Family is thinking my sis is getting dementia. Husband is a doctor and said dementia meds don't work. What are your experiences?

Basicaly, dementia drugs don't work for most people. They may be worth trying, though, if the dementia specialist thinks it could help. Your sister might be one of the lucky few. If there is no evident improvement, discontinue it.

Aricept helped my husband for the entire 10 years he had dementia. He had Lewy Body Dementia, which usually features hallucinations from the very beginning. BTW Aricept was developed for ALZ and has not been approved for LBD. Many doctors will try it for any kind of dementia. I'm glad ours did!

None of the current dementia drugs slows the progression of the disease, but if they help some of the symptoms, the progression might be not be as noticeable for a while. And that would be a nice thing for both the caregiver and person with dementia.

My personal, nonmedical, opinion, is try whatever meds the specialist thinks MIGHT help. It is a guessing game. Discontinue immediately (with doctor's OK) if there are side effects. Continue a few months and monitor closely for improvement. If there is none, there is no point in continuing.

My husband took a cocktail of drugs to deal with his dementia. They were added one at a time by his behavioral neurologist at Mayo Clinic. These are drugs developed for other populations that seem to work well for many (not all) persons with dementia. Seroquel was a magic drug for us! Nearly all the people in my caregiver group tried that with their loved one. About half had great success. The other half? Not so much. Another example from the non-dementia side of the isle is anti-depressants. Or medications for anxiety. Or meds for excessive daytime sleepiness. Dementia can include a wide range of symptoms, which can be treated (not cured) with a wide range of medicines.

Has Sis been evaluated yet?

Seroquel was magic for mom's sundowning behaviors most of the time. But Ativan and xanax had the opposite effect as were itended. When trying it was a complete nightmare!

Meds only help to treat the symptoms. They are definitely not a fix. And it takes trial and error to find the combo of meds that will help her. Just need to be very patient. What works for one will not work for all.

They definitely don't CURE the disease. It's also questionable how long they even delay the progression. But for my DH, they DEFINITELY helped when he began to have delusions. I vote 'YES'

She hasn't had a formal neuro workup. I'm sure she's sensing something is wrong. She keeps saying she is "brain dead because she didn't sleep well"; I think this is her excuse. I'm sure it's difficult to want to be diagnosed so avoidance of being so is avoided. We have all noticed an increase in her anxiety level and depression which I'm pretty sure are symptoms of dementia.