New & Needing Answers Please

[mammy]

I'm new at this disease and at posting on this wonderful website. Thanks for instructions on "how to Post a new thread"...let's hope I can figure out how to read any responses! My husband, soon to be 71, was diagnosed approx 2 1/2 yrs ago w/ Mild Cognitive Impairment, probably Alzheimer's. He was started on Aricept which worked well for a while, but now he is declining faster, particularly short term memory. Like so many of your post, he can't remember that he has a memory problem and to talk to him for a short time, you would think he is fine, but his level of cognitive ability, daily functioning, etc, is much less than what his memory test scores show. My question is (although I know people w/ dementia progress at different rates) is there an average length of time before Dr's will give a conclusive diagnosis? I see him declining fairly fast over past year, but Dr spends about 30 min w/ him at appt and says, come back in a yr. I have told him that Aricept isn't working as well anymore but am scared to quit giving it to him for fear he will progress even faster. Dr said if it isn't working quit giving it. He doesn't recommend trying any other drugss, says they are all pretty much alike and don't work that well. Have any of you found that another drug works better after Aricept? I know there is no cure and what works well on one person may not work on others, however, if there is something that will slow this disease down just a little bit to give him a better quality of life I am all for trying it. This is so frustrating! Thanks for any advice you can give me! ~ Mammy

 

[christine_batch]

Dear Mammy,

Sorry to read your post. A diagnoises is confirmed before dispensing Aricept. There are other drugs which may suit your husband better.

What is making me so angry is leaving your husband such a long time until he is seen again.

You could see your family Doctor so he is aware of your situation.

Do hope you get help soon.

Best wishes

Christine

 

[jenniferpa]

Hi and welcome to Talking Point.

In your situation I'd be seriously thinking about moving doctors. Is this a regular internist or some kind of specialist? Has your husband had any form of scan?

Sorry for all the questions, but I don't think he is being particularly well-served. While it's true that none of the medications out there are a cure, there are some that work better than others for different people, and it's not uncommon for a person to be moved from Aricept to one of the others available. For his doctor to simply say "well if it's not working then stop it" is unacceptable.

 

[Canadian Joanne]

If I were you, I would get another medical opinion. I would also not stop the Aricept until I had consulted with another doctor.

Dr said if it isn't working quit giving it. He doesn't recommend trying any other drugss, says they are all pretty much alike and don't work that well.

He doesn't appear to be very knowledgeable regarding Alzheimer's or Alzheimer's drugs.

 

[luvmydad]

hi,my dad has alzheimers/vascular dementia...before diagnosis 2 years ago he had a scan & now goes to the memory clinic every 6 months which is the norm i think! he has been on reminyl since then & has stayed fairly stable but we are noticing a decline now that he has been on the max dose for a year....is your husband on the max dose...if not it might be worth asking for increase?