My spouse has Alzheimer’s. He was diagnosed almost 2 yrs ago. He is on Doneprezil and Menamine (sp?) and also takes Sertraline. He is very healthy otherwise. Confused a lot, but does the best he can.
We saw the nuerologist 6 months ago and had a follow up appt which I cancelled last week. We’ve seen him twice since the diagnosis and each time the Dr says, “well, there’s no cure” and says “keep on the meds”. We do see our GP (he’s the one who prescribed the both Sertraline and Menamine (sp) 2 times per yr.
Is there any reason to keep seeing the neurologist? What is the value in driving 30 min to his office to wait in the waiting room for 30 min, to see the Dr for 5 min to hear…”there’s no cure” again? If someone can tell me a reason, we’ll go, but I just don’t see what good it does. FYI - there is no other neurologist closer to us.
I figured there was no cure. He was on medications (who knows if they helped or not and for how long...)
By the time I was questioning if he also had Vascular dementia in addition to the Alzheimer's that had been diagnosed I figured there was no way I would put him through the tests that would be necessary and heaven knows if he even would have been compliant enough to complete the tests.
So personal opinion if he is stable there really would be no need to return.
It's the same with yearly vet visits and yearly shots for cats and dogs. I thought taking my cat to the vet every 6 months or every year would mean they could catch a potential problem early. I was wrong.
She then cornered me (honest to God) in the lobby of the hospital a few days later when mom was being released to rehab, asking me if I'd made the follow up appointment with her scheduler yet? I said NO I DID NOT AND I"M NOT GOING TO, THERE IS NO POINT IN A FOLLOW UP WITH A DOCTOR WHO CAN DO NOTHING TO HELP MY MOTHER. Have a nice day.
I turned on my heel and walked out the front doors of the hospital. It felt good to do so, too! Hummpf. To hell with these 'specialists' who do nothing but think they're God and charge accordingly for the privilege of seeing them in their downtown location which takes 45 minutes to get to, and takes an act of God to haul our loved ones into the car to GET to. No thanks.
That's my take on "Is there any good reason to keep seeing the Neurologist" for your DH with Alzheimer's.
Instead of wasting all that time & money, read this booklet instead. It has MUCH better info about Alzheimer's disease than you will EVER get from the Neurologist:
Understanding the Dementia Experience, by Jennifer Ghent-Fuller
https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/210580
And for what it's worth, I believe the Medicare 'rule' about seeing specialists is, the less the better.
Best of luck to you and your husband.
The doctor determined that she had dementia, yah, I figured that out on my own, ok so now what? Sorry, there is nothing we can do, ok, bye.
So, we start to leave, the doc says see you next month, I ask "For What"? Oh, to evaluate her further, I laughed and walk out the door step-mother in tow, never to return.
This Neurologist thing for dementia is a real racket.
One LO was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s/dementia by a member of a geriatric psychiatric practice.
Toss your question to your GP if you want formal confirmation, but I bet I can guess the answer you’ll receive.
I just wasn’t sure if Medicare had some crazy rule about staying active with neurologist visits when Alzheimer’s is the diagnosis.
Frankly, we also saw a neuropsychologist as well, who also wants a yearly follow up. She at spends about 45 with tests. I guess she’s just comparing last yrs results with how my spouse is doing this year…but again, is there value in that? Don’t we already know Alzheimer’s is progressive? Is it helpful/necessary for the patient or is it just to keep the Drs getting paid by Medicare?