Behaviour worsened after starting Memantine

Ewma J

New member
Feb 4, 2019
8
0
My friend Bob is full time carer for his wife who was diagnosed with Alzheimer's middle of last year after 2-3 years of mis diagnosis of stress related problems and depression. She is now in the middle stages. Since her diagnosis she has been taking citalopram and Donepazil, initially the citalopram seemed to help but the Donepazil did nothing and her condition has worsened and worsened, going through several different phases from angry and irritated all the time, constantly pacing and shadowing Bob to totally vacant and unreachable, she is permanently child like and needs help with dressing, washing, toilet needs, eating... basically everything ! Bob was told about Memantine and fought for months for her to be prescribed it However, contrary to most people's reports I've read on here, at the moment it just seems to have made her worse ! She has now been at maximum dose for about 2 weeks and since she's been on it she's started wandering off, which she's never done before whereas before, he could leave her watching the tv while he popped out for shopping and she'd be content staring at the tv, now he darent leave alone in the room without dead locking the front door. She's irritable and angry and has regular temper flare ups which is something she hadn't had for quite some time but now they're worse than ever. She's also waking up crying all the time. Bob is at his wits end and is wondering if these effects are normal and if it will pass and she'll eventually calm down and get the benefit of Memantine.
 

Bod

Registered User
Aug 30, 2013
1,958
0
Not all medication suits everybody.
He should report this to the GP or whoever prescribed it.
Changing medication for my father was a disaster, till the dose was adjusted to suit him, took a few weeks to get this right.

Bod
 

Ewma J

New member
Feb 4, 2019
8
0
Not all medication suits everybody.
He should report this to the GP or whoever prescribed it.
Changing medication for my father was a disaster, till the dose was adjusted to suit him, took a few weeks to get this right.

Bod
 

Ewma J

New member
Feb 4, 2019
8
0
Yes I think he's mentioned it to the care visitor and he suggested this might be the case. Her outbursts have worsened even since I posted this morning, he had to take her to the shop this afternoon and she went a bit wild hitting him and shouting and then ran off. I think back to the GP ASAP.
 

MrCanuck

Registered User
Jun 9, 2016
59
0
Ontario, Canada
Its a catch-22, really.... Is it the meds, the dosage, a progression of the dementia or possibly an infection (ie UTI). Ruling out any infections is often the first course of action after any sudden changes.
 

Ewma J

New member
Feb 4, 2019
8
0
Doubt it's a uti as the behaviours very definitely followed the introduction of the Memantine and worsening as the dose increased. Thanks for mentioning it though, I'll pass that on.
 

karaokePete

Registered User
Jul 23, 2017
6,534
0
N Ireland
Some of those behaviours are listed as side effects with Donepezil, but not Memantine.

In any case, it would be a bit too much of a coincidence that they started with the prescription of Memantine and increased with the dosage.
 

SouWester

Registered User
Dec 11, 2012
37
0
Devon
As all the other medicines (and patches) were unsuitable for one reason or another the Elderly Mental Health team tried my OH on Mematine recently. It was an impressive introductory package which was supposed to ease you into the regime with tablets that increased in strength.
After three tablets my OH became so confused and so much worse that I said she had to come off them. Now she is no worse than she was before. Not everything suits everybody.
 

SouWester

Registered User
Dec 11, 2012
37
0
Devon
Doubt it's a uti as the behaviours very definitely followed the introduction of the Memantine and worsening as the dose increased. Thanks for mentioning it though, I'll pass that on.
Our doctor prescribed a week's UTI medication "just in case" before we tried the Memantine. In fact it did not make any difference so it wasn't a UTI but I do think this was worth doing before trying the new drug. (Our Memanting package clearly stated that increased confusion and other behaviour changes were a (remote) possibility, but they certainly did happen).
 

chick1962

Registered User
Apr 3, 2014
11,282
0
near Folkestone
It made my husband worse and very aggressive . Eventually memantine has been replaced by Rivastigmine . Not every meds suit everyone and it might be good to chat with the mental health team about it .
 

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