The doctor added Adderall for a month to see if Tom can focus better. I have never heard of it being taken along with Aricept and Namenda. Has anyone else ever had a spouse take this to help them focus? I was surprised as I have a grandson who takes it for ADHD.
Is this doctor a neurologist who specializes in dementia? I can only tell you of our experience with Adderall. I worked in Special Education for 25 years, so I was very familiar with ADD and ADHD. The early symptoms of Alzheimer's Disease do mimic ADD/ADHD. The inability to focus; the disorganization; the forgetfulness. I first took Sid to a neurolgoist who DID NOT SPECIALIZE IN ALZHEIMERS - big mistake, he diagnosed him with ADD and put him on Adderall XR. It did help him focus better, but it dramatically increased his inability to control his emotions. It got so bad that even Sid noticed that he was "going off" for no reason. In the middle of this, we moved to Florida, took Sid to a specialized Memory Disorders Clinic, and to the neurologist there who specializes in Alzheimer's Disease. After diagnosing him with Alzheimer's Disease (he went through extensive cognitive, blood, and brain testing), the first thing he did was take Sid off of the Adderall and put him on Aricept, then a few months later added Namenda. The combination of the Aricept and Namenda stabilized his memory decline for over a year.
So, I am not qualified to offer advice related to medications - I can only tell you our story, and suggest you ask the doctor a LOT of questions, and find a neurologist who specializes in Alzheimer's Disease if yours does not.
Tom does have a neurologist who treats him with Aricept and Namenda, his family Doctor has all the records and he is the one who added the Adderall. The Aricept and Namenda has worked well but Tom started having more problems focusing and the family Doctor thought it might help along with the Aricept and Namenda. He put him on it for a 30 day trial. I am concerned and may call the neurologist tomorrow. It did not make sense to me. Up to now the family doctor and neurologist have worked well together. It was 3-weeks ago the family doctor thought of trying it but he said hew was going to check with the neurologist. Yesterday he called in the order and Tom picked it up today. I assumed he had checked with the neurologist but I will double check. Thanks for your information.
Tom lost his job due to not being able to focus on Dec. 31st.
Inability to do the job seems to be one of the roads that lead to the AD diagnosis. Sid worked at the same job for 22 years, was having trouble handling it for about 2 years, but we attributed it to stress (He was in retail management - major stress!). He changed jobs, thinking the new one would be less stress, but after a year, just could not learn all that was involved.
There are many comments throughout this board (no way to find them all) about people losing focus, unable to do the tasks required by their jobs, and becoming more disorganized and forgetful that have led to firings and early retirements.
Same here, Tom was an engineer for over 23 years and lost it due to not being able to do the job, he has taken 4 jobs since and not been able to do them. With each firing he gets more discouraged. He took early retirement from Tyco but just feels he is not ready to throw in the towel, I think after this last job, a piece of cake job, he may re-think the whole thing. It has been hard for him to give it all up.
They have been studying Adderall for treating apathy in AD patients. The clinical trial allowed patients on cholinesterase inhibitors ... the protocol didn't say anything one way or the other about namenda.
My husband, who is diagnosed with Lewy Body Dementia, was prescribed Adderall by his neurologist early on. He does have untreated ADD and the beginning of dementia was making it worse. The Adderall caused him to develop a tremor so we gave up on that (and it wasn't enough to do any good anyway).
We started with Aricept 3 weeks ago, then the neurologist added Adderall at breakfast and lunch. I haven't noticed any change with the Aricept, should I? I have stopped the Adderall due to increased anxiety, palpataions, and increased tremors. He tolerated the morning dose better than the lunch dose. The small increase in his alertness was not worth the side effects. It is so hard, there are no meds specifically for FTD. It is so frustrating. I am still seeing changes for the worse every single day.
My husband has FTD and is on aricept. I haven't noticed anything either but after about 6 weeks of him being on it his MMSE exam came up about 7 points. A lot of FTD patients cannot take aricept as it can cause more aggression or agitation.
I hear you, Jim's wife. I do not see improvement with my dh on Aricept although he has been on it for a year and a half. He is also on Namenda now for approx. 2 months, don't see improvement either. He is not on Adderall, but is on Depakote which gives him slight tremmors at this time. Risperdal is helping with aggression, etc.- for now. I see small declines almost every day. Sundowning is really an issue. Makes life a real challange....M
Gerry, My husband is on Adderall and has been on it for about a two years with no ill effects. We all know how each AD patient in unique so his story may not help. One of my husband's very first symptom was extreme tiredness that kept him pretty inactive. Over the course of time he was tested for all sorts of illnesses but in general his overall ability to focus and concentrate declined. His neurologist felt that his general apathy was part of a depression . Anyway my husband is currently on Aricept and Namenda and Adderall and something for depression. While I can't say that anything has stopped his overall decline , I can say that for the last couple of years my husband has been in less distress. He is usually a pretty content guy and I have very fortunately not faced the bouts of anger and rage that others have had to bear. We faced the driving issue ( I think) with no anger and since my husband always drove us that is no small thing. I feel very blessed that he does not seem to be suffering ( in the early days there was agitation and tears) . I would not want to change one thing about his meds due to the fear that he would no longer be content. Anyway, for my husband Adderall has appeared to help but since we are all so different I think there is simply no way to know how someone will react until they have been on the med.
Finding meds for FTD continues to be frustrating. Tomorrow we head to a new Primary Care at the Veteran's Hospital Medical Center. His tremors are still a bit worse than before Adderall. His agitation is also getting worse, so I am thinking the Aricept might be causing this, as Deb had mentioned. I will talk with the dr tomorrow. Jim has been taking Paxil for about a yr now and has been on Ativan since summer. (previously xanax) Someone said to me, "But Ativan is addictive!", and I replied, "and your point?????????" Aghhhhhhhhhhhhh He readily admits to having constant confusion and now believes what I say when he has forgotten something. That helps. Oh how I hate this disease.............................
Jim's wife.... you made me laugh out loud! --- Your reply.."and your point????????????" Some people just don't "get it"." won't get it" and we just have to love em anyway. I'm amused at the emails I get that suggest he drink "more coffee" and he'll get well...