Has anyone ever made the decision to stop there elderly loved one from taking Alzheimer’s medication?

It is good to read all these comments. My husband has alzheimers and there are times he is lucid and other times he is so far in left field its unbelievable..He is on namendia..aracept..resperdal..and numerous calming drugs. He has been on silver alert, and don't have a clue where he is part of the time. I know its not the way he wants to live..Its still a decision we are waiting on the dr. to tell us whether to continue the meds or take him off. My husband was extremely aggressive before he got this..I am almost afraid to try him without drugs, for my own safety..This is a very horrible disease. I am reading articles that say marijuana pills for medical use, really helps. Why is this not available.

My husband is in stage late 6/7. His doctor suggested I stop the meds as they were having no effect on him either way. He is the same with or without them. I struggled for a long time whether i was doing right or not but finally decided to listen to his doctor. There is living and then there is just being alive.
This is a very unfair disease!

I took my Mom off of the namenda for it wasn't working any longer & the doc' said this probably would happen, so they ok'd it. In fact, by her taking it, the med was making her worse! My Mom is only at stage one. Keeping her hydrated, having her walk & light exercise & giving her gummie vitamins has actually proved to increase her memory(wierd!)

3seraphim - you could be describing my mom! She's exactly the same. My mom has been on them for about 15 months.

How do you know if it's helping or not? I hate to take my mom off the drugs since I don't know if she'll get worse.

Yes I too stopped all meds on the advise of his doctor. Nothing was making a difference so all meds were stopped about a year ago. He stays very irritated but other than that I see no difference in him at all since stopping the meds.
God Bless you and hugs for you as a caregiver, it is a really hard job.

I asked this question of a professor at UCLA during an Alzheimer's convention in Seattle. He put up a chart that showed the decline of memory over time for those taking Aricept and Namenda. When the drugs were stopped, memory loss plummeted. My wife has been on them for 5 years now. I think they have slowed things down. She is starting to go into stage 6 now, I believe.

I am glad to read responses from everyone as I am going through the thought process of the Alzheimer's medication of the Exelon patch. Exelon Patch was shown to help with cognition, which includes things like memory, reasoning, understanding, and communication, as well as doing daily tasks. Well it is not working anymore. Why should I continue with something that is not working. I will have further discussion with the Doctor in March of 2016 because she is in a Clinical Trial and I will keep her on the Patch until the Trial is over in March of 2016.

LeeCaregiver1, first, thanks for participating with your loved one in a clinical trial. Without these kinds of studies we would be even more ignorant about what drugs help and how long.

I expect that upon the conclusion of the trial you will be advised that since the drug is apparently not working now you can discontinue it. If there are unpleasant side effects you could ask to leave the trial now, but if it seems just neutral -- not helping but not hurting either -- it is probably a good thing to stick with it for research purposes.

I am new to this site, and don't know how to do a new thread...Yes our Dr. is very informed on everything he does. I want documentation just in case I need some help. Some days he is just as normal acting as anyone can be, other days he just wants to sleep all the time and stay awake all night. I still work. I take him to work with me, he generally sleeps in a chair all day. Does not get up and move around or anything. We go home, and he goes straight to bed. and wants me to sit beside the bed in a chair for hours on end until bedtime..He is cold all the time. Our house temperature is set at 85 and then he has a little electric heater on his bedstand that goes all the time. I am here to tell you I am just about fried...He is giving my health a run for its money by me not being able to exercise, do house work, just get away...I know that sounds like me me me, but believe me its not. I have just got to the point I feel suffocated...No he is not in a hospital. We have made so many emergengy trips and once we are there he get agitated and wants to go home. They let him...His neurologist has said there is really nothing more he can do for him..I don't want to take him off the meds and make him worse, but I don't want to keep him on the meds if they have stopped working..

I think Dr.s here have so many patients and with medicare issues they just really don't care that much. Yes I have made the police and the sheriff fully aware of his condition...He really tries not to get aggressive..I can't help but feel so sad that he has this horrible disease. I am also very aware of what can happen really quick. His sister passed away with alzhiemers and so did his mother..His mom was not aggressive, but his sister was really bad..That is why documentation is so important. Everyone needs to know incase I would have to have the sheriff pick him up sometime..If I ever feel that he is starting to get to the aggression point that I fear for myself or my life, I will act quickly and without feeling regret..