Has anyone dealt with a spouse severely overmedicated after dx of Guillain- Barre

By pisces1945 April 9, 2015 - 8:14am

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after this dx., his primary care and pain docs put him on methadone and lots of other drugs for blood pressure etc. Also dxd with type 2 diabetes. Methadone started at 5 mgs. Daily and is now up to 25-30, don't keep track anymore. He has always been an hypochondriac since the day I met him. Always at some doc for something. Then developed A-Plastic anemia, which I believe, was caused by side effects of all these meds. Doc treating him for A-Plastic decided to put him on Prednisone which made things even crazier. This started over 15 years ago with the GB dx and has ruined a not so great marriage to begin with. At my insistence he has insisted on dropping prednisone dose but still can't or won't lower Methadone. Frightening nightmares, like sitting up in bed with a gun screaming "I know you're in the room and I'm going to kill you," or hitting me full force in the neck like I was an intruder was the straw that broke the camels back. Moved him into another bedroom for my own safety. His memory has also been affected. There seems to be no end in sight. He also has a breathing machine. Last time he went to his pcp he came home with Lactaid milk saying he may be lactose intolerant. If not so sad, would be laughable.Sex has never been important to him. Even when we were young there were times it could be a year or so. My fault here too. I have no living family members, except one very good son, who loves both of us. Married with his own children now has already dealt with cancer dx. of his wife, who Thank God, has not had a recurrence. I, however, self medicated with ETOH, not the best coping choice and ended up in a horrible place for 21 days of so called rehab treatment, at his doing!! which is now mostly occupied with young people hooked on heroin, cocaine, meth and, guess what? Methadone!!while he still continues to take methadone and is blind or to the fact he has a problem too. Not knocking these young people. Actually learned a lot from them but many of them were very ill from side effects of whatever new treatment meds they had been put on. All seemed to have been diagnosed as bi-polar, a very serious illness, I know. But 10 out of 13 patients with this dx.? These were young people (age 17-34) well educated etc., trying to kick drugs but seemed to be overmedicated with anti-depressants and the seemingly constant change of meds that were making them Ill,Oddly enough, or maybe not so odd, while attending a group I house meeting several of them asked this question. You drank to self medicate and your husband insisted you come here but he's on increasing amounts of methadone and he's not here? Does he know there's a chronic pain center here also or his addiction okay because it's prescribed? I no longer love my husband. Actually haven't for many years. Frankly, if it hadn't been for me he would be dead. I was the one who insisted he see a neurologist when he started losing sensations in his feet/legs. Doc admitted him that day. Several days after coming home he developed a blood clot in his left calf, which I checked every hour for size etc., calling ambulance at 4:00am, lastly he passed out one morning as I was walking into our kitchen. Grabbed phone. Called ambulance again. I am worn out wishing I had left years ago, not because of his illnesses, but because I realized, when he took a job in a different state and I stayed behind working in a job I loved how wonderful it was to go home to a quiet house without having to listen to his latest illness complaints or problems with work. That was the other major problem in this marriage. I was always the listener. I zone out now because I've also realized he doesn't listen when I talk to him. Anyone out there in same situation Get out while you're younger. God knows I wish I had. By the way, when I was dxd with melanoma and was scheduled to see oncologist for results, my spouse actually had the nerve to ask if my doc could change the time of appt. because of some work related issue. I was stunned. Showed no concern for my obvious anxiety to know if cells had spread and an oncologist's time can't be as important as a corporate executive??

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Maryann Gromisch RN Guide

Hello pisces1945,

Welcome to the EmpowHER community. I am sorry to hear about your difficult situation. Hopefully, you will find a safe forum here to vent your feelings and frustrations, and find support from other women in similar situations.

Regards,
Maryann

April 9, 2015 - 8:41am