My wife has Alz, and her neurologist is recommending SEROQUEL @ 25mg. I read some printed information I got about the drug at the pharmacy. My wife is 63 years old, and in the mild-moderate stage of the illness. After reading the printed information, the potential side effects of the drug make me apprehensive to give it to her. Any thoughts about SEROQUEL?

My Dad who is 82 went on this med, and normally a very easy going guy, got very beligerant, we eventually took him off of it. Now looking for something to control him better then Ativan

My wife 56 has taken 25 mg Seroquel at bedtime to help her sleep for about 4 months now with no obvious side effects. She is stage 6/7. Everyone reacts differently to meds so work closely with your Dr when you start a new one. It is my understanding that 25 mg is very low dose but again your dr should be able to help you with the decision. We used to take ambien or lunesta for sleep and had bad side effects.
And of course the AD makes it difficult sometimes to determine what is a side effect of meds versus progression of the disease. Best of luck to you.

my mother was put on large doses of seroquel while an in-patient, due to severe agitation, she is currently on a four times a day does at 25 mg per dose, this works very well for her, with significant decrease in agitation, while she still maintains an alert and active daily routine...each patient reacts in different ways, 25 mg daily did nothing for my mom, she is at a moderate stage, very physically able, which makes it even harder to come to terms with seroquel for me, as a nurse, i always thought of seroquel as a sedative..but for her, and many others, it enables them to enjoy things without being at a high anxiety level.

My father was on 300 mg of Seroquel at bed time before his last hospital stay. It was a wonder drug for him. He can be very aggressive and violent as well as having horrible sundowners. His psychiatrist has switched him to Risperdal .25 mg every 6 hours and so far I am not impressed, he is extremely agitated and emotional. He will have a follow up appointment on Monday to see how the Risperdal is working. I plan on taking the day off work to beg for the Seroquel again.

They were just giving this to my father in the hospital last week. He was knocked out for days. I then went to the Seroquel website and it says this:

Elderly patients with dementia-related psychosis (having lost touch with reality due to confusion and memory loss) treated with this type of medicine are at an increased risk of death, compared to placebo (sugar pill). SEROQUEL is not approved for treating these patients.

He has never been on this before, and has not been the same since. I am wondering why they give it to dementia patients when the drug manufacturer itself says not to.

quote:

Originally posted by yobi:
My wife has Alz, and her neurologist is recommending SEROQUEL @ 25mg. I read some printed information I got about the drug at the pharmacy. My wife is 63 years old, and in the mild-moderate stage of the illness. After reading the printed information, the potential side effects of the drug make me apprehensive to give it to her. Any thoughts about SEROQUEL?

Hi, my 68 yo father with parkinsons and ad was just started on this medication. In the beginning he took 50mg bid we increased him as it seemed to not work as well to 100mg qid it did make him very sleepy but would rather deal with that as opposed to the aggitation. I would like to try another medication though and he has started to hallucinate so if you have any suggestions for that. Thank you!

My 74 year old aunt was placed on aricept a few years ago. I took her to a neurologist who was recommended to us by her family physican. The neurologist ordered the MRI of the brain and the sonogram of the carotid artery. He also placed her on Namenda. This doctor set up a follow-up appointment on a holiday. When they called her to let her know not to come that day, they did not reschedule. I called them and their response was, "Does she need to see him?" I explained to the nurse that she had completed two test six weeks prior and had not heard anything from the office. I also explained that the doctor gave her the starter pack for the Namenda but had not followed up with a prescription. They faxed me the results and had her family doctor to write the prescription. The perscription called for 10 ml once a day. She had been taking 10 in the morning and 10 at night. Things went downhill quickly. We took her off the namenda and her paranoia got better. I changed her family physican to my doctor. I have to go 92 miles to get her and 92 miles to take her back but I do not trust the doctor she was seeing. Her new doctor put her on 50 ml of Seroquel at night for the paranoia. This helped but she was very sleepy. When I shared this with him he stated that this drug was unusual in that the lower the dose the more drowsey a person became. The higher the dose, the less drowsy. He uped her dosage to 300 ml and she seems to be doing ok. I too have read the information about not giving this drug to patients who suffer from dementia. I even mentioned it to her doctor. I do trust him with all my heart. We just recently tried the namenda again. She did the starter pack but when she reached the maintanence dosage of 10 in the morning and 10 at night, she looked blank. The family commented at Thanksgtiving that she did not have much to say, etc. My cousin, who is an RN working on her Masters and who is a visiting nurse and has worked with patients with dementia, suggested we give her only the 10 in the morning. That night I witheld the 10. We visited the family again the next day and they commented that there was indeed a difference. She talked more and engaged with the family.
This is the first time I have responded to the board. I have been reading comments for the past year and they have been very helpful. Thanks for all that you do for your love ones.
I do have a question. Is the hands shaking or jerking a symptom of dementia?

i would ask the doctor about the shaking or jerking symptoms, could be one of the meds..

Thanks for your response. She works like a trojan in the yard (has a beautiful flower garden). One only notices the shaky hands when she is eating or anything where one would need fine motor skills. Should I make an appointment with a good neurologist? She has only had the one appointment. I have also wondered if she should see a gerontologist. My doctor (one of my former students) has done an excellent job with her.
I have read comments about patients who have trouble sleeping. I have not noticed this with my aunt. When she takes her night medication, she goes to bed early (sometimes as early as 7:00 or 7:30 if she is by herself). When her sister or I have stayed with her,she will wait until later in the night before taking the medication. She sleeps through the night.
She is able to stay by herself right now. My sister-in-law lives next door and helps with remembering medications and my aunt does not cook so there is no fear there. A couple of us in the family try to spend a week to ten days each with her during each month. She has been having problems with her memory for approximately seven years. When she recounts something to me that someone has told her she has trouble expressing what she wants to say.
She knows the sound of the word, etc. but cannot come up with the most appropriate one. She can usually come up with one that is similar. It is as if she has had a stroke.
What is so strange is that she still has her great sense of humor and can do some problem solving. She is a single, retired school teacher who loves kids. Since she never married, her pets have always been her kids. She has a black lab that is the love of her life. She is still able to take care of him and would simply die if ever separated from him. He is now about 10 to 11 years old. I dread the day he is no longer with us. He is so attached to her that if something happened to her first I know he would starve himself to death. Sorry for "carrying on". Just needed to let some things out.
May God continue to keep her in the palm of his hand as well as all of you.

My Mother started 3 weeks ago with 25 mg as part of a moderate Alzheimer's drug regiment. This was supplemented by an Excelon patch 4.5 mg, 10 mg of Laxopro and 5 mg. of Numenda. There ahve been no adverse effects but I have nothing to compare to except some past episodes of hullicinations which are moderate and continue.