Manic-depressive husband refuses to take medication- what can I do?
Question:
But for some reason starting just a few months ago, he has decided to refuse his medication. He has begun to have bad mood swings and just generally is impossible to talk to or deal with. The way he acts has no rhyme or reason- he is essentially acting "crazy" again.
He's not unbalanced enough to be committed and force- medicated... but his behavior is making it impossible to even to be around him. He isn't a violent person but his behavior now is so erratic that it is really worrying me. If I mention all the problems he (and we) used to have before he started treatment, he tells me he doesn't want to talk about it, or he claims he "doesn't remember".
Does anyone have any idea what I can do? If he keeps refusing we have to split up. I can't live through this again!
Answers:
My husband either writes a letter or calls my psychiatrist when I stop my meds..I've done it a few times and relapsed bad. He does need to know, that he will have to suffer consciquences (sp?) for not taking his meds. If and When he gets back on his meds, you two need to sit down, possibly with his Dr. and make a plan for what to do when he stops his meds that everyone agrees on.
I have a friend that had the same problem with her husband, but fortunately he did have a doctor that he trusted with his heart and he listen to him, and now he is trying a new therapy that its working as a charm wth his mood swings, but now sex its not part of the picture AT ALL, I mean more than a year without ANY sex.
So my point its if you could get him to a doctor that he trust and he gets in to a new therapy (he might feel unconfortable with the one that he had) things might be better. These day we have new medication that may help him.
I am not trying to puch you to split, but I want you to consider every aspect of the situation to make a decision for you. Good luck.
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I think you should go to therapy either individual, couples or both to figure out how to deal with this problem.
You need to communicate to your husband that his failure to take his medication is not only sad because he is a different person but because you can not stay in your marriage. You feel like his not taking his medication is pushing you apart.
Couples therapy might be good because you don't know the reason he stopped taking his medication. This is an important decision and as a spouse this should have been communicated to you. Also because he is pushing you out of the marriage.
The main question in individual therapy might be how much are you going to put up with before you need to leave. You might want to set a deadline for him to start taking his medication again or you might want to move out until he starts taking his medication again. Perhaps you could get together when he is between episodes. It seems your waiting around in the hopes that he will start taking his medication before you are at wits end.
I had a best friend who picked his paranoid delusions over me (I insisted upon his getting treatment) and he repeatedly continues to contact me while still having delusions, so be prepared for your husband to try to arrange things to suit himself.
You know how to give meds to a dog? mix it in his food
I'm so sorry for your situation, my dad is manic depressive as well. My mom was forced to call the police when my dad refused to take his medication or his insilin. So maybe calling the police? I hope it turns out ok.
I go with Robert F. Put it in his food. Manic - depressives will stop taking medication because flat mood is boring and depression surfaces. Best to get him to a doctor as well. A different precription could help. By putting it in his food a while, he may return to a state where you can talk again and get him voluntarily to resume the medication.
Let his phyciatrist know. Ring the mental health line and let them know and ring the CATT team so they can be ready to respond in anything happens. But mainly let the phyciatrist know as he may be deteriorating and need to have his meds increased.
well if he is bipolar and refuses to take his medications, he could be manic. We often purposely refuse medication when we are feeling great because we know that meds will only take away the high and the fantastic feeling that goes with it.
Have you told him that you are considering leaving him? Maybe that will make him wise up a bit and start to take medication.
Best of luck
Have you talked to him about the side effects of his meds? Alot of them can be very unpleasant, and make a person think that life was just better before meds.
I take Lamictal, and feel that everything in my world is flat, and my mind was just sort of "emptied"
I never stopped my meds, but there isn't a day that goes by that I wish I could just chuck that bottle into a lake somewhere, lol!
Perhaps you can offer to go to the doctor and ask about a lower dose, switching the drug all together, or adding another one to help effects of this one. I've done it before with some success and plan to do it again hoping for more.
Maybe I'm way off base on this one, but good luck!
BTW, don't put it in his food. A lot of this stuff is time release, and if you chew it, well, hold onto your seat!
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