Discussion forum for parents in Australia
08-08-2022 02:52 AM - last edited on 08-08-2022 04:14 PM by Erin_RO
HI -THIS IS MY FIRST POST EVER ON A SUPPORT GROUP, BUT I AM AT THE END OF MY ROPE AND DONT KNOW WHERE TO TURN.
MY ONCE BEAUTIFUL, HAPPY DAUGHTER HAD AN ALCOHOL PROBLEM A FEW YEARS AGO , WHICH SHE SEEMINGLY CONQUERED. BUT THE PROBLEM HAS MORPHED INTO A SEVERE ANXIETY/DEPESSION. FOOD DIDNT APPEAL TO HER. WE HAD HER CHECKED OUT PHYSICALLY (BLOOD TESTS, CAT SCANS, ETC), THEY ALL CHECKED OUT. WE THEN TOOK HER TO A PSYCHIATRIST WHO DIAGNOSED HER W MAJOR DEPRESSIVE DISORDER. HE PUT HER ON MEDICATION. IT SEEMED TO DO THE TRICK. HER MOOD IMPROVED AND GAINED SOME WEIGHT BACK.
OVER THE PAST YEAR HOWEVER, SHE HAS NO FOCUS OR DESIRE TO WORK OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY OF HER HOBBIES. OR REALLY JUST LEAVE THE HOUSE TO GROCERY SHOP. WE TRIED TO GET HER ENROLLED IN HER GRADUATE PROGRAM BUT FOR MONTHS THINKING THAT WOULD GIVE HER PURPOSE, THAT DIDNT WORK AS SHE JUST CLDNT GET FOCUSED TO COMPLETE THE APPLICATION FOR MONTHS.
THEN WE FELT MAYBE IF SHE JUST LEAVES OUR HOUSE AND GETS HER OWN PLACE, THINGS WLD IMPROVE,,,,,NOT. WE RENTED HER AN APT IN DOWNTOWN NYC AND SHE CANT GET FOCUSED ENOUGH TO FURNISH IT, SHE JUST SPENDS COUNTLESS HOURS ON HER PHONE ‘SEARCHING’ FOR FURNITURE BUT NO DECISIONS CAN EVER BE MADE. SHE CANT REMEMBER DOCTORS APPTS, TYPICAL TO DO ERRANDS THAT I CONSTANTLY HAVE TO REMIND HER OR DO THEM FOR HER. SHE IS NOT CAPABLE OF FUNCTIONIMG ON HER OWN. SO SHE MOVED BACK IN WITH US.
WE ARE TRYING TO WEAN HER OFF THIS MEDICATION AS I THINK IT DOES MORE HARM THAN GOOD. SHE NOW SLEEPS 12 HOURS OR MORE, BARELY EATS AND IS DROPPING WEIGHT AGAIN. NEEDLESS TO SAY, MY MENTAL HEALTH IS SUFFERING AND MY JOB SUFFERS AS I CANT FOCUS WORRYING ABOUT THE MOST IMPORTANT PERSON IN MY LIFE AND IF SHE WILL EVER BE PART OF SOCIETY AND HAPPY AGAIN.
I WELCOME AND PRAY FOR ANY OF YOUR COMMENTS, SUGGESTIONS, CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISMS, ETC
08-08-2022 06:46 PM
08-10-2022 04:11 PM - last edited on 08-10-2022 07:26 PM by Courtney-RO
Thank you so much for your kind support. To answer your question re the medication, her current doctor felt that putting her on this medication is kind of a last resort medicine since getting off it has serious withdrawal side effects. She dropped her dosages and essentially slept 18 hour days, numbness in limbs and sounded very detached when speaking to her. Thankfully, she seems to have gotten through this initial first withdrawal phase and seems much more alert and herself….. but this is only for two days so I’m not going to jump to conclusions and say we are out of the woods. We will most likely go through this again each time they lower the dosage.
So we live day to day for now happy seeing her somewhat normal for now, i just hope/pray that what we are doing will have long term positive outcome
thank you once again for taking time out to respond to my venting
08-10-2022 07:26 PM - edited 08-10-2022 07:26 PM
Hi @Cthor22 and thank you for getting back to us.
I'm sorry to hear that you and your daughter have been through so much recently, I can only imagine how overwhelming it would have been for you to witness your daughter going through so many changes and trying to find the right medications and dosages. I can hear just how much you care about your daughter, I'm sure she appreciates having someone as supportive as you in her life.
I am glad to hear that she seems more alert and herself right now, while its still early, I can imagine that would be such a relief for you. I just want to remind you that you're important too! So what kind of nice things do you do for yourself after a long and stressful week?
I also just want to let you know that I have had to edit your post to keep in line with our community guidelines.
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