Hello everybody,
So today was the day when one of my worst fears came true
My mom (age 51) was diagnosed with dementia. She has very bad short term memory to a point that she cannot do a lot of things on her own without instructions and supervision. She also has anxiety and withdrawal symptoms. Although, in terms of bathing, walking, eating and following small conversation she is doing just fine. It mostly started after her menopause which was a pretty difficult period for her.
Today she has been prescribed Aricept/Donepezil (5mg) for 3 month by neurologist. I am a bit hesitant to let her start with this drug.
The reason is that we also had her blood test done about 3 months back and it showed that her vitamin b12 was on the "normal" lower end (250). This kind of went unnoticed at that time. In addition she had very low vitamin D for which she had injections and is taking supplement. Our GP only started with vitamin b12 injection this week plus folic acid supplements. She has to take injection for the next 5 weeks.
May be its just me not wanting to accept the situation but I don't wont her to deteriorate further and quickly. I feel that there is some chance of recovery with vitamin b12 injections (trying to do some research on this) and that aricept/denopezil may deteriorate her condition in long run, and until her vitamin levels are normalized we shouldn't rush to another drug.
We are going to have a second opinion from another GP but I was wondering if anyone here has some experience with aricept/donepezil and B12 deficiency as well?
Any help in this regard is appreciated. Thank you very much.
So today was the day when one of my worst fears came true
My mom (age 51) was diagnosed with dementia. She has very bad short term memory to a point that she cannot do a lot of things on her own without instructions and supervision. She also has anxiety and withdrawal symptoms. Although, in terms of bathing, walking, eating and following small conversation she is doing just fine. It mostly started after her menopause which was a pretty difficult period for her.
Today she has been prescribed Aricept/Donepezil (5mg) for 3 month by neurologist. I am a bit hesitant to let her start with this drug.
The reason is that we also had her blood test done about 3 months back and it showed that her vitamin b12 was on the "normal" lower end (250). This kind of went unnoticed at that time. In addition she had very low vitamin D for which she had injections and is taking supplement. Our GP only started with vitamin b12 injection this week plus folic acid supplements. She has to take injection for the next 5 weeks.
May be its just me not wanting to accept the situation but I don't wont her to deteriorate further and quickly. I feel that there is some chance of recovery with vitamin b12 injections (trying to do some research on this) and that aricept/denopezil may deteriorate her condition in long run, and until her vitamin levels are normalized we shouldn't rush to another drug.
We are going to have a second opinion from another GP but I was wondering if anyone here has some experience with aricept/donepezil and B12 deficiency as well?
Any help in this regard is appreciated. Thank you very much.