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Dad has lived in an assisted living community for 2 years. In December he was placed on Seroquel. He was doing ok until a month ago. The community has seen an increase in aggressive behavior. They sent us to to a hospital that has a senior behavioral center and told me that the center would keep him to get his medications under control. He has been there 5 days and all they have done is drugged him with ativan for 2 days and then risperdal and decpakene for the past 3 days. He has been out of it the entire time. He opens his eyes and may mumble. He is now bed ridden. Last week he was walking around and talking in his assisted living community. I spoke to the psychiatrist at the center and she said it may take a while to get him settled. But I feel that in 5 days, I should see some progress. Am I totally wrong?

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My daughter says it can take 30 days to make sure meds work. If they don't they start all over.
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It’s worth remembering that aggressive behaviour, particularly to other elderly residents, may mean that he has to leave the AL and may not be accepted in other places. That is a very very difficult situation for him and for you. Some drugs take six weeks to show much change. Patience and hope for all of you - including for the medicos, who I'm sure would like it all to be solved easily.
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Really, drugs both for mental conditions and for dementia are anything but an exact science, and often it comes down to cocktails of several. It is fine tuning it so that the aggression is not there, but the agitation is controlled as well. I think that you are VERY LUCKY they are keeping you long enough to play around with the cocktail to find what is right, because actually today the norm is to zonk and release. Sorry, but the sad truth. The assisted living cannot have the patient there in a state of agitation and you do not want to patient drugged into oblivion. I would be thankful they are trying. As someone who has a family member with mental illness I can tell you that it is often difficult to find the right combination of drugs and right dosages and even when the magic happens it often doesn't last. Wishing you the best. Hope that they find something that works well. So far you have only seen both ends of the spectrum where the aim is somewhere in the middle. Good luck.
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