Excess dosage of relaxers has risks
Dear Dr. Gott: My 83-year-old mother has been taking sleeping tablets for at least 10 years. She takes two each night, to which she adds half or one tranquilizer, feeling her doctor prefers her to get a good night’s sleep than to suffer from insomnia. Did he mean every night for the rest of her life? She recently visited me with a six-month supply. Further, she constantly takes laxatives to keep her weight down and suffers from balance problems, staggers about, falls asleep most of the day and has mood changes from depression to being argumentative to laughing at nothing. At other times she seems perfectly normal.
Dear Reader: Your mother is probably overmedicated.
The regular use of sleeping pills and tranquilizers is rarely appropriate at any age; particularly in the elderly, this combination often leads to inappropriate behavior (such as sleeping during the day), forgetfulness, irritability, rage and poor coordination. Aside from the side effects of the medicines themselves (which often cause problems in young people, too), older patients cannot readily metabolize many drugs.
Therefore, I think that it’s time for a frank, open discussion with your mother’s physician, who should be able to prescribe a safe sleeping pill that will meet your mother’s needs without affecting her during the day.
I’d also cut out the tranquilizer, unless your mother really requires it on occasion because she is overly apprehensive. Finally, I discourage the use of laxatives in the elderly except as an aid to evacuation.
As you have discovered, older patients tend to take medicine inappropriately, in ways that bear no relation to the prescribed directions. Your mother may simply have slipped into a bad habit, which can be reversed by administering proper amounts of medication at suitable intervals. The doctor should be able to straighten this out.
To give you related information, I am sending you copies of my Health Reports “Consumer Tips on Medicine” and “Help II: Mental/Substance Abuse.” Other readers who would like copies should send a long, self-addressed, stamped envelope and $2 per report to Newsletter, P.O. Box 167 Wickliffe, OH 44092. Be sure to mention the title.
Dear Dr. Gott: For the past six years, I’ve suffered from a condition known as spondylolisthesis. Is this a birth defect, hereditary, and can a chiropractor help me?
Dear Reader: Spondylolisthesis is the forward displacement of one vertebral bone over another. The cause is unknown. The condition usually affects the lower back and can lead to severe back pain and sciatica if the spinal nerves are pinched or compressed.
Most patients can be helped by special exercises. As adjunct therapy, chiropractic manipulation often relieves pain.