Seroquel(8)

Gig Harbor

I have a question about Seroquel. My husband is starting to sundown. Everyday around 4 he thinks he is at work and needs help fixing something. So far I have been able to redirect him. Sometimes I can say that I have to make dinner and I will help him later. I realize that this won’t work forever and the delusions will get stronger. Does this sound like it is time to start Seroquel or a similar drug? I would like to stay on top of this new behavior. He still is on aricept and namenda and I have no idea if they are still working but they are not hurting him and they are cheap so I continue to give them to him. He has a physical coming up so I am going to see if there is something that will help.

Lills

My two cents:  Seroquel is a magic pill!  My DH started taking one half of one pill (12 mg).  He's now up to 5 (125 mg); he's having nighttime hallucinations.  Seroquel calms the patient.  Again, I hope it works for your DH as well as it still does for mine!

M1

Gig I second the suggestion, it worked very well for us with no side effects.  Doesn't work for everyone, but if you start with a low dose and are vigilant for how he responds, don't see why you can't try it.  Good luck.....

Scooterr

Gig, my DW has sundowners also around 4 in the afternoon, she is taking half a pill 12mg (Seroquel) in the evening  around 5:00 because her hallucination hit hard. Then she goes to bed around 7:30 I then give her a 3mg of Melatonin when she goes to bed, and she sleeps like a baby. She waking up in the middle of the night with bad hallucinations, but it seems to be working for now,  sometimes in the middle of the day I have to give her half a Seroquel.  She is also on Namenda and Aricept. Good Luck.

Gig Harbor

Thanks everyone. I will make an appointment to talk to his doctor about this. I would rather not wait until he gets really bad because he has already changed a lot in the past week.

abc123

Dear Gig, I respect your desire to stay on top of new behaviors. Especially when it will improve quality of life for both of you. Good luck.

ButterflyWings

Hi Gig- I agree with all the great feedback here. 

Seroquel has been a magic pill for us as well. Unfortunately, my DH could not tolerate Aricept. A fit and trim man, he lost 15-20lbs in a few weeks of starting it, and had zero appetite so Dr stopped it. We will never know if it may have slowed his AD progression.

If the changes are sudden and severe, did you rule out a UTI? We definitely had that experience too.

Joe C.

Gig, I concur with the other comments, seroquil worked wonders for DW and made it possible for me to keep here at home longer. She started off a 25 mg and gradually it was increase to 100 mg per day. Interestingly since she has been in the MC facility they have been able to start backing off on the dosage. She is currently down to 50 mg per day with no increase in delusions. Her neurologist suggested we try this once she got settled into the MC. I believe that having lots of activities & more people to interact with are now helping keep the delusions at bay.

French

Seroquel seems not to work for my partner. He now has 100mg mornings, 100 at lunch and 100 at diner. Still agitation in the afternoon and also in the night. They will shift him on a stronger drug.

Daughter of a Marine

Seroquel has been a God-send for my DH - hallucinations were unbearable following his recent surgery that had him under anesthesia for 5+ hours - saw/heard things that weren't there, talking in his sleep, reaching for things - getting out of bed while asleep to wander, etc.  I anticipate having to increase dosage in the near future but for now, i highly recommend it!

bonkey

As I've said, I'm about to start my husband on Seroquel and one of the reasons I'm I'm not comfortable is am I rushing it? His vulgar comments constantly and a new aggressive behavior (but laughing like he's just joking around) when I tell him to keep his hands to himself, are the behaviors, but no hallucinations or anything like that.

Ok