Memantine - Side effects

[GemmaLouise84]

Well.. we started dad on his new meds on Thursday of last week (Mematine).. and it has been utter hell. His usual anxiety (the reason we changed from Aricept) was multiplied to the point where he though my poor mum was trying to kill him. He's ranted daily since Thursday about her tryng to set fire to the house, poison him etc.. he got so bad yesterday that the OT and mental health nurse advised us to stop with the memantine. I'm hoping today he is better. He was slurring his words yesterday- was very red in the face, and so confused.
Has anyone else experienced these symptoms whilst on memantine?
The mental health nurse thinks dad may have suffered a decline in the illness on Weds n(due to another incident which happened early hours) and she thinks the new meds exaggerated that.

Thanks
Gem x

[Christin]

Hello Gem, I don't have any direct experience with medication for dementia, but this AS factsheet may give you some help

Drugs Treatments for Alzheimers Disease

Other members may have experiences that they can share, and will be along soon.

Very best wishes to you.

[roxane]

Hi Gem,
Sorry to hear about our Dad.
I have no experience of Mamantine but had similar experience last Christmas when my husband was prescribed Venlaflaxine meant to be given for anxiety and possible depression.
He was on a very small dose. I only coped with it for two days and decided myself to stop it.
The affect of the tablet was more like a poison - my husband had no idea who he was, where he was, time of year e.t.c. He also stopped eating and drinking, became aggressive, unable to sleep. An experience I dont wish to repeat.
Could it be a mixture of medication ? perhaps we should wait starting new medicine until the old is completely out of the system - at least one week.
Sorry no real help
Best wishes
Lis

[GemmaLouise84]

Thanks for the replied )
I do think him being on aricept still didnt help things, and he's also on meds to reduce his blood pressure, as well as larazapam... no wonder he hit a brick wall.

Poor mums been at the end of her tether... it was pretty scary stuff... x

[Josieb]

Noted common side effects for Memontine include dizziness, headaches and confusion as if our loved ones needed any more confusion
You could look at Mercola .com
I did have a site that listed the bad reactions of combo drugs but can't find it. Will keep looking:-)
I think it was on the WDDTY site. When I have a moment I will go check.

[GemmaLouise84]

Precisely... it was horrendous for him- and for us to witness xx

[hollycat]

Suppose the other thing to consider is

What are the signs and symptoms of coming OFF ARICEPT ?

Mum has been on memantine for 6 months and the doctors are looking at changing her medication as there has been no improvement. However, to give a better reflection, there are quite a few users on TP who have had success with memantine.

It appears to be horses for courses !

Best of luck and hope you find a solution.

[frazzled1]

Well.. we started dad on his new meds on Thursday of last week (Mematine).. and it has been utter hell. His usual anxiety (the reason we changed from Aricept) was multiplied to the point where he though my poor mum was trying to kill him. He's ranted daily since Thursday about her tryng to set fire to the house, poison him etc.. he got so bad yesterday that the OT and mental health nurse advised us to stop with the memantine. I'm hoping today he is better. He was slurring his words yesterday- was very red in the face, and so confused.
Has anyone else experienced these symptoms whilst on memantine?
The mental health nurse thinks dad may have suffered a decline in the illness on Weds n(due to another incident which happened early hours) and she thinks the new meds exaggerated that.

Thanks
Gem x

hi there,

Just wanted to let people know on here that G has been on Aricept for several months now, there appearing to be no serious side effects, but a slight decrease in appetite (only slight though!) and a bit more confusion/pannicky attacks. The panic seems worse in the morning and then calms down for the rest of the day until the evening, when it rises again. We are being offered vitimin injections to help with memory loss too but to be honest the injection is very painful and finding medical appts so stressful that after each appt the memory seems to be a bit worse. Sorry if this doesnt sound too positive, got a few medicals coming up this week and a review of medications...