Minnie Htay was 59 when she was found to have early-onset Alzheimer’s in 1995. She initially had trouble putting names to faces or remembering friends’ addresses, but after several years of decline she was prone to disorientation and wandering.
Her family played music to calm her, but when neighbours complained about her erratic behaviour, a locum psychiatrist prescribed the anti-psychotic drug haloperidol. Within hours she was like a zombie, her husband U-Hla said.
“She sat in a chair, with eyes glazed, not able to eat or drink, she couldn’t recognise us. By 18 hours [on the medication], her face was contorted and she could not talk.”
After consulting the Alzheimer’s Society and medical textbooks, Mr Htay discovered that his wife had been given four times the standard dose of the drug.
“We asked her doctor to take her off the medication but he told us to keep Minnie on it for five days,” he said.
Advertisement
“But with the help of the Admiral nurses we were able to step down the dose, and she became more aware.”
Mr Htay, 72, who lives in Paddington, West London, said that his wife had suffered permanent disfigurement on the left side of her face after taking the drug.
Mrs Htay is now on medicines designed to slow the advance of her disease rather than sedate her. She alternates six weeks at home with six weeks in a residential care home. Her husband said: “There are times when I can give her a kiss or a cuddle and that means everything in the world.”