Newly prescribed Reminyl/Galantamine - is it any good?

[Rachel M]

Hi

This is the first time I have posted since I joined in Feb 05.

My mum (age 75) was in hospital from November 04 - Feb 05 where we found out after much probing and consultation that mum has had mini strokes (TIA's) and has the start of dementia.

Whilst she was in hospital they moved her to different wards and the last 2 moves really disorientated her and she went aggresive and was just not herself at all. We complained and they agreed not to move her again until she was discharged. When she came home she was franticly looking around for tablets as she wanted to take her own but we had them put in a dossette and locked them away. After a week or so she calmed down.

Since February she has been attending clinics for blood and most recently she has been to see the psychogeriatrician about giving her some medication. At the first visit they told my dad they weren't sure if her heart would be fit enough so did an ECG and told them to go back. On Thurs they went back and the doctor said the ECG was good so gave them the choice of which medication to take. My dad knew nothing about what each tablet can do so as Galantamine (Reminyl) are the newest this was the one that was chosen. She has been prescribed to take 4mg twice a day for 4 weeks and then this will be reviewed.

Mum is confused and muddled but quite oblivious to the fact which is good I suppose. She has Meals on Wheels but never remembers and asks what you want for dinner. She also never remembers anything medical at all. Never remembers having a blood test even 20 minutes after it's been done and can't remember taking her tablets (after she's swallowed them).

What I wanted to know (after all that waffle ) is if anyone has had any good experiences of taking the Reminyl/Galantamine drug and knows if it can improve or just stabilise the condition?

Hope to hear from you.

Rachel

 

[katieberesford]

Galantamine

Hello Rachel

My husband David has been on Galantamine since being diagnosed in November 2002. He is on the maximum dose of 12mg twice daily.

At his first memory clinic visit he scored 23, but since then his score has been constantly 24! He is doing fine and is stable which is the best we can hope for really. Sometimes I feel the scoring is not relevant to activities of daily living as on some days David is very confused.

As long as David takes his medication with a meal he is OK, as it does tend to make him feel a bit sicky.

One thing I need to tell you is that David is only 57 years old.

Hope this helps with your decisions about medication. Galantamine has been the only one offered to David so really cannot help you with any other sorts.

Take care and will be thinking about you.

Katie

 

[Rachel M]

Hi Katie

Thanks for your reply. It's nice to hear that you have seen some improvements in your husband.

Mum started them last Friday and when I went on Monday dad said that there had been some slight improvement. Mum knew what day of the week it was and was very confident about it although she couldn't remember what she had done the night before without prompting for her to think about it (they'd been out for a meal).

I had a conversation with her about her confusion and she said she was concerned about it as she couldn't understand why she could remember some things and not others, her long term memory is great though. I told her not to worry but I was glad she was worried in a way as it means she's actively thinking about it (if you know what I mean).

Dad has been advised about giving her the tablets with meals and after reading the leaflet that came with it I stressed it again. I wouldn't like mum to feel sickly all the time.

We'll have to see how the next 3 weeks go until her next appointment although dad said her next meeting with the memory clinic was about 20th Sept.

Thanks again.

Rachel
x