Tablets for an 84 yr old

superstar

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
20
0
My dad has alzheimers, He is 84yrs old and has had it for about 10yrs, We had been saying to the doctors that he was forgetting a lot and they kepted saying it was his age, Dad has no idea that anything is wrong, although sometimes I wonder if people with the diease, really know something is wrong. We got him to the brain scan by saying all older people was having one.
So it was confirmed two years ago at the memory clinic, I must first tell you that my father is extremely fit in his body he also has NEVER had any form of tablets or suffered with any other illness.
He was put on Aricept which he tried for three months, he constantly kepted going to the toilet, each time I phoned the clinic they said it would settle down, It got too much as he couldn't go out without needing the toilet. We had a hard time getting him to take the tablets as he would ask why do I have to take these, and we just said it was to prevent dementia, After a few month on nothing as we had stopped the Aricept, Mum who is 80yrs and has a few probs of her own wanted to try another tablets as sometimes he is hard to live with, I rang the memory clinic and he was given Reminyl xl, He took these again for about three months he started with the lowest dose, and went up to 24mg, He had his pulse checked regular, these tablets had several affects on my dad I don't know why maybe his stomach wouldnt tolerate them, But everyone if different, He was aggressive, complained of a really bad stomach pains, he said everyone in the house was trying to poison him, We had to go to the doctors as he started losing weight, the doctor treated him for irritable bowel, the pains got worst each time I asked if it was the tablets, no carry on with them he said, when he had finished the course of tabs he was no better,we saw a different doc who wanted to give him ibrufen, he took one tablet and I started to read, which people say you shouldn't, look the side affects up on the internet, After reading it all I told my mum not to give him anymore Reminyl xl as he had all the side affects listed even the one which was very uncommon, which he complained about his eye having blurred vision. He didn't need irritable tabs or ibrufen we just stopped the Reminyl xl and he has been a different person, So for my dad we have decided we want him to be pain free for the rest of his life, They might slow the alzheimers down but in my fathers case it was causing other probs.
 

sistermillicent

Registered User
Jan 30, 2009
2,949
0
As you say, the tablets don't always do what you want them to, they seem to affect people differently, and yet the course of this illness is so varied with everyone, you sometimes can't be sure what is the tablet and what is the progression of the disease.
I am sure you have done the best thing you can for your dad.
 

stillcaring

Registered User
Sep 4, 2011
215
0
I stopped Aricept for my aunt because it just made her sleep all the time and therefore not eat. From what I hear anecodotally side effects are much more common than we are told officially. I have refused all AD medication for my mum and now the diagnosis has changed and they think she's got VD so I'm glad she wasn't taking something designed for AD.
 

Hair Twiddler

Registered User
Aug 14, 2012
891
0
Middle England
Approachable experts!

I have to say that the doctor and his team at mum's memory clinic are extremely approachable and we have been able to "work together" to come up with a plan regarding mum's Galantamine tablets.

We started at 8mg for a month then 16mg then 24mg daily. Mum had hallucinations when she began the 24mg course. Over the phone to the consultant's 2nd in command I explained mum's experience & WE agreed that going back to the 8mg dose would probably be for the best. Don't get me wrong I have no medical background but I simply described everything that I saw and heard & when I interpeteted anything I said so. It was agreed that the 8mg dose daily was the best course and so that's the prescription that mum is on for now - pending a face to face review with the professionals in a few weeks.

My point is, don't be afraid to describe what you see, say what you think is best and then follow up with a "does that seeem reasonable to you?" - it worked for us.
 

HelenInBC

Registered User
Mar 23, 2013
242
0
My mom was on aricept for about 2 years after she was initially diagnosed with AD. We started to notice she was having occasional bowel incontinence with diarrhea. It was difficult to monitor because, of course, she would forget about it happening and would always think it was the first time.
I went to both her GP and gerontologist and neither of them thought it was the Aricept, but I finally insisted she be taken off it. She's been on Exelon patch ever since and the bowel issues have resolved. Now she is having more incontinence problems, but it seems more to do with the disease progression than her medication.
I think it is important to express your concerns about medications and do your own research about side effects. Sometimes the doctors don't listen very well, or don't want to change things in case it causes more problems.
 

superstar

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
20
0
I have to say that the doctor and his team at mum's memory clinic are extremely approachable and we have been able to "work together" to come up with a plan regarding mum's Galantamine tablets.

