My father was diagnosed with EOAD at 56. He's now 63. He's been on Aricept since the beginning, and Namenda for the last three and a half years. Over this time span, my father has complained of headaches, dizziness, pressure in his head, and most recently upset stomach. The stomach issues became serious at one point, and he was having actual pain, so far as we can tell. In all this time, no doctor (not the PCP not the neurologist, not anyone) suggested that my father might not be benefitting from the aricept and namenda. He is late stage, and teetering between 6-7. Some days are better than others. After they put my dad through a battery of tests, they found nothing causing his headaches (guess they were looking for a brain tumor) or his stomach problems. He's had everything from a CAT scan to a colonoscopy. No one looked into his meds. No one. Finally I started digging around on different websites and so on, and found that for starters, aricept is really intended for those with early stage AD. Namenda has an effective period (best case scenario) of 18-24 months. When my mother asked either doctor if meds could be causing his issue, both said it was unlikely, and yet I find that these medications cause EXACTLY those side effects in people who don't tolerate them well. We have now discontinued these meds, and I see no cognitive decline in my father. If anything, he is more alert and able to string more words together when he speaks. My question to the health care professionals is this... why are these patients being left on these drugs long-term? I asked around on the message boards, and most caregivers were in agreement, that the doctors never suggested that the drugs might be stopped at any point. I know they come in liquid form, so when a person gets beyond their ability to swallow a pill, you can still deliver it. Now I have no trouble at all with medicating a patient who needs it, or benefits from it. But... perhaps we should be taking a closer look at the benefits and long time consequences of these drugs. Thanks for your time.

MY MOTHER IS ON ARICEPT,MAJOR STOMACH ISSUES W/HER...DIARRHEA.I AM NOT SO SURE THIS IS HELPING HER...SHE FORGETS THINGS &HAS GOTTEN V.BULIDGERENT(SP) W/ME!!IT IS VERY SAD, SOME DAYS I DON'T KNOW IF I CAN TAKE THE NAMES SHE CALLS ME,OR THINGS SHE SAYS!SHE'S "MY MOM"...AND IT HURTS TO HEAR THEM,NO MATTER WHAT U KNOW OR ANYONE SAYS!!CHERYL

when

aricept quit working for me
i asked to be put on
razadyne & the rest is history.It works great for me.....

Hey guys, My wife is stage 3, going on stage 4. She has a very sensitive system. Many allergy's, food sensitives, etc. When diagnosed 2 1/2 years ago the doc first tried, Excelon, then Razadyne, then Aricept. The first 2 she could not tolerate. Stomach pain, Diarehea, headaches to the point of real pain, etc. We were given starter packs of the first 2 and I, on my own, stopped them during the third week of each pack. She tolerates Aricept well. Doc wanted to put her on Namenda. She did not tolerate it beyond the third week. Very severe headaches, hands shaking, stomach pain. Again, i dtopped giving it to her at the end of the 3rd week. This was disappointing to us as the combination of Aricept and Namenda seems to be a preferred way of treating Alz symptons. Why dont the Doc's say something about drug reactions when they occure? Maybe because they are at a loss as much as you and I as to what can be done. Another reason maybe they arent as familiar with the drugs as we are. I really cant say. For my wife I make a decision based on what i observe with her. So far the Doc's haven't complained about it. I'm afraid we caregivers have to make decisions that we feel should be those of a Doc. I haven't really answered your questions. Just expressing an opinion. We just have to keep trying one med then another until we find one that works for our own patient. Take Care.

