Does anyone have experience with the Alzheimer's medication Memantine?

My mother has been taking Namenda for over six years in combination with Aricept. Her symptoms stabilized for the first two years or longer. Then her symptoms started to progress. I cannot say whether it was the Aricept or the Namenda or both that helped. Bear in mind that these drugs provide symptomatic relief only. They do not address the underlying disease itself which continues to progress. That said, symptomatic relief or stability is nonetheless welcome.

My mother took it for 8 years. It helped immensely in the beginning. My mother felt the difference, and expressed as much. Toward the 7- or 8 year mark, it did not help as much, but still did something. What I mean by that is that her condition progressed beyond the perception of the help the drug was providing, but yes, it was still helping. And yes, the progression of her illness was slowed. You realize just how much the drug is doing when it is stopped, and everything it was holding back comes rushing in.

My mom did not experience any negative side effects. I would say try it.

I disagree with Ferris, and whoever found her answer helpful is also ignorant. Having worked in the pharmaceutical industry, I know how hard it is to get a drug released to the public. If it was as useless as she claims, it would not have been passed. I also disagree with the "who cares" mentality that advocates not taking proper care of people with Alzheimer's or dementia because they will eventually die. The Alzheimer's death could take 20 years. To neglect a patient's other medical needs during that time is abuse. Not treating conditions that are treatable (like Alzheimer's) is also abuse. To say Namenda doesn't slow the progression of the illness when the manufacturer had to prove just that to get the drug passed is ignorant.

Remember, life is also a terminal condition. Should we neglect our own care because we're going to die anyway? No, that would be stupid.

I really wish that people on this forum would answer the questions that are asked. The OP asked if anyone had *experience with the drug. So all the answers should discuss our experience with the drug, NOT unfounded opinions.

btw, my Mom was also diagnosed with a mixed dementia of vascular plus Alzheimer's. Although memantine is rated for late dementia, the geriatricians were impressed that using it on her in the earlier stages seemed to be helpful. We never noticed negative side effects; if there are going to be any from it they usually manifest right away. Positive effects are supposed to take 4-12 weeks to show up. I'd give it a shot if I were you, but get just a couple week's supply at first to see if there are negative effects.

My mom was on memantine for a short period of time. She began to experience side effects and her doctor determined that we should take her back off. I honestly could not tell that it had made any difference whatsoever, but it might have been too short of a period to tell. I have found through my journey that most of the medicines had very limited effect and worked only over a short period of time. We have also tried some natural things that seem to have had some effect. Coconut oil is amazing.and I did see positive results with that. I would give her about 1/4 cup throughout the day mixed in yogurt. I also gave her what her Doctor called her Alzheimer Cocktail which was Tumeric, Liquid B complex in lightly sweetened green tea. I can't tell you for sure if it helped with her AL but it did help with her arthitis and she felt it was a treat. Maybe some of these things can help you as well.

This drug has so many side effects, and when someone has a terminal illness, do you really think a pill is going to slow or stop that progression? Doctors prescribe it, not so much for the patient, but for the caregiver who usually want a "pill" to cure all. No pill will cure, slow or change a dementia diagnosis.

My mother was on Namenda (Memantine) for years. She took it along with Aricept, and later with Excelon which we switched to, after the Aricept no longer seemd to help. But honestly, I don't think any of them helped at all. Certain did not see "improvement". And whether any of them slowed the progress of her dementia, is anybody's guess. It was certainly not a perceptible slowing, if it slowed at all, since the worsening of the dementia never seemed to slow. We only kept her on it, because we just didn't know what else to do. We also tried the same routine with Dad when his dementia started, and progressed. Although we could not keep him on the Namenda because he had an allergic reaction to it. Believing in the effectiveness of these drugs is a little like believing in a higher being. Most of us see no real evidence of this existence, but we keep on trying to believe anyway. After all, if it's not so, we lose all hope.

I was at an all-day conference sponsored by the regional Alzheimer's Association, for professionals and caregivers. A researcher spoke about progress with drug development. There have only been 5 drugs approved for treatment of dementia. They have a very disappointing success rate. This is largely because we have been trying to fix something when we don't really understand what is broken. He said categorically that NONE of the approved drugs has been proven to "slow down" or in any way change the inevitable trajectory of the disease. If they help, they help with the symptoms in the here-and-now.

When my husband was prescribed Aricept (another one of the 5) I recall ready a study done in the UK comparing large numbers who took the drug to those who did not, over a long period (with all the scientific controls in place) and they found no difference in the length of disease time before care centers were needed.

But we tried the drug anyway. Low and behold, it was awesome for my husband, and he did not even have the kind of dementia it was developed and approved for. Several other non-dementia drugs proved highly successful for him as well. My motto became "better living through chemistry."

I urge you to try this dementia-approved drug with your loved one. Maybe your mom will be one of the lucky ones and you really will see a difference. It would certainly be worth the time, effort, and cost, if that turns out to be the case. Obviously it won't cure. It won't even stop the inevitable trajectory. But if it relieves a few of the symptoms for a few years, that is the best we can hope for in the present state of the art. If you try it for six months without any noticeable improvement, then I think I'd discuss with the doctor discontinuing it.

(By the way the presentations on new approaches to research to come up with specific "broken" items that drug companies can concentrate on "fixing" was very impressive. Not happening tomorrow, though.)

Mum had the same diagnosis. She was on memantine for about 9 months. It was meant to slow the progress but she still had her good days and bad days. She's been off it about 1 year now. It slowed her heart rate to dangerously low levels so she had to come off it. If it wasn't for the slow heart rate side affects she would probably still be on it. We were happy to try it. Not sure if it slowed anything down the psych said it would be difficult to tell as each journey is different. But I'll would try it if it could possibly help. Some days her vocabulary and thought processes are such that I wonder if it's a misdiagnosis. Other days I know it isn't. The nature of the journey- it's my second time with a dementia parent. Good luck watch for the side affects.

NancyP63, I have called Ferris out on her mean, stupid comments more than once. I have specifically asked her to STOP saying "why would you care about/bother with such and such since the person has a terminal illness?" I can't count the times that has been her response to a poster's question about care, everything from meds to dental care. It's cruel, and that is unacceptable. She's a known troll on this site and I (and others) have reported her comments (including this one) several times. When you see her name and picture, you can ignore everything that comes after it.

They Mayo Clinic's website has this to say: "Alzheimer's drugs offer one strategy to help manage memory loss, thinking and reasoning problems, and day-to-day function. Unfortunately, Alzheimer's drugs don't work for everyone, and they can't cure the disease or stop its progression. Over time, their effects wear off."

The article is short and high-level, but offers good basic information. It is here:
http://www.mayoclinic.org/diseases-conditions/alzheimers-disease/in-depth/alzheimers/art-20048103