Hello everyone My husband has been diagnosed with early Alzheimer's dementia after having brain scans He was immediately put on donepezil medication but it really made him feel sick and his heart rate kept going down which was causing dizziness he started off at 68 then went down to 57 then it went to 53 so at this point he has been changed to rivastigmine patches at least now he has no sickness bouts but still going dizzy on top of this he has a nasty chest infection yesterday the dr checked his pulse and it had gone back up to 56 hooray i said but dr says it is because of his chest infection that it is a little up so have to go and have him checked after a course of antibiotics Has anyone else experienced this please I am worried he will fall over Also I believe that these patches are not as effective as the tablets He has been very nasty tempered for about a week now but i just have to wait and see how he is after this nasty infection clears up as he is on a low dosage 4.6 mg patch and they cannot put it higher until they sort his heart rate out thankyou so much for reading my post
low heart rate
- Thread starter raz11
- Start date
Hello @raz11 Welcome to Talking Point.
From my own experience only, it takes a while to adjust to the Alzheimer`s medication and the fact your husband has an infection will not help matters.
Infections in people with dementia seem to effect them much more than in people who don't have dementia.
As long as your doctor is monitoring your husband's condition carefully, I don't think there's much more you can do.
The tempers and mood swings are difficult to live with, as I know to my cost, and I hope the infection clears up soon so you will have a better idea what is causing them.
From my own experience only, it takes a while to adjust to the Alzheimer`s medication and the fact your husband has an infection will not help matters.
Infections in people with dementia seem to effect them much more than in people who don't have dementia.
As long as your doctor is monitoring your husband's condition carefully, I don't think there's much more you can do.
The tempers and mood swings are difficult to live with, as I know to my cost, and I hope the infection clears up soon so you will have a better idea what is causing them.
Although not exactly the same, there are some similarities to my husband..
The problem he had, when diagnosed at 58 yrs old, was that he had a naturally low heart rate (52 bmp) before any medication was introduced. This wasn't affecting him in general but it threw a spanner in the works when it came to using donepezil (aka aricept) because the drug is known to lower the heart rate further - as you have found out through your husband's experience.
When my husband was initially started on a trial 5mg dose of donepezil he was ok, but his heart rate dropped slightly to 50/51 bpm. Problems with passing out usually come at below 50bpm, so it was decided not to put my husband on the full 10mg dose.
He remained on 5mg of donepezil but they also started him on memantine. Although the two are generally given together in the USA, it is not standard practice in the UK. The NHS tends to give donepezil in the mild to moderate stages and memantine beyond that. However, as my husband was unable to benefit from the usual dose of donepezil, the consultant made an exception and prescribed both drugs together.
It's over five years later now, and my husband is still taking both drugs together.
I am sure the right level and type of medication will be found for your husband. These things can take a bit of tweaking to get just right.
We have no experience with revastigmine, but as your husband reacted badly to the donepezil (presumably even on the trial 5mg dose) I guess that revastigmine is generally the next one they try.
As I say, the introduction of memantine earlier than normal was the answer for us, but others might be able to give further info on what worked in their situations when donepezil or revastigmine were unsuitable.
I hope things settle soon
The problem he had, when diagnosed at 58 yrs old, was that he had a naturally low heart rate (52 bmp) before any medication was introduced. This wasn't affecting him in general but it threw a spanner in the works when it came to using donepezil (aka aricept) because the drug is known to lower the heart rate further - as you have found out through your husband's experience.
When my husband was initially started on a trial 5mg dose of donepezil he was ok, but his heart rate dropped slightly to 50/51 bpm. Problems with passing out usually come at below 50bpm, so it was decided not to put my husband on the full 10mg dose.
He remained on 5mg of donepezil but they also started him on memantine. Although the two are generally given together in the USA, it is not standard practice in the UK. The NHS tends to give donepezil in the mild to moderate stages and memantine beyond that. However, as my husband was unable to benefit from the usual dose of donepezil, the consultant made an exception and prescribed both drugs together.
It's over five years later now, and my husband is still taking both drugs together.
I am sure the right level and type of medication will be found for your husband. These things can take a bit of tweaking to get just right.
We have no experience with revastigmine, but as your husband reacted badly to the donepezil (presumably even on the trial 5mg dose) I guess that revastigmine is generally the next one they try.
As I say, the introduction of memantine earlier than normal was the answer for us, but others might be able to give further info on what worked in their situations when donepezil or revastigmine were unsuitable.
I hope things settle soon
My OH started on donepezil but continued to have tummy problems so he went on to the rivastigmine.
Both drugs helped calm him down and assisted in keeping him on an even keel. We have had the usual ups and downs but I really believe that the patches have helped control his paranoia. He has started slipping in the last year with a bit of acceleration in the last couple of months.
I can't help you much with the low heart rate as he has an implanted defibrillator which keeps his heart at a fairly slow rate anyway. It does take a while for the effect of the patches to kick in and the dose is usually increased after a few weeks so give it time to see what happens.
Both drugs helped calm him down and assisted in keeping him on an even keel. We have had the usual ups and downs but I really believe that the patches have helped control his paranoia. He has started slipping in the last year with a bit of acceleration in the last couple of months.
I can't help you much with the low heart rate as he has an implanted defibrillator which keeps his heart at a fairly slow rate anyway. It does take a while for the effect of the patches to kick in and the dose is usually increased after a few weeks so give it time to see what happens.
thankyou for the reply i think as you say we just need to get him on a happy medium with his meds Sometimes i think we are in no mans land but we will get there
thankyou so much maybe its me what is worrying too much and i need to be more patient to let the medication start helping him
My husband has never been allowed Alzheimer's drugs because of his naturally low heart rate. It causes a panic when ever it is taken. Around 40 would be normal for him but when they put a 24 hour recorder on him it dropped at times below 30.
He has always been very slim and active. The only med he takes is Trazodone and it seems to suit him well.
He has always been very slim and active. The only med he takes is Trazodone and it seems to suit him well.
My husband has always been fit and active he used to run marathons in his younger days he is now 69 Drs think maybe he has always had a lower heart rate because of the running he used to do but its about 25 years ago since he stopped running due to dodgy knees The concern is now is that they do not want his pulse to go under 50 so he is border line but we just have to keep checking him His moods have been horrendous this week so hoping we can get him calmed down after this chest infection clears up Thankyou all for replying to me its very comforting to know i have someone to talk too
