Please let me know if you've experienced any positive or negative effects of medication on your loved ones. Always leery of giving any "mind ending" drugs.
This medication is the generic of Aricept, which may get you more responses.
My mother was never on Aricept but took several antidepressants and antianxiety meds during her dementia journey. They certainly helped. Dosages were adjusted when needed.
I think it's important when a loved one has dementia to recognize that their "broken" brain may benefit from psychiatric meds which helped them cope with extreme anxiety and agitation.
These meds are not given to dope people up or to make them someone they aren't.
Please let you know... so that you can do what with the information, WillyB?
Nobody online has any experience of your mother, is the point. Whereas her doctor, one assumes, has considered her history, her current condition, and the benefits and risks of this medication, and judges that it may help her.
If you're not convinced, if you have reservations or anxieties, raise them with her doctor. If you're still not happy, then seek a second opinion. But get a qualified opinion, not crowd wisdom off the internet.
My 80 yr old grandma is on donepezil and has been for at least 6 months. She hasn't experienced any bad side effects. The doctor said that he couldn't give her all of her memory back but that the medication should stop it from progressing and thank God it has. She was getting worse every day but since she has been on the donepezil it hasn't got any worse!!!! She is also aricept with it
Aricept made my mother (who was very sensitive to many drugs) nauseated and it was discontinued. Aricept was very helpful for reducing hallucinations for my husband and remained so for nearly 10 years.
The point is, the only relevant question is how will this drug work for your mother? It is not going to cure her of dementia in any case, so if you don't want her to have it you don't have to feel guilty of possibly depriving her of a cure. If you are willing to consider it, ask the doctor what specific improvements you can look for, and how long it should take to see them. If the improvements don't materialize or if she has some unpleasant side effects, tell the doctor you want the drug discontinued.
This medication is the generic of Aricept, which may get you more responses.
My mother was never on Aricept but took several antidepressants and antianxiety meds during her dementia journey. They certainly helped. Dosages were adjusted when needed.
I think it's important when a loved one has dementia to recognize that their "broken" brain may benefit from psychiatric meds which helped them cope with extreme anxiety and agitation.
These meds are not given to dope people up or to make them someone they aren't.
Nobody online has any experience of your mother, is the point. Whereas her doctor, one assumes, has considered her history, her current condition, and the benefits and risks of this medication, and judges that it may help her.
If you're not convinced, if you have reservations or anxieties, raise them with her doctor. If you're still not happy, then seek a second opinion. But get a qualified opinion, not crowd wisdom off the internet.
I think they are worth a try. One at a time. (Never start two meds at once, you don't know where the side effects are coming from, or the benefit!)
The point is, the only relevant question is how will this drug work for your mother? It is not going to cure her of dementia in any case, so if you don't want her to have it you don't have to feel guilty of possibly depriving her of a cure. If you are willing to consider it, ask the doctor what specific improvements you can look for, and how long it should take to see them. If the improvements don't materialize or if she has some unpleasant side effects, tell the doctor you want the drug discontinued.