How common are anti depressants?

[Linbrusco]

I have done a search on TP, but is an anti depressant quite common place for people with dementia/alzheimers?
Mum is only on 5mg Donepezil. 10 mg gave her tummy upsets.
She has declined since Christmas, and our Alz Key worker suggested I take Mum to see our GP as to wether Donepezil is still beneficial and to start an anti depressant.
Although I personally haven't experienced Mums mood swings, obviously Dad has.

In part I do wonder how much Mums moods may be a reflection on Dads inability to cope with her and he just makes her more frustrated and confused by what he says and does.

 

[marionq]

My husband takes Trazodone twice a day which I am told is an anti depressant but he is not depressed. It was given to calm his agitation about needing to go out to work. This is a daily ongoing delusion which has lasted so far about a year. The medication has indeed made him more manageable in terms of talking him out of all the nonsense about transport, tools, making packed lunches etc.

I believe he is more contented and when he is not deluded so am I!

 

[flowerpetals]

I have done a search on TP, but is an anti depressant quite common place for people with dementia/alzheimers?
Mum is only on 5mg Donepezil. 10 mg gave her tummy upsets.
She has declined since Christmas, and our Alz Key worker suggested I take Mum to see our GP as to wether Donepezil is still beneficial and to start an anti depressant.
Although I personally haven't experienced Mums mood swings, obviously Dad has.

In part I do wonder how much Mums moods may be a reflection on Dads inability to cope with her and he just makes her more frustrated and confused by what he says and does.

Hi Linbrusco,

My Mum is on two different antidepressants, one is Donepezil, sorry I can't remember the other. When she was on just one, she was very emotional, her mood was all over the place. It was clear that she wasn't coping. She is much more settled now. I have asked her Dr if it's ok that she is on 2 different types of antidepressants and she has said it's OK. I was (and am still a little) worried about this.

I really don't like her being on all these different drugs, I worry about the long term effect. But it has made her quality of life a lot better and that's an important thing. I hope this helps you.

 

[Beate]

Donepezil is not an antidepressant, it's the dementia medication.

 

[sleepless]

Beate is right, flower petals.
Donepezil is not an antidepressant.
It is disappointing that your GP misinformed you, causing you to worry. We have enough to worry about!

 

[Perdita]

My mum has been on Citalopram (anti- depressant) since she started taking the alzheimer's meds, firstly with Exelon and then when she changed to Donepezil, as the Dr said they can be downers and the Citalopram is supposed to counteract them. Not sure if they work really.

 

[Gigglemore]

My Mum is on Memantine. When she started to get very anxious and depressed over a year ago I asked the GP if she could try anti-depressants and she was prescribed 10mg Citalopram. It worked really well for her, lifted the anxiety and helped her to sleep well at night.

Fortunately she had no adverse side-effects at all. So it might be worth trying for your Mum, but monitor the effect to check that there are no negative side effects and that the anti-depressant does have a positive effect. It can take a little while to work but with my Mum the positive effect was within a week (not a placebo effect as she forgot the GP visit almost immediately so didn't know what the new pill was for). Good luck.

 

[Kevinl]

My wife had Citalopram and it didn't do anything other than zonked her out, since she stopped taking it the incontinence has nearly stopped and she seems more aware.
This is not convincing evidence. at first I thought it was helping but pretty quickly it proved not.
K

 

[stevew]

Trazadone

I have done a search on TP, but is an anti depressant quite common place for people with dementia/alzheimers?
Mum is only on 5mg Donepezil. 10 mg gave her tummy upsets.
She has declined since Christmas, and our Alz Key worker suggested I take Mum to see our GP as to wether Donepezil is still beneficial and to start an anti depressant.
Although I personally haven't experienced Mums mood swings, obviously Dad has.

In part I do wonder how much Mums moods may be a reflection on Dads inability to cope with her and he just makes her more frustrated and confused by what he says and does.

BOTH MY RELATIVES WITH SEVERE AD ARE PRESCRIBED TRAZADONE. For Mum this seems to help her sleep better at night, but was prescribed for anxiety. No side effects. For Dad, his Trazadone does not appear to have any beneficial effects.

 

[flowerpetals]

Beate is right, flower petals.
Donepezil is not an antidepressant.
It is disappointing that your GP misinformed you, causing you to worry. We have enough to worry about!

So sorry, I meant that my Mum is taking Donepezil ( Aricept) along with Sertraline and another antidepressant. She seems to be ok with the medicines at the moment.

I don't know what is wrong with my brain recently, but I am just so tired all the tired and forgetting so many things. I really can't think straight! So sorry for the confusion.