The dr. increased dh Nemenda from 5mgto 10 mg twice a day and afte 3 days of increase I have noticed a decline in alertness. He is not eating as well either. Has anyone else saw a down side to more Namenda?
Mine has been taking Namenda at the 10mg 2x/day dosage from the get-go. However, the neurological NP was pretty clear, when I wondered about whether the meds were of any value, that if I were to drop anything I should drop Namenda and not Aricept. Apparently Namenda is thought to lose its effectiveness sooner.
I have no idea whether this relates in any way to your husband, except in that I don't think I would feel super-committed to the Namenda, particularly if I witnessed a potential negative side effect. I must, of course, say Ask Your Doctor, but I would think going back to the lower dosage as a trial might be in order.
bak my hubby has been on Aricept and Namenda, I found the Namenda far more effective than the Aricept. His dosage is 10mg twice a day. Honestly at this point I really don't think the meds help. Took a conference from the 36 hour guy. Even he admitted at a certain point the meds are no longer effective but no studies have been done on what that all means in coming off them so as he put it "we don't want to make a bad situation worse so we continue these medications". And the increase Aricept dosage is a drug companies desire to hold on to the market now that there patent has run out. Absolutely call your Doc .......would love to know what he says.
Claude was on Exelon for nearly four years and Namenda for three. He never had any side effects from either. Even tho they say they're only effective for two years, I feel they both slowed the progression of this horrible disease. When he declined to the point where he went on hospice, the hospice doctor immediately took him off all meds except for high blood pressure and coumadin. As soon as they took him off the meds, he rapidly went downhill further, and passed on less than three months later.
Every alzheimer patient is different and react differently, but I feel they helped him well over the 'two' years.
In Canada, we call it ebixa. Gord went into a study for it about 5 years ago. It was a double blind study and I believe it lasted for maybe 2-3 months. At the end of that time, we were allowed to have the real drug. Within maybe 2 weeks, I knew without a doubt that Gord had been on the placebo. The difference was amazing. Sadly, it only lasted about a year and then the effect seemed to wear off. That year was well worth it though.
bak - a couple years ago my husband tried it. He brain became 'foggy' as he explained it, tired real easily, affected his vision and he wanted to sleep all the time. We gave it two months per doctors request then he quit it. He went back to 'normal'.
May as well share "our" story. Stopped Aricept after 18 months, gastro, leg cramps and agitation seemed to be on the rise. Went cold turkey for a week and then started Namenda working up to the 10mg. twice a day. Huge attitude adjustment in that he is much calmer and content to let the day flow. I guess he is less aware, which at this point is better. I would say it's all part of the decline, but for right now we will continue on the Namenda. It didn't bother me to take him off the Aricept cold turkey at all and it didn't seem to effect him adversely. They are all different!!!
Dr. called back said -reduce nemenda back to 5 twice a day and see if he does any better.This is such a guessing game,with nothing really helping only helping controll some things. Thanks everyone for the input.
I am wondering if the Aricept and Namenda have run their course with my dh. He has been on them since 2007 and for the past couple of weeks has been worse. One morning he got up with his shorts and T-shirt still on that he had worn all day. Now he is wearing his undershorts and a tank top to bed. I put his pill box in front of his coffee cup in the morning so he won't forget to take his pills. One morning I reminded him to take them and he was looking all around for his pills. Another morning he didn't know where the coffee canister was and he has made himself coffee 5 or 6 times a day!
In DH's situation, he became paranoid and physically violent when the Namenda was increased from 5 mgs to 10 mgs. Landed him in a psych hospital for 4 months trying to get the right med adjustment. They're all different (DH has FTD).
All I can do is wonder "what if" dh had taken his Aricept and Namenda faithfully for 2 years. He took Aricept for 6 months and Namenda for 2 months; then the Excelon patach for two weeks. After that he absolutely refused to take the meds. Said it wasn't doing him any good. I was disappointed but nothing I could do or say to make him. Dr. said if I hadn't noticed a change when discontinued then they probably weren't helping.
Now he is taking iron supplements for anemia and I doubt if he continues those once the bottle is empty. This irrationality is part of the disease. Dr. also said to take him off the Crestor (to increase good cholesterol). DH is just tired of taking meds. Since 2002, it has been heart meds, aspirin, cholesterol drugs, vitamins, etc. Since dh is 85, I think dr. feels end of the road isn't too far off so give the patient some relief. My thought.
Shirley, my DH is 88 and we have cut way back on meds. He does take BP med, water pill, Sertraline, Vit.D, aspirin. I give him Tylenol for any pains - real or imagined and a multi-vitamin. We stopped the AD meds over a year ago - I saw no significant decline, just the usual decline by time.