Alzheimer's Disease Support Group

When we see my husbands psychiatrist again I will ask him why we continue the aricept.
That is the first medication he started him on and there was very little noticeable change in his overall behavior. Then we went to the Namenda and saw quite a bit of improvement until he reached a stage of hyper aggitation and hallucination at which point he started the risperdal.
From what I've heard from others long term use of aricept can cause patients to become mean and god knows I don't need that to happen.

Both of my parents are on Aricept, but I am not certain about the other meds. They each have their own degree or level of Alzheimers.
I am glad I joined this thread, I need to better understand what will be happening in the weeks, months and years to come.
Thank you..

My mother is in the last stages of Alz. and we've been through a number of medications. One of the first things we did when we moved her close to me was to reassess her Alz. prescriptions. She was on Namenda and something else. These meds were not doing anything for her at that point and we stopped them.

The thing that was most disturbing was her depression; she was crying all the time. Lexapro really perked her up and she spent the next 2 years being pleasantly confused.

Recently (in the final stages), she developed some severe psychotic episodes for which she received a mild dose of Haldol. After about a month though (when she was put on hospice) that was discontinued, but they have it handy just in case. She was screaming like crazy when they put her on it so something had to be done. I did make her very lethargic and I saw the difference when they took her off of it.

Now she is on Klonipin (sp?) for anxiety.
I feel fortunate that she has a Dr. who is also degreed in psychiatry and seems to have prescribed the right med at the right time for her. It's hard enough watching this horrible decline but I opted for whatever medication made her feel more comfortable.
She's had no other physical ailments, just Alz. so that is what is going to take her out. I pray that they come up with something that will treat/prevent this horrible disease.

Dear Rahmama: Thank you for your posting...I can see myself witnessing a similar path with both of my parents.
I just hope neither of them have to deal with any of their other medical issues in a more agressive state than current levels.
THanks again
cjosie

I forgot to mention... when mom initially became ill, she was all over the board hallucinating.. it was terrible. My husband and I had moved away about three months earlier. I called dad, he told me that mom was acting odd. She was convenienced people were going to break into the house and kill them. She would actually try to crawl on the floor as not to let people see her in the windows and rooms.
This was before she was diagnosed. What is going to happen when she begins hallucnating for real!!!
cjosie