[cashart10]

My husband and mother want me to try clozaril before going inpatient. They want me to wait until tomorrow and discuss this with my pdoc. Furthermore, my husband wants my pdoc to call him and have a discussion with solely him. This annoys me beyond belief. I advised him he is more than welcome to come to my appt next Tues but he does not need to discuss my treatment behind my back. He said he doesn't want to wait a week and wants to know what my pdoc thinks. I advised him I would TELL him but that obviously isn't good enough. I told him this was more than likely not going to happen unless he wanted to portray something ABOUT my behavior that I'm not realizing. That's not it at all. Am I going about this the wrong way?

[CopperStar]

There is no reason for your husband to discuss your care with your pdoc without you. In my opinion that is just bound to breed paranoia and hinder the stability process, not help it, and it's completely unnecessary. If your husband believes you are lacking self-awareness, he can go with you to your appointments as you offered to provide input and support. I think your feelings on the matter are completely reasonable.

[Pastel Kitten]

I agree with Copper. I think you've got every right to be annoyed with the situation. I really hope you'll be able to convince your husband to simply go with you to your appointments because I really do not think it's his place to discuss YOUR treatment behind your back. Afterall, it's your treatment - not his.

[cashart10]

Originally Posted by CopperStar

There is no reason for your husband to discuss your care with your pdoc without you. In my opinion that is just bound to breed paranoia and hinder the stability process, not help it, and it's completely unnecessary. If your husband believes you are lacking self-awareness, he can go with you to your appointments as you offered to provide input and support. I think your feelings on the matter are completely reasonable.

Thank you so much for your input. I just called my mom and maybe was a little more accusitory than I needed to be and asked her why she thought my husband needed to talk to my doctor with out me. She got more than defensive, she got angry. She told me that everything they want to do is to help me and that if I have something better to do than I should do it because it's working out so well for me. She said they were just going to stay out of my treatment and betterment completely from this point forward.

I explained that I know they want what's best for me I just don't understand always why they go about things the way they do. She didn't back down from her position but she did tell me that she is going through so much (she is) and she is human and can't be expected not to crack (get angry) at all.

I feel terrible for upsetting her...but I just don't get it.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I think they usually have you start clozaril IP from what I've read. I have to because I have to come off of Seroquel but I think it's pretty common to start it in the hospital where they can do lots of labs and monitoring. I'm sure it's an individual dr thing but as I said, I mostly have read about people starting it IP.

Only you know how you feel and if you aren't safe enough. Your husband has been asking you if you need to go to the hospital and now that you are saying yes he is saying no? That doesn't make sense.

And I'd never let anyone talk to my providers without me being present. I don't think my providers would do that anyway because they know I would have a hard time with it. But it just wouldn't happen because I would be unable to handle the worry that would go with it.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

This is not a time that you need to be staying strong for other people. You need to be strong for you and even though it is hard on others you have to let them deal with it themselves because you are the one who is sick. If you had emergency surgery they'd be worried but wouldn't expect you to bear the burden of that worry. There is no difference here.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

I just ran an interaction checker and clozaril and abilify have the same interaction that seroquel and clozaril have--a potential for cardiac issues (maybe it isn't the same but it is a major interaction). So while you might not have to go through the same process to get off abilify that I'm facing with Seroquel (because of my history of reactions we have to go slow and also make sure I'm safely on the clozaril, not just the WBC thing but the movement disorder stuff as well), you probably can't just start taking clozaril tomorrow. Again, maybe your dr is ok with the risk but mine made it pretty clear that the MAJOR risk indicator means she won't try it together.

Interactions between your selected drugs

Major
clozapine aripiprazole
Applies to: Clozaril (clozapine), Abilify (aripiprazole)

Talk to your doctor before using cloZAPine together with ARIPiprazole. CloZAPine can occasionally cause serious cardiovascular side effects such as low blood pressure and cardiac or respiratory arrest, and the risk may be greater in patients that are also receiving medications like ARIPiprazole. Cardiovascular side effects are most likely to occur when cloZAPine is first started, when it is restarted following an interruption in therapy, or when the dose is increased rapidly. The risk and/or severity of other side effects may also be increased, including dizziness, drowsiness, blurred vision, confusion, dry mouth, abdominal cramping, constipation, difficulty urinating, heat intolerance, palpitation, and irregular heart rhythm. You may need a dose adjustment or more frequent monitoring by your doctor to safely use both medications. Let your doctor know if you experience increased or excessive side effects at any time during treatment with these medications, and seek immediate medical attention if you develop sudden dizziness, lightheadedness, fainting, shortness of breath, or fast or pounding heartbeats. Avoid driving or operating hazardous machinery until you know how the medications affect you, and use caution when getting up from a sitting or lying position. If you miss your cloZAPine doses for two or more days, contact your doctor before you resume treatment, as you may need to restart at a lower dose. It is important to tell your doctor about all other medications you use, including vitamins and herbs. Do not stop using any medications without first talking to your doctor.

