Hello everyone 
My Dad is 73 was diagnosed with AD a few months ago although we'd suspected it for a couple of years. He's currently taking Aricept and uses Butrans patches for arthritis of the spine. He started them both at about the same time and since then has lost two stone (along with his appetite) and has trouble sleeping. I've read that loss of appetite and insomnia can be side effects of Aricept but he's had a gastroscopy and colonoscopy and is now down for a ct scan for possible prostrate cancer. He's still in a lot of pain with his back and as you can imagine he's getting quite depressed.
On a side note he and Mum were told at the memory clinic that they were happy for him to continue driving if Mum was happy with it. She was, so they filled in the forms and forgot about it. When they heard back from the DVLA the Dr at the memory clinic (whose wife had just gone into labour when he saw Dad and had neglected to put the notes in Dad's file) had informed them that Dad had agreed to stop driving so Dad's licence had been cancelled. Mum and Dad spoke to this Dr who insisted Dad had agreed to it which was untrue as Mum was there too but said they couldn't do anything about it now unless Dad's condition improved. This happened a week before we went on a family holiday in the UK and he and Mum had to get the train because his licence had been cancelled so quickly. He's scared to appeal because he doesn't want to do a test and I think this has upset him more than anything.
Anyway I wondered if others had experienced side effects with Aricept and what's the best way to deal with his depression? Dad was on amitriptyline until he started the Aricept and I wondered if other antidepressants can be used with Aricept or do they interfere with it's effectiveness?
Sorry for going on so. I've just had him on the phone talking about not wanting to live much longer and although I know he'll calm down in a little while it's still difficult to hear without wanting to do something. (He's not on his own btw. Mum's with him and I go round when she goes out).
My Dad is 73 was diagnosed with AD a few months ago although we'd suspected it for a couple of years. He's currently taking Aricept and uses Butrans patches for arthritis of the spine. He started them both at about the same time and since then has lost two stone (along with his appetite) and has trouble sleeping. I've read that loss of appetite and insomnia can be side effects of Aricept but he's had a gastroscopy and colonoscopy and is now down for a ct scan for possible prostrate cancer. He's still in a lot of pain with his back and as you can imagine he's getting quite depressed.
On a side note he and Mum were told at the memory clinic that they were happy for him to continue driving if Mum was happy with it. She was, so they filled in the forms and forgot about it. When they heard back from the DVLA the Dr at the memory clinic (whose wife had just gone into labour when he saw Dad and had neglected to put the notes in Dad's file) had informed them that Dad had agreed to stop driving so Dad's licence had been cancelled. Mum and Dad spoke to this Dr who insisted Dad had agreed to it which was untrue as Mum was there too but said they couldn't do anything about it now unless Dad's condition improved.
This happened a week before we went on a family holiday in the UK and he and Mum had to get the train because his licence had been cancelled so quickly. He's scared to appeal because he doesn't want to do a test and I think this has upset him more than anything.Anyway I wondered if others had experienced side effects with Aricept and what's the best way to deal with his depression? Dad was on amitriptyline until he started the Aricept and I wondered if other antidepressants can be used with Aricept or do they interfere with it's effectiveness?
Sorry for going on so. I've just had him on the phone talking about not wanting to live much longer and although I know he'll calm down in a little while it's still difficult to hear without wanting to do something. (He's not on his own btw. Mum's with him and I go round when she goes out).
