HELP! Is it Benzo Withdrawal Symptoms or Dementia?

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It's so complicated.  My mom is 81. She was not managing her medication well at all, could barely walk, felt nauseous and was anxiety-stricken.  Found out she was on a slew of drugs.  Her meds included Ativan, Ambien, Donepezil (for memory), Carbidopa-Levodopa (for gait/walking issues), OTC sleeping pills, UTI meds, a bunch of other crap).  Somehow she was still going to the gym 3 days a week, driving, living alone, paying all her bills, had a boyfriend, and was pretty happy.  She was also a hot mess.

 

The Beginning of The End

In early March 2017 after a few panic attacks, she spent 3 1/2 weeks at Loma Linda Behavioral to detox off Ativan - didn't happen

She stopped cold turkey April 1, 2017, but stayed on the taper drug, Remeron

She could no longer care for herself, so we moved her to Assisted Living

She stopped Remeron on May 10, 2017 and suddenly became unable to function - was confused about the toilet, brushing teeth

At the end of June they said she was too ill for Assisted Living so we moved her home and hired a live-in caregiver

No meds at all from May 10 to June 30, but caregiver felt she needed something for memory and gait issues

 

4 Months of Benzo's

On July 1, 2017 started her back on the gait drug (Carbodopa-Levodopa), ended up in the ER due to "jabbering making no sense"

 

She is GETTING WORSE but is it due to DEMENTIA - is that maybe the REAL problem?  Or is it even possible all of this is due to her age combined with the benzo withdrawal symptoms? 

 

We are at such a loss on this.  Not quite ready to throw in the towel and move her to Memory Care, but soooo confused....

 

PLEASE HELP SHED SOME LIGHT ON THIS

 

 

 

 

 

.  and had Ativan for the last time on April 1, 2017 after stopping cold turkey.

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Wow she's been through a lot. I had an experience taking an antidepressant during withdrawal because the depression was so much more intense than ever before and I couldn't take it anymore. I took one 50mg zoloft pill, just one, and it intensified all the withdrawal symptoms to the point that I almost killed myself. I was no longer in my right mind at all and convinced I was lost for good. It's possible that introducing a new psych med during intense withdrawal could have messed with her brain even more like it did for me. It's also possible that she has dementia or it could be both. Am I remembering correctly that she was on seroquel at some point? I was on that during the first few months of my withdrawal and quit taking it cold turkey which caused an uptick in symptoms and severity for quite awhile. I know it's really hard to separate new health issues from withdrawal symptoms. Your mom is lucky to have you on her team.

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red sky - glad i just read your post as i've been contemplating trying a single gabapentin capsule to see if it can bring any relief to the night time hours - whether its lessening of panic or actually bringing sleep but it sounds like i could risk a total set back.  that is beyond scary but also not sure how to keep going like this indefinitely..... i am going to hold off and get to the vacation location with my family and pray that somehow their presence brings me comfort and allows me to sleep......

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red sky - glad i just read your post as i've been contemplating trying a single gabapentin capsule to see if it can bring any relief to the night time hours - whether its lessening of panic or actually bringing sleep but it sounds like i could risk a total set back.  that is beyond scary but also not sure how to keep going like this indefinitely..... i am going to hold off and get to the vacation location with my family and pray that somehow their presence brings me comfort and allows me to sleep......

 

I considered taking seroquel again *on occasion* when the insomnia or psychosis become intolerable. I'm sure it was a terrible idea to just quit it during benzo withdrawal. It created its own withdrawal. I'm afraid to take anything at this point as even vitamin D supplements were making things worse. I don't know about you but I can't afford for this to get worse especially the severe suicidal depression. My psyc doc doesn't know much about benzo withdrawal and recovery but after educating herself a little she is afraid to put me on anything else until my brain is healed. I don't know what to do. Take seroquel once knowing it would help me sleep and give me a break from psychosis knowing there's a chance it could give me a week of extra bad symptoms? Or don't take it and deal with insomnia and hallucinations/delusions. It feels like an impossible choice. I don't know much about gabapentin or how it works in the brain. I do know for sure that the paradoxical response to zoloft was horrifying. I took zoloft in the past before starting benzos and it did not do that to me. Everything is so confusing!!!