Drugs and Dementia

My husband was prescribed Seroquel, an anti-psychotic drug, to reduce reactions to Requip, which he takes with Sinamet, for Parkinson's disease. Seroquel has reduced the length and intensity of his earlier reactions to Requip but he still regularly experiences middle-of-the-night episodes of agitation, twitching, etc., similar to those described in this article, for as long as an hour or more. His first "add-on" to Sinamet was Permax (pergolide) which worked with minimal side-effects. Permax was removed from the market. Mirapex, another drug in this group, did not work for him at any dosage. These are not the only drugs prescribed for him. He takes a total of 8 different prescribed medications in a 24-hour period. This is NOT a nursing-home situation. He still lives at home, and all prescribing physicians have a complete list of every medication he takes.

The reason those drugs don't work on Dementia patients is because MOST of the time the patients are not correctly diagnosed and may not actually have dementia. To correctly diagnose Dementia requires extensive tests and procedures. This is not done in nursing homes. Usually when a patient enters a nursing home, they are scared, angry, confused, frustrated and depressed. They usually enter a nursing home after experiencing a traumatic event such as a serious fall with injuries (requiring surgery and are still "doped up" from pain drugs) and most elderly patients suffer from some degree of memory and hearing loss. If this memory loss is severe, those patients cannot deal well with the change of their environment or the stress of their injuries and incapacity. They will become combative, uncooperative and agitated. These symptoms are further aggravated by inhumane care given by some of the staff. (Yes, people who work in nursing homes can be and are extremely mean and rough with the patients)
The patients are not assisted to the toilet and are forced to become incontinent. They develop rashes, sores and infections. They are humiliated and degraded. They are "cleaned" with products that contain alcohol and are washed as if the aide was washing a car or a circus animal.
If the patient is "modest" in nature, their humiliation is further compounded by rough and uncaring treatment.
The more drugs the patient is given the more side effects they experience so they are given more drugs. The typical "round" of drugs will start with drugs for high blood pressure, hypertension, osteoporosis, sleep and edema. Some of the side effects for these drugs are agitation, depression, confusion, dizziness, tooth loss and sleeplessness. They become high risk for falls. They now require an extreme amount of care and physical assistance. They become addicted to the sleeping pills.
The more care they need, the less they receive. The nursing homes are not sufficiently staffed to adequately care for these patients. The law does not require them to be and even if there are aides that WANT to care for these patients, they cannot physically do it.
This is when the anti-psychotic drugs are dispensed. The FDA specifically states that these drugs are not approved for use in elderly patients and can cause premature death.The patients become "zombie like" and comatose. The typical response is "oh, they have just gone downhill." This is a widely accepted response and treated as if it were a normal dying process. In reality is a form of slow and inhumane torture.
What they need is some compassion and understanding not a cabinet full of drugs.
I wonder how many lawmakers and health care professionals would like to live in a nursing home.

OVER MEDICATED....MY DAD JUST BROKE HIS HIP AND IS IN REHAB TODAY. I CHECKED HIS MEDICATIONS AND HE IS ON OVER 10 DIFFERENT DRUGS!!! I WONDER IF ANYONE KNOWS A DOCTOR OR ORGANIZATION TO REVIEW HIS CASE AND REDUCE THE AMOUNT OF TOXIC PHARACEUTICAL HE IS TAKING. HE IS 87 AND AT THIS POINT IM AFRAID THEY ARE MAKING HIS MIND POOR. THANKS DJ

Your father has rights and you and/or he can refuse the medications. What medications was he on before he broke his hip?
You should research the medications and their side effects and YOU be the judge- most doctors are pill pushers. Nursing homes LOVE to over medicate. Just say NO- the older a person gets, the LESS medications they need. The nursing home is only in control of his medications if you LET them be. You need to take charge and now- the withdrawal from some of those meds is pure hell.