Has anyone had any experience of Aricept causing convulsions? I ask because my Dad has had two episodes of convulsions in the past few months. Over the past week he has been very shaky with large involuntary jumpiness in his muscles - like large twitches. It could be a variety of things but I just wondered if the medication might be involved. Zan
Aricept and convulsions
- Thread starter zan
- Start date
Hi Zan, don't think it was linked to Aricept, but we had quite a discussion about jerking some time back.
#1 26-10-2005, 09:51 AM
jc141265
Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 305
Myoclonus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps not everyone's dementia sufferer displays this symptom, but thought I'd post it here for those that have seen it and are concerned by it. Dad is the only dementia sufferer I have seen that does it, but then I don't sit for an hour or more with other people.
Myoclonus is the medical term for what Dad does and what your loved one may do, where their body suddenly gives one quick jerk, similar to what 'normal' people do when they are fallling asleep, except the dementia sufferer can do it any time of day.
If your loved one is like Dad then this only occurs on a basis that is not too disruptive. It can occur more frequently though and cause problems with balance and grasping and eyesight....
See :
http://www.myoclonus.com/
for more information.
Be aware that is also the name for a disease, this does not mean that if your loved one does it that they have this disease too, it can be just a symptom of brain disorders in general.
Hope this helps, Connie
#1 26-10-2005, 09:51 AM
jc141265
Registered User Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Australia
Posts: 305
Myoclonus
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Perhaps not everyone's dementia sufferer displays this symptom, but thought I'd post it here for those that have seen it and are concerned by it. Dad is the only dementia sufferer I have seen that does it, but then I don't sit for an hour or more with other people.
Myoclonus is the medical term for what Dad does and what your loved one may do, where their body suddenly gives one quick jerk, similar to what 'normal' people do when they are fallling asleep, except the dementia sufferer can do it any time of day.
If your loved one is like Dad then this only occurs on a basis that is not too disruptive. It can occur more frequently though and cause problems with balance and grasping and eyesight....
See :
http://www.myoclonus.com/
for more information.
Be aware that is also the name for a disease, this does not mean that if your loved one does it that they have this disease too, it can be just a symptom of brain disorders in general.
Hope this helps, Connie
Zan: just found the thread:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/TalkingPoint/Discuss/showthread.php?t=2326,
Also just found how to do that bit. My achievement for the day. Regards, Connie
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/TalkingPoint/Discuss/showthread.php?t=2326,
Also just found how to do that bit. My achievement for the day. Regards, Connie
Thankyou for the reply Connie, I have know looked at the thread. It's funny but my husband commented on the twitches being the same as I sometimes do when I am going to sleep. I also get that horrible feling that I've fallen and bounced off the floor when I do this. For me this is once a blue moon but if Dad is feeling like this no wonder he is so anxious. The fit he had wasn't just twitching, it was an epileptic type of fit, although thankfully only a short one. He had a series of these when I was a very young child but no more for the last 35 years until December. What made it worse was that blood came out of his mouth and I thought that it was the cancer kind of bursting open and this was the end. It turned out that the blood seems to have come out of his nose and it soon stopped but combined with the fit and the cancer it was so scary. Now he is in hospital - his heart was in fibrillation too , beating at 170 + per minute. They have transfused blood into him due to anaemia, plus they found a fracture in his collar bone. I feel awful because he has been with me for the last 4 weeks so I know it must have happened while he was with me and I have missed it. Being honest I didn't miss the injury - I saw a lump and Dad was in pain but when I told the GP he said it would be a metastasis from the cancer. The nurses who visit have seen it too and they never questioned that. I just feel that I should have noticed when he did it. I've tried to think back and I do remember saying to him "that must have hurt " when he had one of his bumps due to the jerking but he is having so many of them. I'm sure I would have clicked if that had been in the area where the break is but it didn't so perhaps that wasn't even the time he broke it. Perhaps the cancer is in his bones and even a small knock caused it. It doesn't stop me feeling guilty though. When he was in hospital before a PEG went in 'by mistake'. I felt that feeding through a PEG wasn't the right thing to do and my Dad was swallowing. Because of the jerking he hasn't been able to feed himself over the last week and I have had tio feed him - not an easy task as the jerking even makes him fallen onto a straw when it is in his mouth, or a spoon. Now he is in hospital i wonder if any one will take the time to feed him. If they don't should I ask them to use the Peg? Why prolong his agony. He is on morrphine, he has no quality of life that I can see - he is so scared , anxious and sad and is looking for my Mum and can't understand that she has died. But if I don't ask them to use the PEG I feel that I am killing him myself. Sory for such a long message - the computer has been in the same room as my Dad's bed so I have disturbed him if I used it so I'm sharing a week or twos feeelings here. Zan
Hi zan,
Sorry to hear that you are going through such a distressful time at the moment.
You might want to look at the Alzheimer's Society's statement on palliative care:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/News_and_campaigns/Policy_Watch/palliativecare.htm
Take care,
Sandy
Sorry to hear that you are going through such a distressful time at the moment.
You might want to look at the Alzheimer's Society's statement on palliative care:
http://www.alzheimers.org.uk/News_and_campaigns/Policy_Watch/palliativecare.htm
Take care,
Sandy
Hiya Zan,
Was going to put this in a PM but then thought, what the heck, I'll stick my neck out.
Take care. Thinking of you.
Love
Amy
Was going to put this in a PM but then thought, what the heck, I'll stick my neck out.
