Hi Donna, GOOD FOR YOU!!!! It sounds like you are taking back control of the situation and setting limits. It's amazing how much better you feel after you get things off your chest and start dealing with them. When Jack was at the point your Mom is at now I had heart to heart conversations with several family members. To my great surprise it actually worked and made me realize that I should have done it years before. They understood where I was coming from and I stopped feeling victimized. Very liberating.

There's no reason I can think of that Mom would lose her hair so that's one she can probably not worry about. As for the medication short acting drugs such as xanax or Ativan are effective and both come in several doses. What's good is that they are taken as needed and you decide when that it - if at all. If something is making you a zombie it's probably too high a dose and you can cut it back. I would find out what dose range the doctor recommends and start with the lowest one. Sometimes it's trial and error to find what works.

Hope today went well.
Regards JoAnne