Emotional outburst not an easy thing to take

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hangingon1

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Jan 29, 2012
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199
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Lost a loved one
Diagnosis
09/2009
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US
State
Georgia
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Chamblee
My wife has these crying binges, that are really hard to take for me. It can happen almost anytime and unexpectedly. I have learned to brush most of them off, but it hurts to see her like that. I suspect that her frontal lobe is affected and that she can not control these occurrences. To tell the truth, when she was diagnosed 2.5 yrs. ago, I had no idea of the pain and devastation that this horrible plague caused. It has certainly ruined both of our lives. It has worn me out.
 
As Mrs. Pie said, the uncontrolled crying is likely to be emotional lability(also known as pseudobulbar affect). There are several medications that can help with the problem -- the latest and greatest of which appears to be Nuedexta

You can find several previous disussions of this topic by clicking the "emotional lability" tag in the Tags list below the last post in this thread.

Good luck to both of you.
 
Hi Hangingon1
Sorry you're here. My husband has had tears the last two days and prior to that he cried 3 times in the last 27 years. I knew it was coming. Just one more piece of the ALS puzzle that hurts us all.

We go to the Norcross ALS Support Group, Emory and the Atlanta VA. We stay busy with appointments. And this is NOT the retirement that we had hoped for...
 
You are certainly correct when you say that it is not the retirement I hoped for. Sometimes I dream of a beach and a world in which ALS was not spoken. You can never know what a horror this is until you have witnessed it firsthand. The last 5 months have especially been hard with 3 hospitalizations. My golden years have turned to tin.
 
Hi Hangingon1, am sorry to hear about your and your wife's troubles. It really is a most difficult time for both of you to deal with. I have experienced a bit of what I believed to be emotional liability, mainly in the early days, mainly as laughter. Initially I had no idea what was going on and it would get well and truly away from me but once I understood I have been pretty successful at controlling the laughter to great extent, though shear will. What I often think is a bit overlooked however is how much emotion and sadness well and truly is part and parcel of ASL totally outside the emotional liability realm. I still have spells where it would seem that I am experiencing random emotional liability with what are extremal hard and often un-controllable moments of sadness and crying. However they are almost always associated with what I am thinking about at the time. I do pretty well and try really hard to not break down at difficult moments, for my family's sake but sometimes I just can't do it. Something I see makes me think of something that makes me so profoundly sad that I just can't help but get upset. I know this is hard on them as it is on you with your wife. What helps me most is not being asked "what is wrong" because I simply can't tell them at that time. What I found helps me most is a hug, no words and if I am in a situation where the crying is really inappropriate help to extract myself from the situation until I can gain control. All the best to you and your wife.
 
I read your post to my sig..other. I knew he could understand. My dr put me on some meds that has made a big difference.He was very loving and patient when I would have the crying episodes. We also had made so many plans before the rug was pulled from under us. Th is his second time around for this to happen. His late wife died of multiple myloma. Talk to her doctor about some meds. It really helps.

Beckysuenc
 
As trfogey mentioned, check out Neudexta. My husband was in the trial for this drug at Emory and it worked great!
 
I too have trouble trying to stop crying. I have taken Nudrextra but needed more to keep me from my deep hole where I feel I'm a burden and get made at myself for losing control. My poor hubby never could tell it was coming. I do know I get flashes of anger more when I get frustrated or tired. One time I started crying when a medical resident came in saying she was working with my Neuro who told her to come in and have some fun. Well that didn't sit well with me. She didn't have my file, only had a single piece of paper. Then she asked me so many questions about how this monster started and how it's affected me. I got overwhelmed and the tears started. She left when Doug asked her to. Then the speech therapist came in and I kept crying. My Neuro came in and told me it was alright. The crying was ALS not me. Sure felt like me. He prescribed another pill. It is helping but I hate talking so many medications. I'm doing it for my sanity and for my family who's suffering from disease too.
 
I have been on Nuedexta since I was diagnosed in August. I only take 1 a day - in the morning. It has helped me very much. I used to just cry uncontrollably. When I am going out or have doctors appts I take the 2nd one. I highly recommend it. I have no side effects from it. I do still cry, but only when I truly am sad.
 
Definitely talk to the doctor and ask for Nuedexta. It is amazing and will help your wife tremendously. She nor you should suffer because of the emotional affects of ALS.
I wish you the best.
Linda
 
I have been on Nuedexta since I participated in the phase 3 trial. It has been a lifesaver for me. It is very expensive, but there are options out there.
I would laugh too at inappropriate times. and then I start honking. Besides being embarrassing was very phyicallydraining to my body. i would feel like at ruck had run over me after an episode.

The Nuedexta helped me to work for another year, year and a half, and has taken a lot of stress away. I also feel that it has helped my bulbar symptoms.
 
I too have had my share of this so-called emotional liability. Before I knew there was a name for it I have many many episodes. I now take nuedextia. I still have periods of laughter at inappropriate times and it is very annoying. Sometimes even a snort will come out with no warning. However, the periods of crying are still around but the episodes are further apart. If my husband were someone says something that I can interpret as hurtful that's when it happen. I still take it.

Blessings to you
 
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