Hi DaizyMay, How's things in Dogpatch these days. ha-ha The Stomach issues you describe are not uncommon with some patients and these medicines. My wife had slimilar problems with Razadyne and Execelon. I have stopped giving my wife a certain medicine for 2-3 days to see if the problems clear up. If they did, then i could assume that the med was the problem. You might try that. When I have stopped a med. my wifes doctor has not objected. The doc. has asked question about what i did and the results and never told me to put my wife back on what i had stopped. Give this a try and see what happens. We caregivers have to act in many ways for the betterment of our patients. Including being a parttime Doc. As for your Mom's beligerents (sp) that is one of the affects of ALZ and some other forms of Dementia. There is nothing you can do about it. your mom is scared, confused, about what is happening to her. She is no longer able to realize she is sick or understand what may be happening to her. Please try not to take your Mom's ranting and raging personaly. She is not trying to hurt you or insult you. She really doesnt know what is going on with her. All of us on the forum understand what is happening with you and we are sorry for the reason you are here. We are here to help you if we can. There are several chat rooms on this forum. Gemnerally someone is there between 7 and 10 pm eastern time. Come join us. We would luv to have you. Please excuse my typos

I also do not understand why AD patients are left on so many powerful drugs. My mom, who is 70 and mod-severe AD, recently and abruptly experienced a fall. CT scan, bloodwork negative in the ER. Several days later she was admitted to the hospital c/o dizziness as well as an unsteady gait. She was on 450mg wellbutrin, 225 mg effexor, 15 mg namenda, 1.5mg ativan and .5 mg risperdal daily, along with her high blod pressure meds. While she was there, she had another CT scan, and MRI, MRA, multiple blood tests, etc. in order to rule out stroke, brain tumor, etc. NO ONE seemed concerned about her daily drug cocktail; not the internist, neurologist, ENT, or a nurse! The psychiatrist, once mom was discharged,has decided she doesn't need to be on so much effexor and has decreased it to 150 mg per day. The ativan also is being tapered down to eventually be discontinued. One of the more common side effects of the ativan is a "drunk" gait, which is exactly how I would describe my mom's walking. My sister and I are now far more involved with monitoring her drugs, but it is ridiculous that (1) I, though I'm not a pharmacist, will need to try and monitor the situation, and (2) it's no wonder that medicare will be broke by the time I get to that age. I'm sure her bill is over $20,000, and all we had to do was keep a closer eye on the drugs she takes?????

I've been fortunate enough to work with a physician who is in constant review of how the AD drugs are working and their side effects. He discontinues Aricept all the time believing it to be nothing more than a placebo anyway. I've said it before and will say it again. Aricept is an FDA approved drug because it has been around for so long, the manufacturer's lobbyists continue to maintain that is has proven beneficial in preventing further cognitive erosion. This is not true. There are better drugs available and many caregivers will likely attest to this. He advocates Namenda as the only one that really does decelerate cognitive decline. For those who experience behavioral problems, he recommends Seroquel and then sends them to the Gero-Psych unit for further treatment. This guy is good. There have been times when he took the client off all medications for a month in an experiment to see what sort of alterations occur.

Per InMemoryOf, it is crucial to find an MD that will work with you and your loved one. The minimal amount of medication results in the best results. Minimal side effects and such.
For amyv, the combo of wellbutrin and effexor could cause serious problems alone. Read the side effects and risks.
trust your instincts.

I am new to the message board. My daughter has been in the chartroom and has mentioned that I should give it a try, so here I am and tomorrow I will try the chartroom. Maybe I will see some of you there. My concern is that my wife has been changed from Aricept toe Exelon Patch not quite 10 mg a day. She has not complained of any of the side effects, but she has had issues with diarrhea for some time, I think it has been due to Namenda and Aricept but really can't say. My wife has started to wander and wanting to go home or move into a new home. Past three days since the doctor put Inge on Exelon 10 mg she has improved and is comfortable in her home again, now she laughs at everything. I welcome the laughter vs. the tears and panic attacks.

Stacy wrote, "Finally I started digging around on different websites and so on, and found that for starters, aricept is really intended for those with early stage AD."

Stacy,
I do not know what websites you found, but this is not accurate. Aricept is generally helpful for all stages of Alzheimers. Originally, it was approved for mild to moderate Alzhiemers. Recently, approval was extended to sever alzheimers.

A few years ago, it was thought that Aricept was helpful for a limited period of time, but that has changed and there are studies that support that it can be helpful for many years.

However, there are individual differences and for some patients, it is not helpful, or the side effects are too severe.

Norbert