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Dad is 85, diagnosed with mild dementia. He is in adult daycare 5 days a week and with my siblings and I on weekends. He lives with my mother. My mother is 85 and unable to cope with my dad’s memory impairment. He has very little short term memory. She is angry, unhappy and difficult to deal with. It is an unhealthy environment yet my dad wants only to be with her. Recently my dad had an episode where he thought he was working and needed to call the company to advise of his retirement. My mother called this a “psychotic break” and reported to the adult daycare who prescribed Seraquel (light dosage). I googled Seraquel and saw that it is not for the elderly.


I strongly believe that my dad would benefit with a mild anti anxiety medication as all he does is worry about my mother. She has opted not to pursue on his behalf however. She has medical POA for my dad.


Does anyone have experience with Seraquel and their elderly parents? I do not know what the dosage is only that he takes a half of a pill.

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Seraquel. Isn't that for Bi Polar disorder? I don't have any experience with my elderly parents having been prescribed it, but once several years ago, I had the misfortune of doctor prescribing for me for acute depression. Bimut I hav er never been diagnosed with Bi Polar.
Never again, I thought about killing myself. I don't know if anyone has taken this medication but I don't think anyone, elderly or not, should ever be prescribed this drug. Seraquel. It's dangerous
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Rickynora,

My mother is 93 with mid-stage mixed dementia: paranoid, delusional, confused and hostile. Her doctor prescribed 12.5 mg nightly to help her sleep better, which consequently helps her paranoia and anxiety. The 12.5 mg is 1/2 of the smallest dose (25 mg) tablet. On this tiny dose she seems less uptight but not sedated at all.

Every patient reacts to medications differently. I'm so glad Mom's doctor prescribed the Seroquel, which at this dose has proven to be of benefit to her.

Best wishes to you on this difficult journey!
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My mother is 94. She started having hallucinations of little children 2 years ago occasionally, especially with a uti. The hallucinations just visual have progressed to seeing them all the time, their presence annoys her. This past June besides the children, she saw strangers , animals, worms, became very frightened, felt surrounded by water and refused to believe she was in her own bedroom. She became paranoid the children were making her fall , stealing things from her, angry at me for not taking her side. Nights were terrible she would scream for help , wanted police called, refusing care and food. After 5 days of madness I started her on seroquel, physicians had prescribed it a year before for the occasional hallucinations but she was absolutely refusing it. I was skeptical a pill would help and worried about the black box warning , literature says not for seniors , but I gave a half pill and after 2 weeks a miracle occurred , gradually she became calm, no water, no screaming, hallucinations only with children were mild., no paranoia. Since then I have increased her half pill to twice a day , same symptoms returned, but went away again. She still has good days and bad days but the severe hallucinations and paranoia are under control. The seroquel does make her sleepy at times but if she is busy with something she stays awake.
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Seroquel worked great for my mom's agitation. She was started on 12.5 mg, which is half a pill. I agree with Barb that day care would not have been the prescriber.

It sounds like mom is also developing dementia. How often do you check on them? Does dad's POA list a successor? Hopefully, mom's POA is not Dad. Time for a thorough evaluation by an elder law attorney to update folks documents.

Back to Seroquel. You will notice that the black box warning on most prescribed medications include a statement that it is not suitable for the elderly. You need to decide if the med is improving behaviors, is there a benefit that you notice?

Dad thinking he has to call in to work is not a reason, by itself, for an antipsychotic. My guess is that there is much more going on than you are being told, by a woman with dementia symptoms. Time for someone to start keeping track of what is going on in their household.

Ativan had the completely opposite effect as intended on my mom. Finding the right meds is a trial and error process that requires patience.
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Rickynora Oct 2019
Thanks. I should have clarified that my dad attends an adult daycare which has a full medical staff.
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The Daycare did not prescribe Seroquel. Who is telling you that?

Did they recommend that dad be seen my a mental health practitioner with prescribing rights ( like a geriatric psychiatrist or Nurse Practioner?).

Did you speak to the person who wrote the script? If not, can you get in touch and clarify why they think this is the correct medication for your dad?
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I am not familiar with seroquel for seniors but I was prescribed it for anxiety and the dosage was too high at .5 mg if I remember correctly. Kinda felt like a mumbling shuffling idiot on it so I think it would not be ideal for someone with mobility issues. It’s prescribed mostly because it’s non habit forming. At his age I’d think Xanax is not as concerning, fast acting but it is addictive (not certain I’d be concerned about that at his age though). I’m hearing good things about Lexapro lately. Remeron (mertazapine) was very helpful to my godfather for depression, anxiety, and loss of appetite, he’s 91 and felt very blasé after his surgery and subsequent bout with MRSA had lost over 25 lbs. Not certain how long he’ll take it though he’s got good appetite, feels better and sleeps well on it.
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Doggomom Oct 2019
My mom (71) was prescribed Xanax for her agitation, irritability and lack of sleep and it had the opposite effect—she couldn’t stop moving, couldn’t stop talking and eventually became violent. I had to call an ambulance as it was 4 in the morning and she was in such a rampage I didn’t feel safe driving her to the hospital. Turns out Xanax can have thus effect on elderly dementia patients. I would love to know what medication has helped others calm down and get some sleep.
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Perhaps your mother should relinquish her medical POA over your dad since his disease gets her so angry! My poor dad was the same way..........he was so enamored of my mother who was so angry with him all the time because he had the nerve to be wheelchair bound and suffering from a brain tumor. He became useless to her and nothing but a burden, but meanwhile, he only wanted HER, no matter how horribly she treated him. My question is, as your father's dementia progresses, what is your plan for his care? Have you checked out Memory Care facilities in your area? My mother now has dementia herself *dad passed away in 2015* and lives in the MC section of the Assisted Living Facility she's lived in since 2015. Just something for you to consider.

Your father is not exhibiting 'psychotic' behavior by thinking he was working and had to call the company to advise them of his retirement! Lots of odd behaviors are common with dementia and don't require an immediate prescription, especially for an anti-psychotic drug such as Seroquel! That's why I say, maybe if you were to get medical POA for him, you can speak to his doctor about possible medications to ease his anxiety (on an as-needed basis). With my father, it was my MOTHER who caused his anxiety, truthfully!!! My mother takes nothing for her memory loss OR for her anxiety, but a Tramadol pain killer does help her with pain and sleeplessness at night. Her doctor is hesitant to prescribe anti anxiety medication because she's a serious fall risk, haven fallen approx. 40x in the past few years.

Best of luck.
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PowerOf3 Oct 2019
I concur, doesn’t sound psychotic at all, very typical in fact. I’m sure having your wife hammering you about your health would be heartbreaking for a husband. Sounds like she is the root of the problem here for her dad as well. Sad to see the dynamic of the relationship change like this. I’m sorry to hear it. I’d wanna muzzle my mom for doing that. :( I certainly wouldn’t want her to have POA, sounds brutal!
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They gave it to my dad and he could not take it. His memory is so bad that he forgets that he has asked you something only twenty minutes later. If you don't have POA though, I don't know what you can do about his medicine. The hospital wanted to give my mother this also, and one of the nurses told me that I had the right to refuse it, so I did. It totally knocked her out and made the delirium worse, so I'm not a fan of Seroquel. My dad was given low dose Xanax, but what works the best, with no side effects, is Calm Forte, (OTC)
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cherokeegrrl54 Oct 2019
I use several of the Hylands products. Much rather take homeopathics. I take calms forte, calms,Used to b called nerve tonic... for anxiety and nerves and best of all is the restful legs for restless leg syndrome!!! They work just great for me...
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