Donepezil and bowel incontinence

[spuddle]

Hi, I'm after a bit of advice. does anyone have any info about donepezil causing fecal incontinence. Im sure i read it on a meds leaflet but now i cant find any info.

Mum has lost most control of her bowel movements.....often she knows she needs to go but it is so urgent that there is no way she can get to the loo. it is really just moments from needing to go to going in her pants (tenor incontinence pull ups).... also often in the bath (yuk).

This has been going on for year and half and we have been looking at all posibilities for the cause. She is not bladder incontinent and she is fairly mobile for her 82 years which is why we have suspected that it is not simply caused by old age or alzhiemers.

she has had investigations on her bowel, scan and ultrasound with no abnormality. I have tried changing her food wondering about wheat or lactose intolerance.

It has only now occured to me that it all started a couple of months after starting donepezil, and i suspect it was happening for longer as it was only when i became aware... she had been trying to clean herself up.

She has been to several doctors and none have suggested that it may be the donepezil. She has a doc appointment next week and i am going to ask about it. just wonder if anyone can offer me their experience with this.

thanks.... sorry for the long post

 

[chris53]

Good afternoon Spuddle, herewith below factsheet which may be of help to you,so sorry for what seems a distressing situation for both you and mum, hoping the doctor will be able to advise...has a stool sample been requested? only saying that as it may pin point any additional problems
Chris
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=147

 

[spuddle]

Good afternoon Spuddle, herewith below factsheet which may be of help to you,so sorry for what seems a distressing situation for both you and mum, hoping the doctor will be able to advise...has a stool sample been requested? only saying that as it may pin point any additional problems
Chris
https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/site/scripts/documents_info.php?documentID=147

thanks very much for info

 

[peace2008]

Hi, I'm after a bit of advice. does anyone have any info about donepezil causing fecal incontinence. Im sure i read it on a meds leaflet but now i cant find any info.

Mum has lost most control of her bowel movements.....often she knows she needs to go but it is so urgent that there is no way she can get to the loo. it is really just moments from needing to go to going in her pants (tenor incontinence pull ups).... also often in the bath (yuk).

This has been going on for year and half and we have been looking at all posibilities for the cause. She is not bladder incontinent and she is fairly mobile for her 82 years which is why we have suspected that it is not simply caused by old age or alzhiemers.

she has had investigations on her bowel, scan and ultrasound with no abnormality. I have tried changing her food wondering about wheat or lactose intolerance.

It has only now occured to me that it all started a couple of months after starting donepezil, and i suspect it was happening for longer as it was only when i became aware... she had been trying to clean herself up.

She has been to several doctors and none have suggested that it may be the donepezil. She has a doc appointment next week and i am going to ask about it. just wonder if anyone can offer me their experience with this.

thanks.... sorry for the long post

Hi.

I found your post and see some similarities with my 84 year old mother. I hope yours is doing well. I wondered if you had found any information about the Aricept and fecal incontinence. She has gotten fecal incontinence and I question if it’s the medication. Anyway, again I hope your mom is well.

Thanks

 

[Cazzita]

Hi @spuddle, my mum is the same age as yours and she had the same issue with donepezil. She now has patches and has not had an accident in the past 2 months now which is brilliant.
It is :Exelon Patch (rivastigmine transdermal system) which is a reversible cholinesterase inhibitor used to treat mild to moderate dementia caused by Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease.
I would definitely recommend this - it was wonderful for this horrible issue to be resolved for now. Good luck

 

[peace2008]

Thank you Cazzita. I will inquire about that patch at the neurologist on Monday. Having fecal incontinence is a horribly emotional issue for her.

 

[karaokePete]

Both diarrhoea and passing urine uncontrollably are listed as possible side effects on the leaflet that comes with Donepezil.

 

[Cazzita]

Good luck @peace2008! Hope it all works out and yes, a distressing issue and so much better to manage when that issue is not happening!

 

[peace2008]

Good luck @peace2008! Hope it all works out and yes, a distressing issue and so much better to manage when that issue is not happening!

Thank you all for replying. She has been off donepezil for a week now. For the first 4 days or so she still had fecal incontinence. The last two days, however, she said she has been clean. This may last or may not because sometimes she felt like it was stopping before, and it didn’t. But she feels hopeful now, which for the moment, it seems like it could be lessening.

 

[Cazzita]

Oh, let's hope so. Saying that, my mum has now had a few 'accidents' this week but for a few months there it was really good. Good luck!

 

[Gary1954]

Hi, I'm after a bit of advice. does anyone have any info about donepezil causing fecal incontinence. Im sure i read it on a meds leaflet but now i cant find any info.

Mum has lost most control of her bowel movements.....often she knows she needs to go but it is so urgent that there is no way she can get to the loo. it is really just moments from needing to go to going in her pants (tenor incontinence pull ups).... also often in the bath (yuk).

This has been going on for year and half and we have been looking at all posibilities for the cause. She is not bladder incontinent and she is fairly mobile for her 82 years which is why we have suspected that it is not simply caused by old age or alzhiemers.

she has had investigations on her bowel, scan and ultrasound with no abnormality. I have tried changing her food wondering about wheat or lactose intolerance.

It has only now occured to me that it all started a couple of months after starting donepezil, and i suspect it was happening for longer as it was only when i became aware... she had been trying to clean herself up.

She has been to several doctors and none have suggested that it may be the donepezil. She has a doc appointment next week and i am going to ask about it. just wonder if anyone can offer me their experience with this.

thanks.... sorry for the long post

@spuddle I was wondering if you could give an update on how your mom is doing once you stopped the Aricept? I am wondering if it is causing bowel incontinence for my father and I'm thinking about discontinuing it.

 

[Shedrech]

Hello @Gary1954
A warm welcome to DTP

member spuddle hasn't been back here for some years as this is an old thread (you can check dates at top left of each post box)

I know Aricept can cause stomach problems for some people so it's worth having a chat with your father's GP and discussing stopping the med or maybe reducing the dosage

Incontinence can be a signal of the progression of dementia ... and always worth considering whether a UTI is present, so maybe check for that too

Now you've joined our supportive community, keep posting ... Do start a thread of your own when you're ready with whatever is on your mind