Hi...it's been a while...RK has tumbled downward a bit since i last wrote. He is on, as of today ,has an Exelon patch. We will see just before we leave on a 14 day cruise around the British Isles and France, with a couple we've travelled with for years. Airports and security are tough for RK so neurologist gave him an anti-anxiety pill before he enters the land of airports. Making a business card with a plea for patience has helped me enormously. As always thanks for listening.Joanne
Joanne, hope everything goes smoothly for you and that you have a wonderful trip. Going with old friends may help smooth the bumpy spots. Enjoy and we'll be looking forward to watching a bunch of boring slides when you get home :)
I hope your trip is filled with good times, wonderful experiences and that everything goes smoothly for you. Watch out for those steps during the lifeboat drill. <grin> (My husband fell down the last three or four steps and hurt his ankle, requiring a wheelchair for two days! Wasn't sprained or broken though.)
No problems keeping these patches on? I can see the advantages of the patch form.
DH takes Exelon in tablet form, and since he takes them together with several other medications twice a day it's not really a problem. I'd be afraid he's peel it off when I'm not looking.
Jeanette in holland...the exelon patches can be placed in two areas on the front of the chest, and four areas on the back. Upper shoulder left and right then lower back left and right. These patches are quite sticky and do not come off very easily. It is a bit more difficult than a bandaid, and the patient cannot reach them..My dw would try to take it off, but she could not reach the ones on the back. Also, it is recommended that they not be placed on the same spot every day. You should alternate locations.
My husb has been on the patch for about 1 year now & no problems @ all. We actually do the upper left arm; then the upper r. arm...then we move to the back & go straight across 5x's in 3 rows before going back to the upper arms. No trouble with him wanting to get it off or trying to peel it. Works great :)
Joanne - Do hope you enjoy your cruise & that ALL goes well!! Watch out for PIRATES! :\)
How does Exelon fit into the protocol of Namenda and Aricept. Is in in addition to those meds - or in place of. I have looked it up but can't figure this out. Thanks
Hey Dagma3 - EXELON is actually prescribed instead of Aricept...I believe it is the most recent of those types of drugs on the market...it does just what Aricept does, just with a different name. :) Hope this is helpful to you.
Thanks - I have a friend that takes both and wondered why. My husband takes the Aricept and I think we will stay on that. (Notice "we"- "we" have AD :-) ) He is a heavy sweater and patches don't do well on him.
EXELON. Just got off the phone with the Neurologist's office. Asked about Exelon. I was told that it has limited effectiveness and could be used in earlier stages. Unlike Aracept or Namenda, if the doctors want to increase it, ---can't be done - whereas, they can increase the tablets as they did a year ago with the Araept 2 x day (off label) for my DH. It would be given "instead of" not "in addition to"..dagma3.
Aricept has not been approved by the Food & Drug A here in Holland, I don't know why. The Exelon has been increased slowly but steadily since he started taking it in December and is now up to 9 gr daily. The maximum dosage is one more step up (I think 12 gr daily) , so we may get that at his next appointment in September. Trouble is you don't really know if it is helping because you don't know what the situation would have been without the drug. (And I'll never know whether he would have been better on Aricept).
Jeanette, HI!...I just reread my post and don't want anyone to misunderstood what I wrote. I didn't mean that it had "limited" effectiveness (as if it was not a good drug)..what I mean to say was that its strength has a maximum level, and unlike Aricept that comes in 5 mg and 10 mg tablets. They start on 5 then 10..then - in our case 10mg twice a day. Some get 15 mg. dosages. Does that make sense.
What I understood the nurse to say was that it's easier to gradually increase Aricept than it is Exelon.
Getting the drug was the reason I went for the diagnosis when I did; DH will never admit there's anything the matter with him and so it took some subterfuge and conniving to get him to the hospital for testing. It took six months, and many interviews and testing with geriatrics, neurologist, psycho-neurologist (I may be forgetting some) and three different brain scans before the diagnosis was achieved and the Exelon could be prescribed. My mother, by contrast, walked into the office of a new GP she had never seen before in my home town in Ohio and complained of some short term memory problems, and was prescribed Aricept the same day! It gave her nightmares, however, so she dropped it but I think she is now on Namenda. She definitely does not have Alzheimer's, she is 87 and very bright still, just intermittently forgetful. DH still insists there's nothing the matter with him, and I still have to get him into the neurologist's office by pretending that all seniors have to have these appointments. If he still won't come I just say I'll have to go alone then and since he doesn't like to stay home alone, he'll decide to come along to keep me company. (He has complained several times that the questions the doctors asks me are not nearly as hard as the ones they ask him).
Memory loss is kind in some ways because he has completely forgotten the severe back pain that he suffered for many years when he was younger, and the pain in his hip later that made him quit playing tennis. Just last night he was telling our friends that he has never had any pain or a cold or the flu or chicken pox, etc.
Jeanette - Another "fyi" tidbit, the PATCH is 9.5mg in its highest strength form...you are correct about the Exelon tabs going up to 12mg ~ The PATCH is only 9.5 because it's for "all day long"...you only re-apply every 24 hours.
Thanks for the info, NAtsmom. I guess I'll stay with the tablets. He has so many other pills to take and no difficulty swallowing them. I've asked the neurologist (by email) whether we can get the maximum dose now. Anybody else out there on it?
We saw a new neurologist Monday. Because DH has been on aricept for 5 years the neurologist (and I) feel it is not working any longer. The neurologist said exelon is slightly different, and "was worth a try." It comes in two strengths. Told to stop the aricept. And try the patch. Will get it Friday.
The neurologist did not say that. I think he believed going on the patch would take care of that. However, I have only a few aricept pills left, and do plan to cut them in half and stop them BEFORE starting the patch.
I should have added that he gave me two prescriptions for exelon. One is the lower strength for 30 days, and the other is the higher strength after the 30 days.
We tried the Exelon patch. He was on the lower dosage patch for a month but I could not see any improvement. We did go to the 9.5 mg patch but it really increased his agitations and he was getting out of control. After 4 days he refused to have one applied and the doctor agreed to stop it. We also have tried seroquel and he became so confused and was so unsteady on his feet that I was afraid he was going to fall. He could not even straiten up and was completely bent over so I got him in bed and did not give him another dose. As of now he is only on blood pressure meds and the antidepressants that he has taken for years for his depressions.
A week ago neuro stopped Aricept and started Exelon patch for my hb, presumably because his condition has gotten worse rapidly. No improvement, but I didn't expect one. Last night he said he feels a little unsteady on his feet. Eats less, thought processes more befuddled; so I think no matter what we're sliding down more rapidly now. The patch is easy enough, we move from shoulders to back and up again--like a circle. He says they don't bother him at all.