She is being super bossy with caregivers, refusing to eat, going into periodic crying spells and just having temper tantrums. Her psychiatrist said that she believes she metabolizes her meds fast but won't increase anything or change much. We are having issues at her senior daycare now because of her behavior. She has just become such a handful. Any advise is appreciated.
It's possible that the doctor isn't getting the impact that her behaviors are having. Keep a log. Video an outburst. Present these to the doctor. If she doesn't have any better medication suggestions, the you need to find a doctor who will work with you to get your mom's agitation under control.
Let her choose which sweater she will have that day but only give these choices between 2 or max 3 items - so say 'which slax to you want to wear .. the black or grey' but not 'what do you want to wear?' as that will overwhelm her & cause a new problem
When I visit mom I always bring a small treat [cookie/doughnut with premium coffee] so she now associates me with something positive - I ask her if she wants to go to garden or her room - this seems to give her a moderate level of control - this is very important to someone who had very little control because she is in nursing home where meals, activities etc are all set -
The nurse who regularly checks her blood sugar tells her that she is checking to see if she is sweet enough & they have a giggle over that - a bit of humour is a help - when mom said she wanted to be buried with her parents [3 hours away] I promised her I would even if I had to strap her to the roof & put fake xmas antlers on her ...she got such a hoot over this saying she wouldn't be 'a departed dear but the dearly departed' - she remembered this so well she repeated it to several people & laughed each time - this issue has never come up again as she was so happy with it she has scratched it off list of issues to worry about - yes they worry about issue you wouldn't think they do
Mom went through the crying stage, the anger stage, the accusation [stealing, talking behind her back etc] stage however I found her behavior improved drastically when she was switched from the super strong coffee my dad made to decaf - caffeine is stimulant & she was over stimulated [we used to joke when she woke up she headed straight to coffee pot that we should just but caffeine in her insulin] - this is the easiest change to make - we mixed regular & decaf gradually so there was no noticable change - good luck
Good luck! This is a tough one!
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