I'm sorry if this has been asked before - a bit short of time alone to trawl through and look. My OH was diagnosed with Alzheimer's 4 years ago and has been really well on Aricept, but now it's less effective. he very often can't finish sentences so we all wait patiently for him to try (is that the right thing to do ?), he can't find anything and loses most of his possessions, and he's becoming very bloody minded (always was a bit, but now its much worse). Yesterday at my 7 yr old granddaughter's family birthday party he just got up and said 'Lets go home now' and he often does that, saying 'I'm cold' or even sometimes 'I'm bored'. I can see that he's struggling and I try - and mostly succeed - to be infinitely patient BUT I was told by a nice counsellor from the Alz Soc that there are other drugs they could try. He has not acknowledged his diagnosis and for four years we've been dancing round him NEVER referring to it: not easy. I asked his GP what he says to her about it and she said that he wouldn't talk about it and shut down the conversation so she just left it like that. But he's never seen by a doctor, never had his drugs checked (they do fuss over his blood pressure) and it seems to me that they ought to be watching him (and possibly thinking about me a bit too - ha ha) despite blowing their trumpets a lot about being a 'Dementia friendly practice'. When I asked the GP a little while ago if the dose of Aricept could be upped, she said no, and that there was nothing else she could do. Can anyone tell me if there are any other drugs which might help him at this stage please ? If so I will go and make a fuss at the surgery but don't want to if there really is nothing else. Thank you kind friends....
Any more drugs ?
- Thread starter Morganlefay
- Start date
Hi,
My OH is similar to yours; diagnosed about the same sort of time period. He's also been on Aricept since diagnosis but about 18 months ago the consultant also suggested Memantine. I don't think this was specifically related to any symptoms he was showing at the time, more just the passage of time and a suggestion that Memantine was potentially helpful from around mid-stage onwards. I wouldn't say it's made any appreciable difference, but I don't know what he would be like if he wasn't on it. He takes both now. We have more recently discussed other drugs to potentially help with anxiety etc. but it's not yet felt serious enough to consider these.
My OH is similar to yours; diagnosed about the same sort of time period. He's also been on Aricept since diagnosis but about 18 months ago the consultant also suggested Memantine. I don't think this was specifically related to any symptoms he was showing at the time, more just the passage of time and a suggestion that Memantine was potentially helpful from around mid-stage onwards. I wouldn't say it's made any appreciable difference, but I don't know what he would be like if he wasn't on it. He takes both now. We have more recently discussed other drugs to potentially help with anxiety etc. but it's not yet felt serious enough to consider these.
These are the only 2 Alzheimer's /Dementia related medications that mum take. In the same was as @tss502 I didn't notice any real difference with mum once she started taking the Memantine. Despite mums anxiety the MH team have not suggested any further/alternative medications due to several underlying medical conditions.
My wife is on both Aricept(Donepezil) and Memantine for her Alzheimer’s, as well as additional meds for both anxiety and depression.
Is there an alternative GP at your surgery with whom you could consult? I know a change has brought better results for some people as some GP’s may, naturally, be more dementia friendly than others.
Of course, other factors like UTI’s or electrolyte deficiency etc may also be causing problems and have to be addressed.
Here is a link to an AS Factsheet that may help with regard to some of the issues https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/migrate/downloads/changes_in_behaviour.pdf
Is there an alternative GP at your surgery with whom you could consult? I know a change has brought better results for some people as some GP’s may, naturally, be more dementia friendly than others.
Of course, other factors like UTI’s or electrolyte deficiency etc may also be causing problems and have to be addressed.
Here is a link to an AS Factsheet that may help with regard to some of the issues https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/sites/default/files/migrate/downloads/changes_in_behaviour.pdf
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