Alzheimers fatigue or Memantine side effects.

EdgsonW

Registered User
Jan 14, 2018
127
0
Bath
Hello @lauriets I have reservations about the quality of your experience because it doesn’t seem to be tailored to your wife but as you say a tick box experience. I think this is the default position of many areas of the country and best practice is like gold. My experience was that my husband saw the consultant 13 months ago who gave the tests and the diagnosis. I had three visits over three months from the mental health nurse who gave me a folder of leaflets and then he was discharged back into the care of the GP, because basically there is nothing else they have the resources to do. This is the normal situation in our area and if you want to see a consultant you can certainly ask, but only if it would be of any benefit. He has had two GP check ups, entirely on my initiative, but which were good because we saw an excellent young doctor who could not have been more candid. To be honest I am now the person responsible for planning and executing my husband’s care and this website is the best support for me. I think that the dementia trajectory has continued slow but sure in all areas of his functioning with or without donepezil, which he is now off. He is relatively happy, non aggressive and as long as he is in his familiar setting he is ok. I have posted on another thread about his sleeping more and more as time goes by. I would estimate that he is either on or in his bed dozing or asleep 75% of the time. He can only eat small easy to eat portions of food, as above but he is definitely eating less, his activities have declined because he has no desire to do them any more. I am following the U Tasmania Understanding Dementia course and realise that the palliative type of approach I am using is correct. Whatever keeps him stable and contented is the right course and I feel no need to be doing all the busy things that commonly get recommended. He looks at photographs and some of his old work magazines, I have recently taken him on a cruise with mixed results because bad anxiety is now a feature of his dementia, a common symptom as dementia worsens. Lots of support for your efforts to care for your wife and trust your instincts I think, nothing is a must because every one is different.

Hello Grahamstown, I think you have explained lots of things that I worry about. My wife has declined quite fast and sleeps a great deal even though the pills have been reduced. She now falls asleep in the middle of a meal and needs to be fed. All I can do is to take her walking and now wheel chairing as I think that keeping her interested in things is all I can now do.
I am interested in the Tasmanian course you mentioned as we went as 10 pound Pommies out to Tassie in 1967.
All the Best
 

MrsDoyle

Registered User
Mar 28, 2019
61
0
East Mids
My OH sleeps so much now and even gets excited at the thought that he can have a sleep whilst I cook tea. He is on 20mg Memantine but had been sleeping excessively many months before he was diagnosed and prescribed the drug.
Luckily, he will go out for a coffee and scone with me around 3.30pm or he will play golf with his friends (he uses a buggy) on a morning but only one activity a day. Sadly, tomorrow morning’s activity is a former work colleague’s funeral. He will be too tired to do anything else. This evening, he has been planning the course of action for tomorrow over and over again with various irrelevant connotations. He had several goes at remembering what time the service was and this tired him out so he went to bed.
I don’t know if the drug is helping him, I can only assume he’d be even worse at remembering without it.
 

Grahamstown

Registered User
Jan 12, 2018
1,746
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84
East of England
My OH sleeps so much now
It’s always reassuring to hear that others have similar symptoms. I keep thinking that I must be doing something wrong and should be able to do normal things with him, because he even says he could when he is fresh in the mornings, although up late, but then I read another account of similar behaviour and can understand. It is hard though, to see an active vibrant man so reduced.
 

Kenbob

Registered User
Jan 11, 2019
23
0
My wife spends most oft the time now with her eyes closed but not asleep she is on 10 mg of memantine is it the drug or the progression of the Alzheimer’s
 

Lladro

Registered User
May 1, 2019
123
0
Hi All, My wife has had Alzheimers for about 5 years,she is on 10mg of Memantine per day.She is almost always tired out,we tried halving the dose of Memantine to 5 mg to see if this would reduce the tiredness (it did not) She will not let me stop the Memantine completley. I have read about Alzheimers fatigue and the side effects of Memantine (tiredness) but I have no idea which one is the problem or what to do if I knew. Most days she cannot get out of the chair and rtemains in her night clothes the whole day.She hes lost her short term memory but she is still the wife I know,It is bad enough having Alzheimers without having the extreme fatigue as well,can anyone help with advice if they have experienced this with their loved one?

Hi, my wife was taking doneprezil , which appeared to make her nauseous all of the time. She now takes Memantine , 20mg every morning , it doesn't seem to make her unduly tired, although she does always get tired early evening. It's not extreme fatigue that I'm seeing. She was taken off it for a few days and the worsening effect of her dementia confusion was quickly evident, so she now takes it every day. I believe that the effect of this medication is unique to the individual, so your GP, in consultation with your consultant is the person to advise in your individual circumstance. We have to trust their judgment , although they seem to be guessing sometimes because they don't have all of the answers . I feel for you.
 

MrsDoyle

Registered User
Mar 28, 2019
61
0
East Mids
It’s always reassuring to hear that others have similar symptoms. I keep thinking that I must be doing something wrong and should be able to do normal things with him, because he even says he could when he is fresh in the mornings, although up late, but then I read another account of similar behaviour and can understand. It is hard though, to see an active vibrant man so reduced.
 

MrsDoyle

Registered User
Mar 28, 2019
61
0
East Mids
I’ve managed to get the doctor to halve the beta blocker dose and that seems to have helped a little regarding tiredness but his forgetfulness and confusion is still progressing. I’ve no idea if the memantine is helping but I’m pretty sure it’s not linked to the excessive sleeping. My problem is getting him to remember to take his meds. I can say, “You need to take your meds now” and he will agree but then not take them. I’m busy so I sometimes forget to check until it’s too late for that day. They are in a dosset box right where he has his breakfast.. I’m not getting the hang of this caring and remembering for two people lark yet ‍♀️ Everyone who knows me, knows I’m a forgetful person in my own right! He misses the odd day for his memantine but I don’t know if that will affect its performance much as it’s in the bloodstream.
 

Grahamstown

Registered User
Jan 12, 2018
1,746
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84
East of England
My problem is getting him to remember to take his meds
I am sorry to have to say that my husband never ever remembered to take his meds. Every night I reminded him and he did but certainly wouldn’t if I didn’t keep reminding him. You are quite right that this living and remembering for two is exhausting to mental and physical health. I didn’t think the meds. were doing him any good and the doctor agreed so he stopped them. He has continued to deteriorate in the same way as before, neither more or less. Fortunately he is not aggressive or any of those distressing symptoms so at the moment he is on nothing.
 

MrsDoyle

Registered User
Mar 28, 2019
61
0
East Mids
I’m really sorry I didn’t see your reply until now.
I wonder if the drug is making any difference on the Alzheimers side of things as he has mixed dementia with vascular being the prominent one.
I have noticed that he doesn’t need to sleep so much since the doc halved the beta blocker dose. He actually has a life back. I therefore believe that the Memantine makes no difference to his sleep pattern.