Psychosis and chronic lyme disease

Let me first say, for everyone who is having to deal with this you are to be applauded for everything you do for your husband/wife/son/daughter. This is the most difficult type of thing to deal with.

I do have something to add to the conversation that I think will be constructive.

Don't beat me up, but I think you need to take Lyme out of the equation for a little. Whatever is causing this behavior, I think that trying to treat Lyme first is putting the cart before the horse. The psychosis is the result of chemical imbalances in the brain. You can push the Lyme diagnosis from now until the cows come home and you won't get anywhere.

My mother in law has schizophrenia. She is full on hearing voices and completely paranoid. My father in law tried for years to get her help, but like many schizophrenics she talks a good game in front of strangers especially doctors. She always either checked herself out of treatment or convinced everyone she was fine. This was a person who unplugged the telephone because aliens were talking to her on the phone, the government arranged for my husband and I to be married, the priest was part of the mafia and apparently I was a ****** who was taking advantage of her son. I'm not being critical, these are just examples.

Paranoia is part and parcel of the whole thing. Even though you know what you are saying and doing is very reasonable, your son probably is having trouble separating reality from what he sees and hears even if it is all in his head.

People with schizophrenia (no matter the cause) are never med compliant. If you can get them to take meds as soon as they feel better they stop because they don't feel sick. They also don't want to take meds because they are not sick or you or the doctor is trying to poison him.

As someone else said, I wouldn't give ultimatums because one he leaves your house you have no control at all. My MIL drove everyone out of the house and wouldn't take medication. My FIL and SIL both hired nurses to come in each day to make sure she took her medication, but she wouldn't answer the door and no one could force her to take the medication.

Eventually, everything came to a head because my husband got a call that she was in jail (we live at least 500 miles away). We found out that she had been throwing rocks at the kids next door. Their dad happened to be a cop and after a few times he made a compliant. They would bring her in and the judge would tell her that she needed to go for counseling and then return to court. Of course, she never went to counseling or returned to court. Each time it happened she would get fines. By the time we found out, she had $7500 in warrants. My SIL sued for guardianship (which took 3 years) and moved her to an assisted living facility near her, but taking meds was still a problem. She ended up have the medication by injection which worked only marginally.

A year and a half ago a miracle happened (sort of). My SIL brought her here to visit my FIL who was critically ill with COPD. I saw my mother in law smile for the first time ever (something like 27 years) and surprisingly she loves my dog (she had always been afraid of animals).

HERE'S THE IMPORTANT PART: The miracle was they came out with a liquid medication that could be added to her food. She doesn't know she is taking medication, but she is rational. She is enjoying life better and is easier to deal with. When she calls to talk to my husband (who is usually traveling), she's always polite and we have nice conversations. Before this standard practice was 15-20 minutes of screaming italian on the answering machine. She always asks about the dog. As a matter of fact, the dog ranks higher than I do. LOL

Since your son is an adult it's not quite so simple but if your can work out the logistics, this might be a good solution. If you can get him treated for the psychosis, then you could make headway on the Lyme front. We all treat our symptoms until they go away because the Lyme is treated. Neuro symptoms are no different. Everyone's symptoms vary in degree and we treat them accordingly.

It may be possible for you to talk to his psychiatrist without him there, you could discuss this treatment. Then you go together and the doctor writes the script. You fill it and add it to his food. He doesn't need to know you filled it. He doesn't need to know he is taking it. If you can get the euro symptoms under control then you can address the Lyme.

If that won't work and he gives you enough cause, you could have him put on a 72 hour hold. It's not ideal and will likely cause some hard feelings but him being treated is more important. If you have a psychiatrist you trust, you could ask that the hospital docs consult with him/her.

In my MIL's case my SIL filed for guardianship. There was more too it because my MIL was living on her own and not just throwing stones, but walking into office buildings and screaming that they had to get rid of all the computers because (again) aliens were using them to spy on people.

That's the most drastic way to do this. There were also financial aspects for my MIL since she owned the house and had SocSec and alimony as income. Any court is going to be reluctant to take away a person's ability to make decisions for themselves. Even though it was clear to everyone that my mother in law couldn't make her own decisions, it took almost three years. It's also costly. You would have to pay for your own lawyer as well as a lawyer to represent your son.

But I think it would be worth a try to see if you can get him help without going to those lengths.

I hope this helps even in some small way. If you want to know the name of the medication I can find out.

Please let me know if there is anything I can do,
Kim

The thing is, that you simply can't take Lyme out of the equation - it's what is responsible for the brain/mental disabilities. Having lived it and survived it, it's hard to grasp in a way - that I was once completely paranoid - yes, I thought everyone, including my own family was "out to get me" - yet I couldn't explain how or why or where those thoughts were coming from or what they even meant in detail. All I could do was repeat "they are going to get me".

I also has severe bouts of rage - completely uncontrollable at times, but as I started to heal a bit, I was able to finally direct the rage towards inanimate objects more and more.

I know that some won't believe this, but detoxing took most of the 'extremes' out of my personality. I had no control over my life - and when I started abx treatment with pharma abx in 2007 - it got a LOT worse. It wasn't until I stopped the pharma abx (end of 2007) and starting working only on detoxing that I found some relief - and let me tell you, it was a real relief to know that it wasn't "just me", but part of an infection process that had left me with so many toxins that it was changing me - the very core of me, my mind, my personality, the way my brain handled any and every situation.

I isolated myself, because I couldn't control the thoughts and feelings, I wouldn't leave my house for anything but dr's appt's and to go the the grocery store - when I used to be fairly active before trying treatments - going shopping, going to quilting, visiting family and traveling for work with my hubby. That all came crumbling down around me when the toxins starting building quickly from treatments.

I hope this gives some perspective to those that need it. I don't like talking about that time in my life in detail, unless it's to help others. It's unreal to be trapped inside a failing body and when you know that your mind just isn't right any more. Scary doesn't cover it.