Since my husband has been in assisted living, they have been administering his Aricept in the morning. Anyone had this happen and did it work out okay? I have given him his Aricept in the evening for 7 years.
I gave it in the a.m. when hb was taking it. Guess it worked okay. Can't tell any difference in behavior since he stopped it and Exelon patch. 7 years seems a long time to still be taking it to me.
Switched mine from night to morning when nightmares started - even on lowest dosage. Stopped both Aricept and Namenda after 7 years. No change detected.
My husband has always taken it in the morning. That is what his neurologist suggested. He believed you got a better dose of the med during the day when you needed it rather than at night.
My wife has taken 10 mg of aricept at night for 18 months. Six months ago we added 10 mg of namenda in a.m. and p.m. She has tolerated both meds well. In another year, though, she'll stop taking both meds since there is absolutely no research to indicate that either med helps slow down AD progression after 18-24 months of usage. Not even the drug manufacturers claim they help beyond 24 months ... if they help at all.
My DH has been on Exelon patch and Namenda since 2009 and for him, there is some progression in the faulty memory area such as day and date or month..those things that just drop out. But as to the rest of his behaviour, he is still the same...no worse but no better..so for some it does work....at least for awhile. Who knows what effect it might have or not in another year..so for now...we keep it going.
Tried Aricept 23 - Fri, no problem; Sat, stomach upset bad! (mentioned side effect); agreed to try again on Sun, no problem. Then took 4th pill Mon night. Tues is PT day, couldn't get PJ out of bed, finally managed to get him up, no time for compression socks, shower, etc. 20 min late for Pt. When we got there, he was too weak to get out of car. PT came out and took vitals II thought they'd put him in the hospital, but they said home and call neurol immediately. He fell asleep immediately in the car until we got home. Could hardly get him in the house. He slept for 3 hours. Called neurol asap and told "will call back shortly." 2 hrs later, no cb. Told that he would call at end of day. Said Not OK. So they relayed message. Answer: Don't think it is Aricept 23, call family doctor. Called family doctor's office. LM. At 4:30 (switchboard closed at 3:30), called PT to see if they had backdoor phone to doc. No. At 5:30, doc called. Agreed that Aricept 23 probably would be problem. By then, drug clearing the system.
Two days later, still trying to obtain refill for Aricept 10. At 81, wondering if med is worth it? Caseworker says Don't feel guilty about less than clean house as I am still trying to work, handling PJ's care all by myself, and also handling all of the household issues. Made me feel a little less stressed = for the moment. We all feel like we have to handle everything - and so does most of the rest of the world.
When my husband went up from 5 mg to 10 mg of Aricept 2 years ago, he said it affected his balance and so he went back down again. He was taking it in the morning because I had read that it was more effective that way. This winter the Parkinson's specialist said the most important medication change would be to get to an effective dose of Aricept or Exelon. He said he couldn't take more Aricept so she wrote a prescription for Exelon pills. The pharmacist thought that was a bad idea because Exelon has more stomach effects than Aricept, and suggested that taking the Aricept at night would solve the balance problems. And it has, my husband is not having problems with the 10 mg Aricept.
He has been on it two years and his Lewy Body Dementia is progressing almost unnoticeably slowly. If something is making a difference it is either the Aricept or Coconut and MCT oil.
For 3 year DW has taken 10 mg at night. The past month she has not tolerated it very well. I am going to switch it to the morning after breakfast. The thought being we eat very light in the evening and having more food in her stomach may help. So far so good after 3 days.