I've come to ask for info from the great minds that are here!
Hubby has become more agitated and aggressive of late. So off to the doctors to see what we can do. Hubby is already on Aricept 10 mg and the doctor put him on Risperidone .25mg one in morning and the other at night.
What I looking for is input from the group on what was you experience when your spouse was put on it. What should I look for? How did his behaviour change? Best time to give it to him? Things like that.
I know from what I have read here from other experiences that I give him the Aricept in morning and not at night because of the nightmares people where writing about. Also no Aricept 32 again from the input you gave about it.
My dh has been taking Risperidone 1mg. for about two months he takes 1/2 at breakfast and a whole one about 4 p.m. He usually naps for awhile after the 4 p.m. pill. I believe he is calmer with this than when he had nothing . He also takes one 5mg. donepezil at bedtime. I don't know what that is generic for, sorry. Unfortunately he still has rages sometimes so I don't know if it would be worse if he took more or nothing at all. Guess there is no silver bullet unfortunately.
Amber: I would suggest Googling "Risperidone Alzheimer's warnings" and discussing your findings with your MD
My DW is not agressive at all so no comment on that front , but aggitation particularly Sundowning is a real problem which has been pretty much remedied by Ativan, 0.5 or 1 mg (Generic name Lorazepan) up to four times a day as needed. DW is also on Aricept 1 daily and Namanda twice a day Flo donepezil is generic name for Aricept
Amber, many spouses here have had great luck using Risperdone to help with their spouses agitation. I agree with marty, you should talk with your the prescribing MD about what you should expect and possible side effects. DH's experience was that it made him totally incoherent, disoriented, gave him tremors and in laymans terms made him a zombie. It was discontinued after 2 doses because of its side effects.
Sid was out of control with rages and temper tantrums. It was horrible, and something had to be done. The doctor put him on .25mg of Risperdal 3 times a day. It calmed him down almost immediately. I don't remember how long we kept him on 3 times a day, but eventually we reduced it to twice a day, and for the 3 years, he has been on once a day. It was a miracle worker for us with no side effects. Others have not had such good luck. Everyone is different.
So glad you brought this up Amber.. My Dh is in a N/H now and they say he has been getting very agiatated and aggressive in the evening. I used to give him .25 Risperadone at night....but there they are giving him .25 in the morning, and .25 at night ...with another .5 at lunch time, the last few times I've been to visit, Dh just falls asleep in the chair...eyes look very glazed over, just stares out to nothing.....I'm so worried and not happy. His legs / ankles are also very swollen.
they said during one night they caught him up wandering, climbing over a half wall into the kitchen, that divides the dining room from the kitchen. They say he was into the cupboards and had the dishwasher powder....don't know what he was going to do with it... They are getting the Mental Health group to access him and try to get an even balance of meds for him..
My DH was on risperidone for a couple months and it made him even more agitated. Dr doubled the dose but that didn't help. Not violent, just couldn't shut up. He talked about nonsense all day asking the same questions over and over. Going to wash his clothes every couple hours. Finally asked the Dr if we could just put him back on the Celexa, that's not perfect but better than not sitting still at all.
Resperidone did not agree with my husband. It also made him more agitated. He never sat down all day while on it. He was switched to seroquel and that has helped him. He takes a small dose of 25 mg in the morning and 25 mg before bed. It doesn't make him drowsy either. Just a bit calmer. I wasn't sure it was doing anything, so I tried to cut back slowly but his agitation started to get worse so I put him back on the 2 a day.
My dh has been on for about 8 mos. Takes one half in am and the other 1/2 at bedtime 1mg. The dr. said I could increase by 1/2 table a day. I did that once and he was a zombie. Never did it again. Have had no problems with the dosage since it began.
