hands and shoulders. The hand/joint pain started at the end of September and one pharmacist that I spoke with told me it was a reaction to the meds. It makes sense, but no one else is making that same statement. Confused.
Bob is trying to work, which is great in many ways. I just know he is exhausted and in pain.
Praying for healing.

Time Passes

Bob had a doctor's appointment on October the 18th and it was decided that he should continue on with the lorazepam but add Zyprexa. He is taking 3mg of lorazepam in the morning, along with 2.5ml zyprexa and 3mg lorazepam at bedtime with 5ml zyprexa. He is also to take 1mg lorazepam in the afternoon. After 2 weeks of that regiment, we had an appointment on Thursday, November 3rd and he is to continue for another 3 weeks. Though the shaking is confined to the morning - as soon as he gets awake, it is normally gone within an hour or so. It is NOTHING like it was, but is still causing him distress. Why is it happening? The doctor still says it is anxiety but honestly, I can't help but think there is something else going on. The long term affects of the toxic dose of prozac(fluoxetine) and the number of hour and hours of shaking/jolting that Bob endured has to have taken a toll on his nervous system.

In the Morning

I use to love the mornings. There was always such hope with the dawn of a brand new day. I know that the hope is still there, somewhere but it is hard to see when the day starts with shakes and jolts. It appears there is a real pattern here. For the past few days, around 5:00am Bob wakes up, goes to the bathroom and when he comes back to bed, the shakes begin.

We need to know without a doubt that this is still part of the serotonin syndrome. September 18th was the first day of no fluoxetine. We are going into the 1st full month of not taking the drug that caused the problem. Trying to find some real information on how long this can continue has been exhausting.

Bob is only taking larazepam and cyproheptadine.