Could these have been seizures?

[valeriedl]

Two weeks ago my husband had gone back to work after being off for seven months going through chemo and radiation treatments for cancer.

This past week his dr put him on xanax, he's been on this before but I'm not sure if it was the same dosage or not. That night he was getting angry over every little thing.

The next day he was acting wierd at work and fell so they sent him to the hospital to make sure everything was ok. His friend drove me up there and stayed with us for about 3 hours. I didn't want him to drive home but he was yelling and swearing at me like crazy in the parking lot of the hospital insisting he was ok to drive. He doesn't remember his friend being there or yelling at me at all.

The next night I couldn't get the tractor started. He came out and started it and said it needed gas. We went into the basement and he was holding a hammer, he wanted to pound something into the ground. Next thing I know he's got a baseball in his hand looking for a magic marker to sign it for a rock star.

I got him to come upstairs but then he went out to put the tractor away and then he starts to mow the grass. It was 8:30 at night and I know he mowed the lawn about 3 times before he finally came in.

When he came in he started telling me about the party we went to at his ex-wifes last weekend, there was no party. I kept telling him that there wasn't one and he kept arguing with me so we ended up calling his ex-wife and she told him. When he heard it from her I he finally believed it. He was also telling her all sorts of goofy things too. She called me the next day to see how he was and was asking me about some of the things that they had talked about. I had no clue what she meant, so we figured that he was still "out there" when he was telling her about them.

The next night he was doing wierd things again. He was telling me about the concert that him and his son had gone to, they didn't go to one. We ended up calling him and he told him that they didn't go.

He was doing all sorts of things over the next four days that is what I do when I have a seizure, and then he doesn't remember any of it. Talking about things that didn't happen. Yelling at me for little things because he told me that I had gotten something for him or did something for him, but when I told him I didn't he would start yelling at me because he didn't believe me.

He's been fine now since then, but could these have been some type of seizures that he had?

 

[Endless]

Valeried,

They sure could be seizures or hallucinations. Those are both side effects of Xanax. Not common ones, but they happen according to Drugs.com:
http://www.drugs.com/sfx/xanax-side-effects.html

I think it would be a good idea to call his doctor immediately. If that's what's going on it's pretty serious.

Is he also on pain meds?

 

[valeriedl]

He is taking soboxone (don't know if I spelled that right). He was addicted to pain meds and is going to a dr for these meds. They make your body think you are getting the pain med but you actually aren't.

He has an appointment with his dr in about 2 weeks. I kept telling him to make one sooner but he's stubborn headed to begin with he won't do it.

 

[Endless]

Never had heard of Suboxone. I looked on drugs.com, and it said:

"Auditory and visual hallucinations have been associated with parenteral and sublingual buprenorphine."

Read more: http://www.drugs.com/sfx/suboxone-side-effects.html#ixzz0pBH84kGw

It also said that Suboxone could significantly increase the side effects of Xanax.

He really needs to call his doctor. Get bossy. Blame it on me if you need to.

 

[valeriedl]

He's been on the soboxone and the xanax at the same time before. I don't know if the chemo that is left in his body and possibly going back to work have something to do with it too. He works in a mill so he has physical labor while working.

 

[RobinN]

Gosh darn... there sure is a lot going on in your poor husbands system.
I would suggest if he appears to be doing anything that is too risky, you might consider taking him to the ER or Urgent Care.
So sorry you are having to go through this difficult time.

 

[valeriedl]

Thanks for your help everyone!

He's been doing fine right now, he's just really tired. Yesterday all he did was sleep. I think he needed the rest so I just moved around the house really quiet so that I didn't wake him up.

If he starts going goofy again I am going to get him to the er, I know he won't be happy about it but he may not even realize that I'm taking him there as bad as he was.

 

[Jan4you]

Oh hon HUGS Valerie~!

I know Suboxone is used to wean a person oFF of opiates as that addiction and withdrawal are horrible. BUT what you described with the Xanax should be reported to the MD who prescribed it. Hallucinations not unusual for people..and who knows how he is metabolizing any of these meds after Chemo. Poor guy.. but POOR YOU !!

Sleeping is common when you are being weaned off of opiates..but then so is chemo/radiation. Your body systems are not built up well enough..then to add a new med. Geez. Docs don't always realize the body can ONLY handle so much. I used to work in drug and alcohol. NUTRITION is what many of us need when you have had a steady diet of CHEMICALS in the name of RXs.

If he starts acting strange he could be considered dangerous to himself..so TELL THE DOCTOR. The xanax was being used for what symptom? I bet it wa related to his withdrawal. By the way.. withdrawal from opiates affects the nervous system for month..so get some good nutrition in him..mega style.

LEt us know how you both are doing..again..HUGS my dear

Warmly, Jan

 

[Endless]

Wow, Jan. I'm guessing you were pretty amazing at your job.

 

[valeriedl]

I try to get him to eat better but all he seems to eat is meat. He won't eat cooked veggies. He will eat salads but he's so picky about them that they can only have certain things in them, no onions, tomatos, peppers and the sorts. It's prety funny though because I'm a vegitarian and don't eat any meat.

He did really good today. He had to work but when he came home he sat in his chair and watched tv, but was awake. If he wants to sleep I'm fine with that but most of the time he tries to force himself to stay awake.

He's taking the xanax to give him more energy, but I don't think it's working too good. He's really pig headed so when I say something about the meds he tells me that I don't know what I'm talking about because I've never taken them before and he has.

He never got vilent, just yelled at me because he kept insisting that what I was telling him wasn't what actually happened. He hasn't had any problems remembering things now or thinking that things happened that really didn't.

As I said, he's been doing fine. He just started it all when he first started taking the xanax. It lasted about 3 days that he didn't know what was going on. I don't know if it has worked it's way into his system now and his body is used to it being there, but he's been fine since. I hope it stays that way.

Thank you every one!