Has anybody had any experience of Memantine causing aggression, or being the suspected cause of aggression, please?
Possible problems with Memantine?
- Thread starter CollegeGirl
- Start date
Thanks Jan. I can't find anything (a very quick search, mind you) that cites aggression as being a side effect. Lots of other side effects but aggression is not mentioned. In fact most things say that memantine is prescribed for aggression.
My mam's consultant is in the process of reducing my mam's memantine to see if her aggression lessens, as it seems to be very much worse since she went onto the full dose.
Time will tell I suppose. In the meantime, dad has asked me to do a bit of digging, but I've not found anything concrete so far.
My mam's consultant is in the process of reducing my mam's memantine to see if her aggression lessens, as it seems to be very much worse since she went onto the full dose.
Time will tell I suppose. In the meantime, dad has asked me to do a bit of digging, but I've not found anything concrete so far.
Hi CG, you description is a perfect like for like of what occured with my mum.
She was finally taken off them when she had what I can only describe as a funny turn.
She awoke one morning dizy, sick, angry, frustrated, weak.......the list could go on.
Called out doctor, he found nothing wrong, put it down to the tablets, got in touch with consultant and cut long story short, she is now on aricept.
Looking back the mood swing was almost immediate but when we reported it to the doctors, we were advised to give the drug a few more days/weeks.
Obviously, this is just MY story. Hope this helps. Best wishes HC
She was finally taken off them when she had what I can only describe as a funny turn.
She awoke one morning dizy, sick, angry, frustrated, weak.......the list could go on.
Called out doctor, he found nothing wrong, put it down to the tablets, got in touch with consultant and cut long story short, she is now on aricept.
Looking back the mood swing was almost immediate but when we reported it to the doctors, we were advised to give the drug a few more days/weeks.
Obviously, this is just MY story. Hope this helps. Best wishes HC
Thank you Hollycat, that does help. It's interesting to note that her aggression might be linked to the memantine, in which case it might be best for the dose to be reduced (I wonder whether she'd be better taken off all Alzheimer's medication altogether at times, not at all sure it's helping anyway, but who knows?)
Unfortunately my mam can't tolerate aricept - she was on that first, then reminyl, but they both made her vomit badly.
Thanks for your experience.
Unfortunately my mam can't tolerate aricept - she was on that first, then reminyl, but they both made her vomit badly.
Thanks for your experience.
Onlyme - I believe that reducing aggression is supposed to be one of the main purposes of the drug. So glad it worked.
CG I asked myself the same question about mum i.e. would she be better on no medication, just to find out what the good folks on TP had to say.
After their responses with LPA hat on, I asked what would mum want and mum would want to take anything that helps anything.
I often wonder what it would be like with no medication.
Hope you can laugh as I often also wonder what it is like to take a class A drug, fly to the moon, drink a full bottle of gin......think you get the idea !
Drugs.....no chance
Moon......no chance
Gin........it xmas, seasons greetings Hickup hickup
CG I asked myself the same question about mum i.e. would she be better on no medication, just to find out what the good folks on TP had to say.
After their responses with LPA hat on, I asked what would mum want and mum would want to take anything that helps anything.
I often wonder what it would be like with no medication.
Hope you can laugh as I often also wonder what it is like to take a class A drug, fly to the moon, drink a full bottle of gin......think you get the idea !
Drugs.....no chance
Moon......no chance
Gin........it xmas, seasons greetings Hickup hickup
Onlyme - I'm glad it worked for you; isn't it strange that it might just be having the opposite effect on my mam? We don't really know, though. It's just an experiment really. It just seems a big coincidence that the aggression became markedly worse when she started on the maximum dose.
Hollycat - I'd rather fly to the moon than drink a bottle of gin! (And I'm scared of flying!) But whatever helps you, I've no objection!
Since the Alzheimer's drugs are only supposed to help a small percentage of the people who take them, and only for a limited period, and given that my mam has now been on one thing or another for about two years, and we don't know whether they've helped at all, I often wonder if it would just be better/kinder to stop them all together.
Would you be able to put a link up to the responses you got, so that I could read the thread?
Hollycat - I'd rather fly to the moon than drink a bottle of gin! (And I'm scared of flying!) But whatever helps you, I've no objection!
Since the Alzheimer's drugs are only supposed to help a small percentage of the people who take them, and only for a limited period, and given that my mam has now been on one thing or another for about two years, and we don't know whether they've helped at all, I often wonder if it would just be better/kinder to stop them all together.
Would you be able to put a link up to the responses you got, so that I could read the thread?
Yes, I can understand why you're worried, Onlyme. It's a scary illness isn't it? You never know what you might have to face. I hope your mum's rages don't get any worse, you never know. x