We started at 8mg for a month then 16mg then 24mg daily. Mum had hallucinations when she began the 24mg course. Over the phone to the consultant's 2nd in command I explained mum's experience & WE agreed that going back to the 8mg dose would probably be for the best. Don't get me wrong I have no medical background but I simply described everything that I saw and heard & when I interpeteted anything I said so. It was agreed that the 8mg dose daily was the best course and so that's the prescription that mum is on for now - pending a face to face review with the professionals in a few weeks.

My point is, don't be afraid to describe what you see, say what you think is best and then follow up with a "does that seeem reasonable to you?" - it worked for us.

I rang the memory clinic to say we don't want anymore medication, but I could only get hold of them by talking to the answer machine that was quite some months ago they haven't rang me back they are extremely busy and you are lucky to get hold of them, we don't live near the clinic, They said last time if he didn't want the drug he would be discharged as they wont need to see him again. My dad had took the 8mg and then 16mg and went on to the 24mg they did say if he stopped taking them for any reason he would have to start back on the 8mg, But he is much better not taking anything, as he was in a lot of stomach pain, at 84 we want him to have would quality of life which he has left. thanks for your post
 

Jen7

Registered User
Sep 25, 2013
11
0
Scotland
My dad has alzheimers, He is 84yrs old and has had it for about 10yrs, We had been saying to the doctors that he was forgetting a lot and they kepted saying it was his age, Dad has no idea that anything is wrong, although sometimes I wonder if people with the diease, really know something is wrong. We got him to the brain scan by saying all older people was having one.
So it was confirmed two years ago at the memory clinic, I must first tell you that my father is extremely fit in his body he also has NEVER had any form of tablets or suffered with any other illness.
He was put on Aricept which he tried for three months, he constantly kepted going to the toilet, each time I phoned the clinic they said it would settle down, It got too much as he couldn't go out without needing the toilet. We had a hard time getting him to take the tablets as he would ask why do I have to take these, and we just said it was to prevent dementia, After a few month on nothing as we had stopped the Aricept, Mum who is 80yrs and has a few probs of her own wanted to try another tablets as sometimes he is hard to live with, I rang the memory clinic and he was given Reminyl xl, He took these again for about three months he started with the lowest dose, and went up to 24mg, He had his pulse checked regular, these tablets had several affects on my dad I don't know why maybe his stomach wouldnt tolerate them, But everyone if different, He was aggressive, complained of a really bad stomach pains, he said everyone in the house was trying to poison him, We had to go to the doctors as he started losing weight, the doctor treated him for irritable bowel, the pains got worst each time I asked if it was the tablets, no carry on with them he said, when he had finished the course of tabs he was no better,we saw a different doc who wanted to give him ibrufen, he took one tablet and I started to read, which people say you shouldn't, look the side affects up on the internet, After reading it all I told my mum not to give him anymore Reminyl xl as he had all the side affects listed even the one which was very uncommon, which he complained about his eye having blurred vision. He didn't need irritable tabs or ibrufen we just stopped the Reminyl xl and he has been a different person, So for my dad we have decided we want him to be pain free for the rest of his life, They might slow the alzheimers down but in my fathers case it was causing other probs.

Hi there my mum was in similar situ to your dad now 82 and diagnosed with mid stage dementia few months ago by our GP after scoring her very low, she has no idea, she just thinks its old age. we haven't got her to memory clinic as she would never go anywhere like that without getting really upset even when her memory was fine so she hasn't tried any actual drugs yet and we don't know what kind it is vd or alzheimers etc, like you I was worried about all the side affects. I looked into multi b vitamins route, had read lots of articles on it helping with memory, checked out Betrinac which is a high dose combination pill of multi bs and anti oxidants, so far 9 weeks later she is doing so much better, my doctor said there was no harm in trying it and so far so good, i posted more about it couple of weeks ago and even the local shopkeeper commented today that my mum was "great" lately, its the only shop she goes to herself now occasionally just round the corner from her. Other people have posted about coconut oils etc having good results, haven't tried that yet as she is doing so well with this high dose multi b pill, . my mum is also fit and not on any other medication and blood tests said her b levels were normal but doc said although normal range her b levels could still be higher. I think its a case of different treatments whether more natural or medical work for different people and different types of the disease so sometimes worth looking into other options to see what suit best for individual needs while still checking with GP. Like your dad my mum is also reasonably fit and is lucky to have no other health isssues or take any other medication. She has had no side affects that we can tell on these multi bs 9 weeks on, plan on getting her another blood test in couple months and again reporting into to the GP. Jen
 

