Exelon patches(1)

cwade

Hi there, this is my first time posting. My 79 year old Mom was diagnosed with mixed dementia  4 years ago. It took a while to diagnose her because she started having initial symptoms after we lost my sister to brain cancer. Thought the memory issues were grief related. 

Over the course of the last 5 years, as she has slowly progressed, it has also come to our attention that my Stepdad, her husband of 36 years, has been living a second life which started long before the dementia did. I moved in with my Mom, after she filed for divorce, 16 months ago, so that she could stay in her home. 

The divorce is dragging on as we've had to hire a forensic accountant to figure out what's gone on with the marital funds. This guy had an elaborate plan in place to move all the funds, write her off his will, and kick her to the curb when care was needed. It's so brutal and callus. It's hard to tell where the effects of the mental abuse end and the dementia begins. 

Counseling is kind of pointless as she can't remember details and it's also impossible to break through her denial. The good news is that, once the divorce is settled, she will be fine financially. Trust me, I realize what a blessing that is. If she didn't have a loving and observant family, this guy would have taken her funds and abandoned her.

I am wondering if anyone out there has experience with the use of Exelon patches? She hasn't tolerated other meds and we are thinking of giving them a try. I guess you'd consider her mid stage, still gets herself ready in the morning, does laundry, waters her plants..etc. Hallucinates daily and has delusions. The confusion and agitation are increasing so, I am thinking it might be good to try this med to help with that. Thanks for reading my novel!

M1

Hi cwade and welcome.  What a story--there are so many on this forum.

The Exelon may help with memory--but may not, and I doubt if it's likely to do much for her agitation and delusions, she likely will need other medicaitons for that.  do you have a geriatric psychiatrist on board?  They are usually the best at getting the meds right fastest.  In our case however our internist was savvy enough to prescribe.  SSRI antidepressants like Zoloft and Celexa might help with the agitation, but if she's delusional she may need an antipsychotic like Seroquel, Risperdal, or Zyprexa.  There are lots of previous threads discussing all of these.

Good luck--lots of experienced caregivers here.  Glad you got her away from the bad spouse.