Help with my wife's new medication Arisept

[Papa]

My wife who is 61 has been diagnosed with Alzheimer's last week and has been prescribed Arisept 5 mg daily each morning since Wednesday . Since this day my wife has been having very bad episodes of confusion and of not recognising myself in the early part of the day she normally would have these thoughts and problems in later afternoon and early evening.Has anyone else experienced theses problems on the start of this medication .

Ray ( papa )

 

[LynneMcV]

My husband was diagnosed at 58 and started on 5mg of Aricept daily.

We weren't really given any guidance about time of day to take it. The main thing seemed to be to take it at a time when it would be easy to incorporate into his daily routine and be more easily remembered.

Initially he took the aricept after his evening meal but we found that he became quite sleepy early in the evening as a result. We then changed the routine so that he took aricept just before going to bed and he has been fine taking it this way ever since. If there are any side effects he just sleeps through them

 

[woody]

My dh has been taking it for four years and we were told to take it in the morning because it can cause terrible nightmares ,which it did with dh

 

[velo70]

Aricept

Hi. My wife was prescribed Aricept, initially 5 mil increased to 10 mil dosage after showing no serious side effects. Specifically told to take at bedtime, with maybe the last drink of the day, to minimise discomfort. We followed the advice religiously and they seem generally beneficial, having a stabilizing effect and no obvious side effects. She also takes vitamin B12. Also advised to follow daily routines to minimise confusion, breakfast, dressing, washing and eating at regular times. Like most of you for your partners, I love her to bits, and have learned from advice on here to minimise her stress, watch out for sundowning, and have bitten more lumps of my tongue than I care to remember. I feel so lucky when I read some of the harrowing experiences on here, and try desperately to make myself a better carer. It is a rotten way for anyone to experience in their final years. I ramble so I will stop at this point. Regards to you all.

 

[Kevinl]

Hi. My wife was prescribed Aricept, initially 5 mil increased to 10 mil dosage after showing no serious side effects. Specifically told to take at bedtime, with maybe the last drink of the day, to minimise discomfort. We followed the advice religiously and they seem generally beneficial, having a stabilizing effect and no obvious side effects.

Same here same medication, same doses taken last thing at night (as we were instructed) and no problems, except I seem to remember it took her a little while to get used to it as in she was a bit hard to get started in the mornings but that seems to have worn off now.
Here's a link to another thread on here where this was discussed.
K
http://forum.alzheimers.org.uk/showthread.php?47366-Best-time-to-take-Aricept

 

[Prospector]

My wife who is 52 has been on 10mg donepezil for about a year since she was given a preliminary diagnosis of AD. She hasn't really had any side effects like those mentioned in this thread - she takes it at bedtime or a couple of hours before. If anything, I think she is generally more capable and in better mood later in the evening and it doesn't seem to make any difference whether she takes it at 8:00 p.m. or 11:00 p.m.
I cannot say that I saw significant improvement in her since she started on donepezil, but it has probably stabilised her a little. She still loses abilities at random and sometimes regains them days or weeks later.
Sorry to come in late on this discussion - I only joined TP yesterday.

 

[Prospector]

Fresh information

I just discovered that my wife had taken her donepezil about 10-12 hours early today. She had been in a wonderfully good mood earlier but then seemed to get very confused, depressed and tearful very late morning. Of course, she doesn't remember taking the tablet, but her dosette box for today is now empty. She is currently out with her brilliant social support worker who is watching out for any problems (though no doubt they are having a whale of a time, as they usually do).
A similar thing happened with early dosage last Friday, though I couldn't be 100% sure at the time whether I had put the tablet in her dosette box for that day. Friday had started from a very low point at 3:00 a.m. and gradually improved to a steady state of happiness from mid-afternoon into the evening. I can't link anything to the early dosage of donepezil for that particular day.
I shall be taking more control of her dosette boxes from now on - sadly, that's another capability / independence that she has just lost.

 

[kathleenr]

We have blister packs and aricept is taken before bedtime. Accept help from your pharmacist as life is complicated enough without worrying about repeat prescriptions