When you make the commitment to share a lifetime with another person, you expect to see them change; to age. You are there for the first gray hairs, the laugh lines, the aching joints and back pain, the loss of vision, and painful arthritis. It happens so slowly throughout a marriage that one may barely notice these changes until years and years have gone by.
Can you imagine watching your loved one deteriorate before your eyes? Individuals with cancer or other severe illness have to witness the depletion of a living, breathing body while grieving as they try to figure out how to deal with the loss of life even before the life is lost.
Imagine that person was not one who would be classified as physically ill, yet with each passing day they withered before your eyes. Their gray skin droops off of their body, while their once rapid movements are now slow and crippled as they hunch over and limp along. They lose 50 lbs. or more in a few short weeks and their bones feel light, weak and fragile. Their memory and comprehension are now failing. The mind wonders, “What if these effects on the body were the result of the medication that was prescribed to an individual in their twenties, who beforehand was considered to be in good physical standings?”
At the age of 27, this disabled veteran was prescribed a laundry list of medication that came with a stack of scary side effects. The side effects were much more severe than the actual symptoms he was supposed to be taking them for. The above mentioned side effects were from a seizure medication given for chronic headaches. Although I tried to explain to him and show him the risk associated with these drugs, my pleas fell on deaf ears. The medication led him to believe that I was trying to hinder his happiness, though I was in fact trying to do the exact opposite. More than anything I wanted to see the once happy individual living life to the fullest. Sadly, there was no reasoning with a person who takes these kinds of medications.
The first medication prescribed to him resulted in the most trouble and caused him to have terrible tremors. I took a video of him sleeping and caught the convulsions on film. He was not concerned after viewing this. He was constantly exhausted because his body never got the opportunity to really become rested. He trembled like a person with Parkinson’s disease. I was in constant fear every time he got behind the wheel, because his driving ability and comprehension of reality was affected.
Out of love and concern, I reported the incidents to his nurse, and they changed his pain medication. However, that is the last time they would be in contact with me, as he took me off the list of approved consults for medical intervention/care.
Just when I thought that I finally had a break from the constant worrying that consumed my every waking moment, his doctors decided it would be a good decision to add Lithium to the mix. From the very first dosage, I knew something was seriously wrong. It was like I was watching a train wreck as I watched him fall and scramble to make it up the stairs. Concerned for his safety, I followed him into the kitchen. With a plate in his outstretched hand, he began spinning in circles. My concerns he later relayed to his doctors were dismissed with a simple statement of “that’s how we know the medication is working”.
The new pain medication caused excessive itching that would keep him awake endless nights. I knew when he consumed this medication because he would go through “stages” He would start the first stage very calm, relaxed, mellow and compliant. The next stage was the constant deep raking of his skin with his nails and sometimes objects from head to toe. Then, there was the non-stop talking and repetitive language that would continue until his voice would go hoarse. The last phase consisted of a burst of energy. During this phase, he would decide to make up food concoctions in the middle of the night. There were times in which he would break plates, leave the stove on, or worse leave the food cooking on the stove after he fell asleep. Once during a drug-induced daze, he took a hot glass pot lid and ran it under cold water, causing it to explode into thousands of pieces.
This pain medication that was determined to be extremely addictive and sold as a street drug was prescribed for him to be taking up to four pills a day. I become increasingly worried after barely seeing my husband for a week at a time as he began to seclude himself in the basement. I would catch him asleep while using the bathroom. His digestive system had stopped working. He would fall asleep with his plate of food during mid-bite. His head hung limp as he passed out while our family opened Christmas presents.
I decided to count his monthly supply of pills and on average; he was consuming 29 pills per day! Every day, I come home from work worried that I would find him dead. I called family, hot-lines, and the VA. No one was able to provide me with help. After months of this vicious cycle, I started to wish that maybe he would simply not be there when I got home.
Even more frightening were the days he was coming down from the pills. Since he was taking his month’s supply in 7-10 days, he would go through a dark period of withdraw. Evil angry glares would be shot my way like daggers and I became fearful for my own life. This passed after a few days to himself, where he usually became ill with respiratory and stomach problems.
Having suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder, a mood disorder, a traumatic brain injury, and a right-foot crush injury, he would appear on paper as an individual who should be heavily medicated. It might surprise you to know that he was not on any medication and was able to function quite normally from 2003-2007. This was until he made the decision to be seen by the VA hospital. He sees one doctor there once a year. There is no therapy. He makes a phone call and all of the medication comes each month religiously.
Though it may seem desperate, these times called for desperate measures. Willing to try anything that he would agree to, I made an appointment for him to start chiropractic care. Thankfully, I was able to persuade him to give it a try. Immediately, he began to feel better. The once groggy individual was now refreshed and his energy level had increased. He was able to go without ALL of his medication.
This was an answer to our families’ prayers; most likely it is what saved his life. The road he was on was leading him to a life of destruction. We still have to take life day by day and be cautious of any setbacks, but the adjustments were enough to get him through to a point where he could be reasoned with. Now he is capable of seeing clearly and hearing what it was that his loved ones had been telling him all along. We will be forever grateful for all Dr. Chad and the staff at Maximized Living has done for our family.
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