Dr. took mom off all meds

sweepmore

My mother was on Memantine, Donepezil and Quetiapine.  The first 2 caused her explosive, continual diarrhea the last caused her extreme skin picking.  This is the 2nd day and I have noticed that she is better so far.  I read where Quetiapine should never be given to Alz patients, but at the day care center everyone of them are on it.  I am confused as what to expect, but after 3 weeks of continuous missteps I finally got a good night sleep.  Mom is seems like she is in stage 6.  She needs help dressing, showering and picking out her food.  She is in a good mood most of the time.   I wonder if taking her off the meds (2 years on the Alz drugs) will make this disease progress faster.  I read that these meds are only good for about  6 months.

Arrowhead

My wife was on Namzaric. When she ran out, I did not notice any difference in her abilities, so I didn't refill it. When I mentioned this to her neurologist, he agreed. He said first, if it doesn't help then it's not necessary. Second, he believes that medication should be used sparingly. Each has possible side effects that can be compounded with the side effects of other medications. Nothing will change the progression, only the symptoms. Use whatever gives the best results.

sweepmore

Thank you for your reply.   I appreciate you taking the time to respond and I agree with you.  Nothing is going to stop this train from coming.

jfkoc

There is no great certainty about the drugs for AD....if they work, for how long etc. Regarding the Seroquel. It does have a black box warning but is used a lot with some good results.

Non-pharmaceutical  treatment is ideal but sometimes drugs are necessary. Here is something to read especially the treatment section

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6140014/

It is always good to check out a drug. I use drugs.com but there are othersites.