Hair Twiddler

Registered User
Aug 14, 2012
891
0
Middle England
Superstar, thanks for your very specific reply. I am very sorry that (In My Opinion) you have had very shoddy treatment from your local memory clinic / authority - it makes my blood boil. It is totally wrong that mum & I have had good, considerate care from our local team and you have not.
All best wishes to you & your Dad.
Twiddler x
 

superstar

Registered User
Oct 10, 2013
20
0
Hi there my mum was in similar situ to your dad now 82 and diagnosed with mid stage dementia few months ago by our GP after scoring her very low, she has no idea, she just thinks its old age. we haven't got her to memory clinic as she would never go anywhere like that without getting really upset even when her memory was fine so she hasn't tried any actual drugs yet and we don't know what kind it is vd or alzheimers etc, like you I was worried about all the side affects. I looked into multi b vitamins route, had read lots of articles on it helping with memory, checked out Betrinac which is a high dose combination pill of multi bs and anti oxidants, so far 9 weeks later she is doing so much better, my doctor said there was no harm in trying it and so far so good, i posted more about it couple of weeks ago and even the local shopkeeper commented today that my mum was "great" lately, its the only shop she goes to herself now occasionally just round the corner from her. Other people have posted about coconut oils etc having good results, haven't tried that yet as she is doing so well with this high dose multi b pill, . my mum is also fit and not on any other medication and blood tests said her b levels were normal but doc said although normal range her b levels could still be higher. I think its a case of different treatments whether more natural or medical work for different people and different types of the disease so sometimes worth looking into other options to see what suit best for individual needs while still checking with GP. Like your dad my mum is also reasonably fit and is lucky to have no other health isssues or take any other medication. She has had no side affects that we can tell on these multi bs 9 weeks on, plan on getting her another blood test in couple months and again reporting into to the GP. Jen
Hi thanks for your info someone else has mentioned coconut oil, would that be in capsule form and do we get it for the health shop. My dad now has vb12 inject every three month so im not sure about the muti b vit I will have to ask, dad went mad when we first ask the doc to test his memory, he still has no memory of having a brain scan or going to the clinic I would say hes more advanced than your mum, To get him to have the scan we told him all older people at his age was having one. good luck and thanks for you post.
 

sth

Registered User
Jan 19, 2011
11
0
cheshire
The memory clinic put my mum on 20mg Memantine and within a few days we noticed she was getting very aggressive unable to contact the doc despite several left messages I stopped her taking them and within the week she returned to her 'normal' self It was weeks later when I spoke to the doc and he just said ok you did the right thing Talking to some one today they had a similar story but with a different drug and different results but unable to contact the doc for a long time So these so called memory drugs are not always the answer for all
 

Spamar

Registered User
Oct 5, 2013
7,723
0
Suffolk
Memantine has an introductory pack which raises the dose from 5 to 10 to 15 and finally 20 in one week stages. No one should be placed directly onto the full dose.
 

Jen7

Registered User
Sep 25, 2013
11
0
Scotland
Hi thanks for your info someone else has mentioned coconut oil, would that be in capsule form and do we get it for the health shop. My dad now has vb12 inject every three month so im not sure about the muti b vit I will have to ask, dad went mad when we first ask the doc to test his memory, he still has no memory of having a brain scan or going to the clinic I would say hes more advanced than your mum, To get him to have the scan we told him all older people at his age was having one. good luck and thanks for you post.

Hi I don't much have much info on the coconut oil just noticed its on a thread in here under health and well being, you should have a look, with a lot of people saying it had positive results. I think you can get it in health shops. I was going to try it but at the moment my mum is doing so well. My mum was quite advanced, scored only 11, she wasn't able to prepare very basic dinner, not remembering any words, starting to look really lost and scared, wasn't taking an interest in anything, the local shopkeeper asked for my mobile number as he said he was so worried about her turning up and looking completely lost. she only goes out herself to that one shop, but now 9 weeks later with Betrinac she is doing a lot better and is a lot cheerier and much more alert,and I popped into that shop the other night and he said she had been "great" recently so so far so good. I am not sure then re your dad if he already gets a multi b injection or what he gets that for. The supplement Betrinac my mum gets combines b12, b6 and folic acid with anti oxidants and is all about research into homocystein levels in the blood which states can cause memory problems in certain people if the levels are too high, you would need to look at the research to understand it all, could work for some and not for others, its trial and error. Good luck with whatever you decide to look into and I keep my fingers crossed something works for your dad as well. don't give up hope. keep us updated. Jen
 

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