Rivastigmine -when to take ?

[Cardamom]

My husband has been prescribed Rivastigmine. His diagnosis is Alzheimer's dementia. At night ,he has repeated episodes of confusion and during the day, he can be very irritable and can fixate on subjects until I have started to feel exhausted.
The dose he is to start on is the lowest, but is it likely to make any of the problems i have described above get worse?

I am not feeling too chipper at the moment about how to cope with him and feel very isolated .As the weather has been so poor ,it is hard to get out and see people to get some light relief, so thank you for being here

 

[Grannie G]

Welcome @Cardamom.

I don't know enough about these drugs to advise but can only suggest you start with the prescribed lowest dose and see how you get on.

It`s awful feeling so isolated and housebound. lots of us have either experienced it in the past or are experiencing it now so everyone here will know how it is.

Please keep posting. I hope it will help.

 

[Lawson58]

I am on rivastigmine They do help and the gp will ramp up the dosage until you are on the highest dose. It takes about 12 weeks to really take effect and of course everyone is different. I had side effects with the tablets and got moved onto the patches. They were better for me

My husband had the patches too and use to change after showering in the morning.

 

[maisiecat]

My husband is on Rivastigmine patches at a high dose as its difficult for rivastigmine to get past some Parkinson's drugs. Took a while for them to work but they have now kicked in. He is less confused and much less aggressive. He also is less fixated than he was although I have also learned to just go along with the fixations. When he was at home I was worried that going along with fixation would worsen them but I find he's more settled if I go along.
Don't know if you get any help but might be time to do that. If I could pick my biggest mistake it was not putting in companion carers so I had times away.

 

[Cardamom]

My husband is on Rivastigmine patches at a high dose as its difficult for rivastigmine to get past some Parkinson's drugs. Took a while for them to work but they have now kicked in. He is less confused and much less aggressive. He also is less fixated than he was although I have also learned to just go along with the fixations. When he was at home I was worried that going along with fixation would worsen them but I find he's more settled if I go along.
Don't know if you get any help but might be time to do that. If I could pick my biggest mistake it was not putting in companion carers so I had times away.

Dear @maisiecat
Thank you very much for your helpful response.The fixations are worse than the memory impairment. Most of the time I humour him ,except when he starts to become fixated on certain parts of his treatment and says they "have got it all wrong "
I have already mentioned having someone in to help me so I hope to get some respite

 

[Cardamom]

I am on rivastigmine They do help and the gp will ramp up the dosage until you are on the highest dose. It takes about 12 weeks to really take effect and of course everyone is different. I had side effects with the tablets and got moved onto the patches. They were better for me

Dear @RobertDerek Thank you for telling me about your experience. My husband responds better to those he feels have been through the same and your post is such a hopeful one that I am going to read it to him for reassurance. Thank you again

 

[Cardamom]

Welcome @Cardamom.

I don't know enough about these drugs to advise but can only suggest you start with the prescribed lowest dose and see how you get on.

It`s awful feeling so isolated and housebound. lots of us have either experienced it in the past or are experiencing it now so everyone here will know how it is.

Please keep posting. I hope it will help.

Thank you @Grannie G . Quite honestly I would be lost at the moment without this forum. I have so many wonderful friends I can ring and talk to, but this is the only place where I know there will be a reply which chimes with my experience

 

[Marleena]

Hello @RobertDerek - I've just read your response to @Cardamom about Rivastigmine. My OH has been taking that for three months now and his aggression has massively reduced now to being occasional feeble incidents always with carers/personal care. He takes tablets as he would probably rip patches off. He doesn't appear to have any side effects but I'd appreciate it if you would describe what the side effects were like for you? - just so I'm aware.

 

[Amanda4392]

My dad has been using this for a year now he did originally feel very sick with this med however we managed to get anti sickness to take along side also some medication to use as and when for irritability . He took a while to adjust but keep with it as it does help . He also now has a low dose anti anxiety med regularly each day

 

[Cardamom]

We are at the end of Week 1 of Rivastigmine( lowest dose) for my husband and the main effects he has noticed are tiredness after the tablets.
He needs longer in the morning before he feels able to go out/shopping etc and he is going to be earlier than usual.
I will report at the end of Week 2 so if anyone wants to track the response from the start of meds ,it might be helpful for them