That depends on the individual's body chemistry. It may end up a trial and error situation. Some people do well on any antidepressant and others need to try different ones. Only the doctor can help you here. Carol
I hope that this person is seeing a doctor with a lot of dementia experience and who knows every medicine, OTC and natural remedy he or she takes. Even for people without dementia finding the right medicine for depression often takes a little trial-and-error. If the first drug doesn't work, don't give up!
Dementia has no cure. But symptoms can be treated for a better quality of life. Depression is one of the symptoms that can usually be greatly improved or eliminated via the right medication. It can be tricky to find it, but it is worth the investment of time and patience. My husband (LBD) has good success with Bupropion, but that doesn't mean it works well for everyone with depression and dementia.
I just read an interesting letter from the FDA to the makers of Aricept, scolding them for television ads that imply much great effectiveness than any research supports. I think I've seen those ads on telelvision lately, though. I don't know if steps are being taken to get them off.
In any case, my attitude is most definitely to take medical advice from medical professionals, and not from marketing and advertising folks. Someone recommending a drug should know not only the properties of the drug, but the health history of the patient, what else the patient is taking, what has been unsuccess for this patient in the past, tolerance for side effects, etc. etc.
My husband has Lewy Body Dementia and one of the first drugs he was put on was Aricept, which he still takes, 8 years later. My neighbor, a well respected pharmacist, kindly told me in the beginning not to get my hopes up. (He knew the severity of my husband's symptoms.) At best, Aricept would slow down the progression, but it would not improve his condition from what it was. But, amazingly, my husband did improve! He is in a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, and his doctor is a researcher who knew that Aricept was showing much more promise for LBD than it did for Alzheimer's. Hubby's improvement still didn't match what the TV commercials show, but it far outpaced what the pharmacist expected.
If a qualified physician prescribes a drug, read up on the drug, ask lots of questions, including how long it will take to be effective and how you will know it is working, and what risks there are. Dementia is such a terrible, terrible curse that even a slim chance of helping is worth considering. It is shameful to give people false hope, as some commercials do, but it is foolish (to me) not try what a qualified medical professional suggests might help. If it doesn't help, don't cling to it indefinitely. I think this pretty much applies to antidepressents and drugs for cognitivie problems and just about any symptom. Remember that the sole purpose of advertising is to make money for the seller, and as such it is not necessarily a good source of unbiased information. Let us hope that your doctor is!
Carol
Dementia has no cure. But symptoms can be treated for a better quality of life. Depression is one of the symptoms that can usually be greatly improved or eliminated via the right medication. It can be tricky to find it, but it is worth the investment of time and patience. My husband (LBD) has good success with Bupropion, but that doesn't mean it works well for everyone with depression and dementia.
In any case, my attitude is most definitely to take medical advice from medical professionals, and not from marketing and advertising folks. Someone recommending a drug should know not only the properties of the drug, but the health history of the patient, what else the patient is taking, what has been unsuccess for this patient in the past, tolerance for side effects, etc. etc.
My husband has Lewy Body Dementia and one of the first drugs he was put on was Aricept, which he still takes, 8 years later. My neighbor, a well respected pharmacist, kindly told me in the beginning not to get my hopes up. (He knew the severity of my husband's symptoms.) At best, Aricept would slow down the progression, but it would not improve his condition from what it was. But, amazingly, my husband did improve! He is in a study conducted by the Mayo Clinic, and his doctor is a researcher who knew that Aricept was showing much more promise for LBD than it did for Alzheimer's. Hubby's improvement still didn't match what the TV commercials show, but it far outpaced what the pharmacist expected.
If a qualified physician prescribes a drug, read up on the drug, ask lots of questions, including how long it will take to be effective and how you will know it is working, and what risks there are. Dementia is such a terrible, terrible curse that even a slim chance of helping is worth considering. It is shameful to give people false hope, as some commercials do, but it is foolish (to me) not try what a qualified medical professional suggests might help. If it doesn't help, don't cling to it indefinitely. I think this pretty much applies to antidepressents and drugs for cognitivie problems and just about any symptom. Remember that the sole purpose of advertising is to make money for the seller, and as such it is not necessarily a good source of unbiased information. Let us hope that your doctor is!