My understanding from the prescription Description and Contraindication paper from pharmacy is that an elderly person with dementia is at risk for premature death from Seroquel. My friend, who is a pharmacist, told me he gives it often. This did not assuage my concern over giving it to my agitated, 83 year old mom. She had severe osteoarthritis and was in pain a lot. She had been "difficult" all of my 55 years...but when, after 1 yr. of trying to hold off giving Seroquel, I ended up choosing to give it for her verbal abuse to Dad's caregivers and Dad. It was getting to be too much.Not fair to them any more. It altered her and she looked drugged. Sad. Turned out her pain was exacerbated by Acute Myelogenous Leukemia and she was dead a few months later. I took very good care of my mom. Loved her and respected her as my Mother. My only regret in all the years of care is that I felt I needed to give her the drug to quell some of her agitation. She was sick. Even the Drs. didn't get to the bottom of it. All info given at time of Rx should be read to make informed decisions. We have to weigh the risks. Just because a dr. says to give any drug is not enough. We need to be informed ourselves. Especially when our dependent parent is looking to us to watch out for them. If we care for the patient/ loved one...we need to also be patient with them. Care is about them. Lack of self is about us. Try everything before drugs.
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