[Victoria'smom]

I wouldn't let my husband talk to the p Dr. without me. Tell pdoc about wanting IP let him be the bad guy. I'm to easily paranoid to let my husband speak to my pdoc alone.

[Nammu]

I know you love your family and they love you, but they majorly do not get it. This isn't something like elective plastic surgery that can be postponed to accommodate the schedules of those around them...this is life threatening.

If you need to go, go, and there's plenty of us here who hate hospitals but still think you need to at the very least go to the ER( and be as honest with them as you have been with us...know that's not easy when when you are actually sitting there, so easy to prevaricate and minimize) and get checked out. the ER will call your doctor and talk to him and your family will deal with it.

[Unrigged64072835]

Sad to hear that your family won't participate in your treatment without you present. It's your treatment, not their idea of it. My husband goes to my t and pdoc appts but he doesn't butt in unless he sees something going on that I don't. I appreciate that.

[cashart10]

Thank you all so much! I love all of you! I flat out asked my husband why he asked me two days ago if I needed to go IP and then today, when I told him I likely did, he advised me to wait to speak to my pdoc tomorrow. He said my sister told him that clozaril has been like a miracle drug for many people. So, I said "you think I'm going to get better over night then?" He didn't really know what to say but advised me that he didn't think I understood the kind of pressure I place on him and my family when I am away. I told him that I indeed did and that is why I have so much guilt about going. He told me to leave the guilt behind that they WOULD work it out but he needs to make sure that it absolutely is the best option. He told me if I am very suicidal that it is the best but he still thinks, if I can wait, we should talk to my pdoc tomorrow. I think I will do exactly as Miguel's Mom said and tell my pdoc I need to be IP and then let him be the bad guy. I don't understand why my pdoc didn't get back to me today but I will make sure he does tomorrow.

[cashart10]

Originally Posted by BeyondtheRainbow

I just ran an interaction checker and clozaril and abilify have the same interaction that seroquel and clozaril have--a potential for cardiac issues (maybe it isn't the same but it is a major interaction). So while you might not have to go through the same process to get off abilify that I'm facing with Seroquel (because of my history of reactions we have to go slow and also make sure I'm safely on the clozaril, not just the WBC thing but the movement disorder stuff as well), you probably can't just start taking clozaril tomorrow. Again, maybe your dr is ok with the risk but mine made it pretty clear that the MAJOR risk indicator means she won't try it together.

Thank you for this and everything!

[Nammu]

Can you get though tonight? Can you call your Pdoc now and leave a message that sooner is better?

[cashart10]

Originally Posted by sidestepper

Can you get though tonight? Can you call your Pdoc now and leave a message that sooner is better?

I probably need to to be honest. The thoughts spinning in my head and pulsing through my body are not good ones. However, my pdoc is a one man show. He has no backup as he is a private practice. I promise myself I won't do anything stupid tonight and I already took both my klonapin and Haldol so I should be knocked out very soon.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

But you don't need his permission. Just go! I know it is nice for him to be involved but you can let him know where you are after you are there.

In the morning please just go instead of putting yourself through another day of torture. Call him as soon as he opens and set a deadline of noon or whatever but not all day to hear back. Let the office know you need to hear before noon and that it is a pretty desperate situation. He should be responding to this kind of message.

I hope you sleep. As usual if you can't I'll probably be awake until 2-3 AM and will watch for responses to this thread if you need to talk.

[cashart10]

I just washed a huge, hospital appropriate load of clothes. It's been a while. Are boots allowed as long as there are no string? I only have 3 pairs of pants and 2 pajama pants that will work but that should hold me over. At least washing clothes was a good distraction. Hopefully now I'll sleep.

[BeyondtheRainbow]

At my hospital the boots would be allowed but nobody wears shoes. We all wear grippy socks. We have to check our shoes in and out every day and I think nobody feels like bothering with it. I'm usually the rebel wearing slippers over my grippy socks b/c my feet get cold.

[Nammu]

Yeah slippers work best.

[raspberrytorte]

It sounds like your family is just thinking about what is best for them, not you. Please go to the ER. You don't need to wait until your doctor or family say it's okay. If you feel like you need to go to the hospital please go.

Why does your husband need to talk to your doctor without you?! That would make me so mad!