Alzheimer's - Living at Home

The next day, I prepared to go back to the city and stay with her for a few days. When I arrived, she was surprised to see me, even though I'd called her that morning to tell her I was coming.

She wasn't the only one who was surprised. I noted that she seemed very unsteady on her feet and much more confused than usual. She was having a difficult time keeping her eyes open, but at the same time seemed sort of hyped up - she talked non-stop, though she was slurring many words, and that wasn't like her - not at any stage of her life.

I checked the pill container - only 4 days were empty - just as it should be. I checked the pill bottles in the cupboard. All with what seemed to be an appropriate amount of pills still in them. All except one.

The antidepressant bottle was empty. She had taken 30 days worth of antidepressants in less than 7 days.

When I asked her about them she said "oh those. yes, those are my happy pills. Whenever I felt sad I took a happy pill."

I tried hard not to laugh because this was a serious issue. The pills had markings on them arranged on the face of the pill, and the result was that they looked as though they had a smiley face on them, hence her already muddled mind thinking these represented "happy (face) pills".

I called the geriatric specialist and took her in, where he checked her. He didn't think she'd taken them all at once, and that she would be fine, but he was very hesitant to give us another prescription if she was going to be left alone with them.

I assured him from then on, all she would have was whatever pills the drugstore would deliver on a daily basis. Her pharmacist had already offered to have her prescriptions packaged and delivered daily, and would have his delivery guy wait while she took the pills, so we came away with a new prescription.

The combination of three or so days at home and a few days at a time with my mom worked for a little while - but within six short months, we realized it wasn't going to be enough. I couldn't keep living in the city with her half-time, so the resulting decision was to move her into a small apartment in the city where we lived. I could spend my days with her, and my nights in our own house.