For a time when hb was in nursing home he was given Resperidone so he wouldn't walk the halls and go into folks rooms. Well, it worked for that; he sat w/head down, drooling, unable to hold head up and eat, unable to walk by himself as he had previously. I asked them to stop it, and they did. I don't know how much they were giving him. Staff let him walk and paid more attention to him. Not enough staff to interact with 20 residents. Hb was always better when getting some attention. :)
Well, I'm not happy. I went to visit DH yesterday...and just could not believe how he looked. I am sure they must be over medicating him on risperidaone. He was still in his PJ's at noon, with someone else's vest over the top, the front of his pants were wet. They said he was getting agitated when they tried to change him, so they left him as is. He was shuffling about the ward, head down, eyes half shut, drooling...wasn't like my darling Dh at all...looked so sad. I took him up to his room to change him, I opened the drawer to get out clean undies...OMG, the drawer was full of pee, everything in there was soaked. I can't believe he did that, they do have another male who gets into the rooms and pees everywhere...but no, they seem to think my DH did that... We then went to the main activities room where a concert was going on. A choir was singing our old favorite songs, all that noise, but Dh slept right through the lot I can't get any info as to how much or what meds he's on, the staff change every day....and the N/H dr only pops in and out quickly, I have no idea what day. I found out where his office is and made an appointment to see him next Thursday...can't get in before.. Not happy at all....he's gone down like this in just a month...should have kept him home...
Julia, don't wait until next week , not when you are so concerned. There would be a DON (director of nursing) who is in charge, at the nursing home so insist that she speaks to you today. The (australian) ABC news has a big story running today,on just this subject (the over use of drugs in nursing home, dementia patients) so I think that they they will address your concerns in a timely fashion. Good luck and wishing you all the best.
Cassie...I did see that story on the yahoo home page. That was what prompted me to write my post this morning. I have cried all night...we all want this nightmare to end, but we don't want them to go through this torment and suffer so much.. Can't believe my DH is ending up this way. Thank you so much...I'm off there first thing this morning..
Julia, so sad to read of you crying into your pillow. I remember that well. Below, I have copied & pasted details about a dept within aged care that looks after peoples rights in and out of nursing homes. If you are not satisfied with the outcome at the nursing home perhaps there is some advise to be had here.
You can contact Advocare:
Perth Unit 1, Byblos House 190 Abernethy Rd. Belmont WA 6104
Geraldton Lotteries House 180 Marine Terrace Geraldton WA 6530
Thanks so much Cassie*. I'll look this up, this will give me a place to start to get help if i need it. Today he was much better, more with it today, we even played a few games of bingo with the other residents. I asked to look at his meds chart, and as far as i could tell he's on .5 of respiridone twice a day or as needed..that part scars me. They say he gets quite agitated and is starting to get incontinate, they may start using pads on him...now, I can see him putting up a fight against that. We are to have a family meeting with the director of nursing for there...where we can put forward our concerns and speak up about what we're not happy with.
Thanks for all your input. So far no adverse reactions.
The first thing I do is look up the info for any drug. The problem with looking up info is you only get what the drug companies write and the same with you doctor. He is using the drug book (PMS) to tell the side effects which has the info the drug companies have disclosed to them. The real info is from people like us whose love ones are on the drug and what we have experienced. There is a wealth of knowledge here. That's why web sites like this is so invaluable. You learn what is really going on.
My dh drools all the time. I never thought of Risperidone as being the cause but he seems calmer than without it so I guess its a trade off I'll take. He doesn't seem to be sleepy in the a.m. after the 1/2 pill but the drooling seems the same as when he takes the whole pill. Julia - I hope all turns out well for you. Don't second guess yourself you are doing what you think is best for your dh - we all are. There just doesn't seem to be a right answer sometimes but we are trying.
Thank you Flo39....I was much happier yesterday to see him more alert and with it... I will have to get past the drooling. The guilt seems to have passed now that I see he needs to be there.....it's just a deep sadness I'm feeling now.
So glad that you are feeling happier about your DH, Julia. You will be able to keep the NH on their toes, with your constant care and attention. And Amber is so right about this web site being the best one for drug information!
Interesting discussion here. My hubs was very agitated and yelled and argued about everything. He went on 2mg of risperdone right before bedtime and it really helped him to calm down. I have two teens and we could not have this arguing going on. That got better, but his symptoms got worse and he is def more "out of it" since going on the med, he needed help dressing using the bathroom, computer etc. All things he could do prior to the risperdone. But I figured, I would much rather have this then the constant arguing, and with two teens this was not good. Regardless, I just hate this disease!