How should the Namenda XR help my mother with Alzheimer's? Should I keep her on it?

CindyCBlair stated my feelings exactly. As for Namenda, both by parents were on it , evenutally. I neither helped nor hurt , as far as I could tell. Perhaps it slowed their decline, but how on earth can you tell that with a disease that has such a variable progression. And for what? So we could all have more years of that misery ? All I know for sure is that it cost a lot of their money to keep taking it. If I had it to do over, I would probably not waste the money.

This is my opinion, both my parents had Alzhiemers. Namenda stopped working, all it did was prolong it. My parents were proud people and if they new some of the things they did or how they acted. They wouldn't want it. I would not put them in it. Yes i had my parents longer,,they weren't my parents anymore. This illnesses destroys the patient and loved ones. I would talk to the doctor. God Bless

I agree with Cindy. They put my Mother on Namenda, and she turned into a zombie. It sucked the life out of her.

My dear wife has been on Namenda for eight years now and I must say that this medication along with the Exelon patch she has been on has been very helpful to her and the family. She is still very alert and responsive to her surroundings. We will continue with the medication as long as we and her doctor cocnur.

I appreciate all of your responses regarding Namenda. I was so frustrated trying to figure out if I was imagining her being worse on it. My husband convinced me that I wasn't along with her responses. I weaned my mother off over a two week period and she has now been off of it for a week and is better - more engaged and more active. My mother has always been young for her age and very active and proud of how much she gets accomplished in a day! I have twin 4 year olds and an 11 year old and she just loves cleaning my house and pulling weeds (sometimes they're my flowers and not weeds) but that's okay. It's been a year since her diagnosis and I have gradually had to take things away from her (most recent her license); last year - paying her bills, managing her meds, grocery shopping, etc. She says things to me like "at least I can still take care of myself." I just smile. She is not aware of her diagnosis and I don't think she would believe me anyway. We got all of the financial stuff out of the way last summer after she was diagnosed. I have her with me about 75 percent of the time - taking her back home for short stays. We are in the process of putting surveillance cameras in her place. She doesn't go anywhere except on her porch.. She lives in a gated community and her neighbors are aware of her disease. You wouldn't know she had Alz unless you really spent some time talking to her so I'm trying to give her some independence as long as possible. I still feel in my heart that not telling her about this disease is the right thing to do.

Remember that the doctors cannot tell how any one person will respond. Remember also they are practicing medicine. That is not a put down because I have worked in the hospital for years and know that most of them do their best. My wife has vascular dementia and is on Namenda XR, the last time we asked our neurologist she stated it was best to continue taking Namenda. The doctor gave us samples. When we see other physicians in town and she gives me some each time. Thanks to Dr. Edwards!! Our staff has had experience with taking someone off of Namenda and they don't gain back the ground that they lost. This was a doctor's wife who was taken off at his request. It is a very difficult disease and a cure is not even on the horizon from what I am reading and I read a lot about it because of my background as an RN. My wife stays in Assisted Living Facility and about 50% of the time she is fairly well. But, who knows how she will react when I get there next time. As a caregiver for years it was more than I could take care of and the professionals I asked stated that if I didn't take care of myself I would be the one in medical trouble. She wants me to outlive her. Of what help could I be if I was sickly or at least got ill?

Mom is 85 and been on Namenda for a year. Has had no noticeable impact and I also wonder if it's worth continuing. Excelon patch and seroquel, on the other hand, make a huge difference. She's been on those 2.5 years.

My husband has Parkinson's with dementia and was getting very angry and pushy. We started him on Numenda and it has helped immensely. Different for everyone.

Like anything else, its the person. What works for one may not for another. If she doesn't do well on this med, take her off. She may do better with another.

Namenda was a nightmare for my mother. She had more difficulty walking, and became agitated much more easily. We took her off it after a few months, and her walking and demeanor improved immensely