As I see it, by using the PEG you are stopping nature from taking its course. Your dad must be so tired, and he wants your mum. It is Cancer and dementia that are killing him, not you. You have done all that you can to make him comfortable and happy over the past few months since your mum died. If the PEG will not actually improve your dad's state of health (both mental and physical), what will it be buying him, a few more weeks of pain and confusion? If he can be settled so that he is not "scared, anxious and sad" then yes, it might buy you a few more weeks of quality time to share with him. I think that you need to, with the assistance of family and professionals, weigh up the situation, and jointly make the decision. What do you think your mum and dad would be saying if they were party to that conversation? If you do have to decide about the PEG, then having seen how much you love your dad, I am sure that you will do what is best for him, whatever that is.
Take care. Thinking of you.
Love
Amy
Dear Zan, Amy has beat me to it.........I was going to say pretty much the same.
Of course, final decisions are up to you, but please think hard........is this what dad would want.
Really in all these cases we say "I feel" "I should" "if I", but this really is not about us, it is about the ones we so love and care for. Sometimes it is easier if we blot out our own feelings and concentrate on them.
Big hug coming your way, take care, Connie
Of course, final decisions are up to you, but please think hard........is this what dad would want.
Really in all these cases we say "I feel" "I should" "if I", but this really is not about us, it is about the ones we so love and care for. Sometimes it is easier if we blot out our own feelings and concentrate on them.
Big hug coming your way, take care, Connie
Thankyou all for your support. We had a good moment this afternoon. When I went to see Dad , my Aunty and Uncle were with him. When I said "Hello" he smiled. I havn't seen his smile for months. It was so , so good. The hospital put him on morphine. I was worried about giving it to him at home and thought he would be knocked out by it. Instead he was chatting away - none of it made a lot of sense but some did - it didn't matter. He felt he was part of our conversation, he wasn't upset or embarrased and he has a lovely smile. Tomorrow he is going for a
ct scan , I'm not sure where of but guess it could be brain. I've contacted the Douglas Macmillan nurse. She advised me to speak to the Macmillan team in the hospital and they can assess him. It was lovely to visit as a daughter rather than being a carer.
Because he isn't so agitated he was drinking a little and the nurses had tried to get him to eat a bit. They asked what he liked as he wouldn't drink their tea. I think it shows they care. I explained that at home his favourite drink at the moment was ovaltine with milk, added cream and melted chocolate buttons in - very calorific in a small concentration. I'll take some ovaltine in tomorrow. Probably take some chocolate trifle too.
Just hoping he is in the same good mood tomorrow.
ct scan , I'm not sure where of but guess it could be brain. I've contacted the Douglas Macmillan nurse. She advised me to speak to the Macmillan team in the hospital and they can assess him. It was lovely to visit as a daughter rather than being a carer.
Because he isn't so agitated he was drinking a little and the nurses had tried to get him to eat a bit. They asked what he liked as he wouldn't drink their tea. I think it shows they care. I explained that at home his favourite drink at the moment was ovaltine with milk, added cream and melted chocolate buttons in - very calorific in a small concentration. I'll take some ovaltine in tomorrow. Probably take some chocolate trifle too.
Just hoping he is in the same good mood tomorrow.
Zan
I think Amy put (very sensitively) what a lot of us must have been thinking. I know the moderators of TP are very wary of discussion of this subject, but many of us are likely to be faced with this dilemma so I believe it is relevant. When you are faced with it, it must be SO difficult to determine whether you are fighting for his life for HIM, or for the feelings of the family. "... it might buy you a few more weeks of time to share with him". Morphine can be an absolute Godsend when there's nothing else that can be done. I hope it enables you all to have a few more good moments before he falls asleep, and is reunited with your mum.
Thinking of you
Amy said:
I think Amy put (very sensitively) what a lot of us must have been thinking. I know the moderators of TP are very wary of discussion of this subject, but many of us are likely to be faced with this dilemma so I believe it is relevant. When you are faced with it, it must be SO difficult to determine whether you are fighting for his life for HIM, or for the feelings of the family. "... it might buy you a few more weeks of time to share with him". Morphine can be an absolute Godsend when there's nothing else that can be done. I hope it enables you all to have a few more good moments before he falls asleep, and is reunited with your mum.
Thinking of you
Speaking for myself only, I'd say that the way the topic is being discussed here causes no problems and I am in agreement with what you all say.Lynne said:
I've some time ago told Jan's home and her doctor that I want no interventions at a certain stage of her condition. I have also told them that we will decide that stage between us, at the time, because we owe her that.
Day by day.
I spoke to the doctor today. He wasn't asking about PEG feeding after all. Dad is bleeding somewhere causing him to be anaemic. They have put blood up. He wanted to know how far we wanted to go and if we wanted to investigate the fits. I said we wanted Dad to be as comfortable, peaceful and painfree as possible. He has been much more alert the last few days. I don't think they've given him morphine today but he is awake longer and he is making more sense. He is actually talking in sentences, although not all of them make sense it is much better than the odd inappropriat words we had been getting over the last week or two. Maybe it is the blood that is doing this . If so , and he gets seriously anaemic again , we'll have to go for it - it is definitely improving his quality of life - and ours too. I asked about hospice care and was told they would look into it but now Dad is in hospital we have to go through the hospital channels again not just contact the agencies involved over the last few weeks. It all seems so silly but it must be as frustrating for the staff as for us. After saying that, part of me thinks don't rush anything as Dad seems comfortable where he is and everyone is very caring and kind.
