Medication for the newly diagnosed

[Duncanj]

My mother has just been diagnosed with Alzheimer's. The diagnosis came a fortnight after the death of my father - they'd been married for 45 years - and we're only just feeling the full effect of both events.
Mum has been put on Aricept but is also on other medication. She lives alone and it seems as if she is slightly confused when it comes to taking which drugs when.
Do any members have tried and tested methods for helping relatives/friends with ensuring they don't overdose or confuse different drugs?
Any advice welcome.

 

[Chrissyan]

Welcome to the forum Duncanj. Most pharmacists will make up a dossette box, if you don't have her medication delivered like that already, then you could arrange it.

Have you thought of introducing carer's. They could call in on a morning and check up on your Mum & make sure she has taken her meds.

I think sometimes it is easier to introduce carer's before the sufferer gets so bad they really need their help, then they can get used to someone calling. How many times a day does she need to take the tablets?

 

[BettyL]

Hiya

My dad is on Aricept and a large amount of other drugs for his heart failure and I do so agree about getting a carer in. I tried for ages with dad to get him to take his medication. I put his tablets in a dossett box and used to ring him every morning. We'd go though the same routine where he got a glass of water, come back to the phone and then take his tablets while I listened on the other end!!

It went well for two weeks and then I discovered he was going to get a glass of water when I rang, getting the tablets out of his box, telling me he'd taken them, only for me to find them still on the table when I got round there. Your mum may qualify for help from Social Services and if you contact them they might arrange for a carer to call to prompt the medication from the dossett box. She may have other needs they can help with also.

 

[myheadisinaspin]

hi we had the same problem only this last week, mum was lucky she lived near a pharmacy who administered hers daily, contining care (via gp )set up carer to come in each morning, we had to provide a safe /cabinet to lock meds in. speak to your gp asap, as in our case mum did get muddled with meds and took whole week in three days.hope this helps x

 

[Linda Mc]

We use a Pivotell medicine dispenser it sounds an alarm when medication is due and dispenses the correct dose. You can google it and read about it. I think there are other threads here too.

Linda

I have just nudged up the thread I was talking about and I had mine for free.

 

[jenniferpa]

Just a word of caution about any system that relies on automation - they may work fine but it is always possible to circumvent them. Case in point: Burfordthecat's father broke into his Pivotell with a knife when he failed to recognise that it was working properly. Once cognition goes, it's hard to ensure that someone will not do something stupid.

The other thing to remember about all medication and I include over the counter medication such as paracetamol - they can all be fatal if taken in larger enough doses. One of the problems with memory loss is that you forget that you have taken tablets (obviously) and then take them again, and again and again. Taking paracetamol as an example, a toxic dose can be as little as 4 - 6 g. In other words people who can't remember if they've taken medication shouldn't have access to ANY medication.

 

[Sam Iam]

Hi and welcome to TP Duncanj.
Do you live near your Mum?
My own experiance with the dosset boxes were, that my Mum did not remember what day it was and doped herself up to the eyebrows and then meds had to be witheld for a few days, her GP told me that I was in charge of her meds, which I put in a single day box with morning,lunch, evening & bed compartments and this is working well. I have also managed to get Mum to accept her carer's now so if and when she needs more input it will (fingers crossed) go smoothly.
Hope this is of help.xx

 

[Duncanj]

My sister lives round the corner but I live about an hour away. She's been prescribed 5mg aricept to be followed by 10mg when she's taken all the 5mg. Unfortunately, she mixed up the two so we've now taken the 10mg away until she's taken the rest.
She also now has a chart on the wall and will hopefully remember to tick the appropriate box each time she's takes a tablet.
She's still in the early stages so the problem isn't acute yet but it's still very worrying.
Thank you to everyone who's responded to my initial post. It's good to know that we're not alone and the concerns we have are shared.

 

[jenniferpa]

Duncan - I do hope this works for your mother. I must confess to being a touch uncertain that it will. Everyone with AD presents differently so maybe this will be OK but it might be worth thinking about Plan B. What the current system won't do is work for ever, so you're going to need a Plan B sooner or later.

Medication (the inability to take it, taking too much of it, saying it has been taken when it hasn't, throwing it away, any variation of these) is one of the regular topics here so just ask when you have questions, about this or anything else.

 

[julieann15]

Hi Duncan
We had a problem with MIL overdosing with tablets- we have a pill box now with 2 sections am and pm (Monday-Sunday)- I put the pills in and we leave her the next weeks pills each weekend- taking away the previous weeks empty pill box- This was because mum was helping herself out of the spares as well as the pill box. Mum not happy but now accepts this situation- on the top of the pill box we have we stick a label- saying Pills from Monday 9th March to Sunday 15th March only. We can see at a glance if mum has forgotten to take any and as we have all the spare pills at mine now and future prescriptions are posted to me there is no chance of OD. Could your sister do a pill box for a week and you just prompt her to take each days as required?

Best wishes

Julie x

 

[Duncanj]

Thanks Julie.

The medication seems to have been OK this week so far but I think we're going to try a pill box as well.

We're going to see the specialist today to seek advice and hopefully get some answers.

Best wishes,

Duncan

 

[myheadisinaspin]

ask if your mum can be put forward for continuing care, carer will come each morning to administer meds, its certainly put our minds at rest, especially as mum too is starting aricept. this service in our area is free as its ongoing nhs treatment and shes entitled to it. worth a try especially as a plan B.

 

[Amber 5]

Hi,
I agree with everything that's already been said. My mum was like lots of people mentioned here. We've tried the system of filling up one week at a time, leaving tablets in labelled boxes, but mum has still been getting in a muddle.

Two weeks ago we had carers start coming in am and pm to give her the tablets. This morning I had a call from them saying that over the weekend and again this morning she has found the daily boxes (high up on top of a cupboard) and taken more than she should. So I am literally on my way out now to buy a lockable box to take over tomorrow.

Just letting you know that it MIGHT work for now, but whatever system you choose should be closely monitored and be prepared to make the next step!!
Best wishes, Gill x

 

[Prague09]

carers

We had the same probelm with medication. We got carers in and they give him his medication AM and PM. In our area they will only prompt with medication taking if there is another SS service going in otherwise we would have to pay privatley for the service.
Its the same as bathing, we pay privately for dad to have a bath x 2 a week as SS will not bath people but they will strip wash them. Crazy isnt it.