Hi all,
My mum's suffered from memory loss & decreased confidence for a few years now & has consequently socially isolated herself from everyone except me. Following an MRI in 2013, she was given anti-depressants as she was considered too young to have dementia (she's now 71). Following a fall resulting in a shoulder break in September, she had a memory assessment via Zoom (due to Covid restrictions). I was sceptical about this, as my mum is not technologically competent, and I could see she was struggling to hear through the echos of the audio & wasn't engaging in a relaxed way. Following this, however, and in reliance on the 2013 MRI, she was diagnosed with Mixed Dementia & prescribed donepezil. The 5mg for 6 weeks had no effects - good or bad. Then increased to 10mg, which she's been on for the past 6weeks.
I brought my mum to stay with us for the Xmas period. That's when I noticed a major decline - she became vegetative, constantly tired & confused. She developed a weird facial tic. Seeing her blank facial expressions broke my heart. When she was awake, she would cry about her childhood memories & about not having a mum, who'd died when she was 5. But there were huge gaps in her longterm memory. She went from having mild short-term memory problems to exhibiting more severe dementia symptoms. Became a lot more repetitive & agitated, although not aggressive. The final straw for me came on Boxing Day night. I was getting ready to go to bed at 1am when I noticed my mum's bedroom door open. Went to check on her & found her getting dressed. I asked why & she said because it's time to walk the dog. She thought it was morning. The fact that she'd suddenly deteriorated to the point of developing sundowning & wandering in just 12weeks since diagnosis petrified me. I've cried my eyes out everyday since the diagnosis, but the crushing heartache I felt that night is indescribable. I thought, this is it, I've lost her forever. My partner immediately got up & padlocked the chain into the door so that she wouldn't be able to remove the chain, just in case she tried to leave again. But even still, I didn't sleep a wink that night & have been surviving off 3hours max sleep a night since, despite knowing that there's no way she could get out. She wants to go back to her own home now that Xmas is over, but I can't take that risk.
I've since decided not to give her the donepezil. I've read numerous sources about the side effects of donepezil & nowhere does it mention anything about what we experienced or anything about worsening / inducing dementia symptoms. She's gone back to being how she was before starting the donepezil, which is 100times more preferable than the psychosis the meds seemed to induce. But of course I am now worried that things might get even worse now.
I just wanted to know whether others have experienced what we have? It's making me doubt my mum's diagnosis and I'm terrified I'll lose her to the side effects of these drugs...
My mum's suffered from memory loss & decreased confidence for a few years now & has consequently socially isolated herself from everyone except me. Following an MRI in 2013, she was given anti-depressants as she was considered too young to have dementia (she's now 71). Following a fall resulting in a shoulder break in September, she had a memory assessment via Zoom (due to Covid restrictions). I was sceptical about this, as my mum is not technologically competent, and I could see she was struggling to hear through the echos of the audio & wasn't engaging in a relaxed way. Following this, however, and in reliance on the 2013 MRI, she was diagnosed with Mixed Dementia & prescribed donepezil. The 5mg for 6 weeks had no effects - good or bad. Then increased to 10mg, which she's been on for the past 6weeks.
I brought my mum to stay with us for the Xmas period. That's when I noticed a major decline - she became vegetative, constantly tired & confused. She developed a weird facial tic. Seeing her blank facial expressions broke my heart. When she was awake, she would cry about her childhood memories & about not having a mum, who'd died when she was 5. But there were huge gaps in her longterm memory. She went from having mild short-term memory problems to exhibiting more severe dementia symptoms. Became a lot more repetitive & agitated, although not aggressive. The final straw for me came on Boxing Day night. I was getting ready to go to bed at 1am when I noticed my mum's bedroom door open. Went to check on her & found her getting dressed. I asked why & she said because it's time to walk the dog. She thought it was morning. The fact that she'd suddenly deteriorated to the point of developing sundowning & wandering in just 12weeks since diagnosis petrified me. I've cried my eyes out everyday since the diagnosis, but the crushing heartache I felt that night is indescribable. I thought, this is it, I've lost her forever. My partner immediately got up & padlocked the chain into the door so that she wouldn't be able to remove the chain, just in case she tried to leave again. But even still, I didn't sleep a wink that night & have been surviving off 3hours max sleep a night since, despite knowing that there's no way she could get out. She wants to go back to her own home now that Xmas is over, but I can't take that risk.
I've since decided not to give her the donepezil. I've read numerous sources about the side effects of donepezil & nowhere does it mention anything about what we experienced or anything about worsening / inducing dementia symptoms. She's gone back to being how she was before starting the donepezil, which is 100times more preferable than the psychosis the meds seemed to induce. But of course I am now worried that things might get even worse now.
I just wanted to know whether others have experienced what we have? It's making me doubt my mum's diagnosis and I'm terrified I'll lose her to the side effects of these drugs...