Anyone have experience of dementia drugs making people worse?

[albaannie]

The reason I am asking is, 10 weeks ago my aunt ws put on aricept and within 14 days my aunt became very deusional, prior to this she was confused but not obsessional. She was admitted for assessment and the drugs were stopped for a couple of weeks and she seemed to "get better" apart from crying a lot. Now she has been put on another dementia drug in the last 14 days she has again become very delusional. Can certain people be very senstive to these drugs, I feel at the moment she would be better off the dementia drugs and just on an antidepressant and diazepan to help with her anxiety. Any help appreciated. thanks annie

 

[SWMBO1950]

Hi Albaannie

A lot depends on the dosage. My mother has just 'gone up' from 5mg of Aricept to 10mg of the same drug. The enclosed leaflet states that one of the side effects of Arricept can be hallucinations. It has never happened with the 5mg but I am on the look out for anything unusual (as are the carers).

You should maybe discuss this with the medical team.

Best Wishes

The reason I am asking is, 10 weeks ago my aunt ws put on aricept and within 14 days my aunt became very deusional, prior to this she was confused but not obsessional. She was admitted for assessment and the drugs were stopped for a couple of weeks and she seemed to "get better" apart from crying a lot. Now she has been put on another dementia drug in the last 14 days she has again become very delusional. Can certain people be very senstive to these drugs, I feel at the moment she would be better off the dementia drugs and just on an antidepressant and diazepan to help with her anxiety. Any help appreciated. thanks annie

 

[Witzend]

Yes, I must say Aricept seemed to make my mother worse, in that she reverted to episodes of nastiness and paranoid accusations, which had almost disappeared.

Having said that, I think she was probably put on the drug too late, and in any case I'm not at all sure she was taking it properly, since she often wouldn't allow into the house the carers who were sent to make sure she took it. Not perhaps surprising when she hadn't a clue there was anything wrong with her and couldn't remember that she was on any meds in the first place. Hence it was, 'Who are you? No, you're certainly not coming in - if you don't go away I shall call the police.'

In our case it was a relief when she came off it, but I certainly wouldn't want to discourage anyone else from trying, since it often seems to help quite a bit.

 

[rosaliesal]

Dementia calming drugs............................................. ..................

I noticed that as soon as my mum started taking drugs to keep her calm she slept through the next day right into the afternoon. I spoke to the doctor who said it was coincidence. I felt that mum was missing out on life so eventually asked to take her off them gradually and she then got up at a better time. Unfortunately, the depression set in again and she would sit staring out of the window with tears running down her face and I just could not bear to see her this way. again the pills were restarted and again she started sleeping her life away. This was no coincidence but it was something I had difficulty with....should I give her peace of mind by drugging her which made her lose so much of her day, or should I keep her off the drugs, risk sadness and give her more of a life. It felt like my problem because I was living with it daily but my doctor was not. I can not give an answer properly because the tablets that relax people seem to overrelax. In the end I went through phases of on and off , always with the doctors knowledge so that when the summer months came I could take mum out but when it was winter and dark and grey she could sleep more. I was doing my best for her and you can only do the same. Whatever makes her life more comfortable I guess.

The reason I am asking is, 10 weeks ago my aunt ws put on aricept and within 14 days my aunt became very deusional, prior to this she was confused but not obsessional. She was admitted for assessment and the drugs were stopped for a couple of weeks and she seemed to "get better" apart from crying a lot. Now she has been put on another dementia drug in the last 14 days she has again become very delusional. Can certain people be very senstive to these drugs, I feel at the moment she would be better off the dementia drugs and just on an antidepressant and diazepan to help with her anxiety. Any help appreciated. thanks annie

 

[albaannie]

Update on my Aunt

The doctors have agreed that the drugs are not helping her and they are trying something else, so we will see how it goes, thanks for taking the time to give me your experiences, much appreciated. I suppose it come down to the fact that everyone is an individual and responds differently, some are more sensitive to specific drugs than others. It is hard to tell the medical team that you dont think the drugs are helping but it has to be done sometimes. At least this way hopefully the terrible hallucinations will now go.; she thought she had killed her grandchildren by not feeding them and was distraught and no amount of redirection helped. thanks everyone. x