My father in NH for 1 year now with dementia/Alzheimer's, he is 92 and he was put on Aricept in August 2014. however I feel that the dementia has increased as he is sleeping more (trying to get Dr. to switch some things around so he can stay awake more during day) and they are now needing to feed him rather than him doing it himself, he is never in the present when we do talk to him, and has lost some weight because you can't feed someone who is sleeping. So I discussed with nurse on duty to contact the doctor and to see if the Aricept can be removed from his pill taking. No need to take a pill that is no longer doing anything. Has anyone had a loved one taken off the Aricept and how things went for them? I know it is only given to help slow down the progression of the disease but my dad has been dealing with this for some time now.
My comment to Lorrie were based on her statement ," Your father's doctor should stop the medicine as soon as possible." That is a medical statement rather than a simple opinion. I am careful not practice medicine on this website. I hope to be helpful with some medical facts and science while also sharing my experience as a caregiver. I have no problem with informed opinions.
LorrieB, I appreciate you stating your profession. Anyone reading your post would know that you are not a doctor.
But very, very few of us on these forums are doctors. This is not a site for professionals to discuss with other professionals We are overwhelmingly lay persons. And each of us is entitled to express our opinions. We might even give an opinion about what we think a doctor should do. We very often give the opinion that someone should talk to their doctor (or change doctors).
DoctorJC, I know that not all posts here contain accurate information. And I REALLY appreciate it when someone more knowledgeable offers corrections. But I certainly don't appreciate seeing a fellow poster being told she "has no standing" to express an opinion. None of us have "standing." All of us have experience and questions and opinions.
My hairdresser can give me an opinion of what my doctor should do. He doesn't have to have "standing" to give me that opinion. Since I know he is a hairdresser I don't blindly take his advice. That is why it was good that Lorrie listed her profession.
From my reading and attending conferences and discussion with the doctor, here are my opinions:
1) In spite of all the hype when it was first introduced, Aricept does not delay the progress of ALZ. An extended study in England found no difference in the length of time before institutionalization between the patient who took Aricept and those who did not. At an all-day conference co-sponsored by Mayo and the Alzheimer's Association, last year, the speaker on progress with dementia drugs said flat out that we have no drugs that delay the progression.
2) Sometimes Aricept makes an improvement right now -- not down the road. If that is the case, hooray! If you are not seeing some actual improvement it probably isn't worth continuing to take it in the hope that is somehow slowing the progress.
3) Aricept was developed for and approved for use with Alzheimer's -- not any of the 50 or so other dementia diseases. But many patients have Alzheimer's as well as some other kind of dementia. Trying it may still be appropriate.
4) LBD often responds better to Aricept than the dementia it was developed for. My husband took Aricept with good results. As the years went by his doctor often said it might not still be helping but that since Hubby was doing so well he hated to "rock the boat" by discontinuing it. Almost all of his drugs were discontinued on hospice, but then we added back both Aricept and Seroquel, and adding them back resulted in visible improvement in delusions and agitation.
Hearing this story a year ago, our doctor put her on Namenda and Aricept. What I've read on this site has convinced me to take her off the Namenda, but to keep the Aricept. I'll ask the doctor about it when I see her next week. She may insist that we continue Namenda, or perhaps decrease the dosage of one or the other. I haven't seen any effects from either drug, but they may have at least slowed her progression into dementia. Her 3-years-older sister is in an institution with full-blown Alzheimer's; their mother was pretty demented at the end of her life, and my wife says that her maternal grandmother also had dementia. Scary.
You are NOT a physician and you have no standing to say what the doctor should do. As a knowledgeable writer, you should know better. It is likely that the Aricept is no longer providing much benefit. Current standards of practice routinely tape off Aricept once deterioration speeds up. By the way, Aricept is not generally indicated in the treatment of vascular dementia. It is a cholinesterase inhibitor. Hence, since vascular dementia is caused by the loss of functional brain matter rather than dysfunctional choline metabolism, Aricept would do nothing helpful. That being said, elderly people might have both vascular and Alzheimer's disease. In that case, Aricept may have been useful.
My father had moderate vascular dementia then he had a ceptic infection which caused his dementia to worsen dramatically and quickly. During his hospital stay, the Dr. placed him on aricept however it didn't seem to help.
The one thing that bothers me is that I wished that I had placed my dad on hospice much sooner. The hospice nurses are very kind and focus on quality of life.
Alzheimer's is progressive
It only gets worse.
Aricept is a cure it helps slow down the progression of the disease. Western medicine says to add Namenda with the Ariicept. The combination helped my mom...however, she took supplements. ..folic acid, fatty omega 3, alpha lipoic acid and vitamin E along with acupuncture and acupressure.