Exelon patch?

Scooterr

Has anyone used the Exelon patch? My wife is on Namenda XR 21mg. and I believe it's gone as far as it's going go at this point. She is going to the Neurologist this coming Monday and I was thinking about asking to try this medication. 

  We have a Nurse Practitioner friend who has switched some of his clients from Namenda to the Exelon patch, and seen a little better response from them. I have google  the medication, and to me it looks like it's in the same class of medications as Namenda, I don't know.

  So if anyone has used this medication or knows anything about, please let me know. How did work? Did it work? Any improvement at all? Was your LO on Namenda and switched to Exelon?  Any info would be appreciated.

Quilting brings calm

My Mom was on the rivastegmine patch and she used it for over a year.  I can’t say that it worked or not.  The biggest issues she had with it is that a) the patches  kept coming off and b) the resident assistants at the AL didn’t always remember to swap one out for another.  Even though she was having her medications managed by the AL. 

We discontinued it when the Humana Medicare Part D plan said they would no longer pay for it.  She’s been given donezipil( sp?)instead  but it’s not up to the therapeutic dose yet due to other medication changes. 

[Deleted User]

The user and all related content has been deleted.

Amnesia

My wife was on the exelon patch when she was home with me. It really seemed to help level her out.  But you know everyone is different so you never know.  Sometimes I think it's all trial and error.  Unfortunately it seems to be more error a lot of the time. I know that I have not been much help but its a crazy disease.

Iris L.

Scooterr wrote:

 I have google  the medication, and to me it looks like it's in the same class of medications as Namenda, I don't know.

Exelon patch and Aricept are in a completely different class of pharmaceutics than Namenda.

  

They are more for the earlier stages.

Iris

Cherjer

Hi Scooterr

My husband has been on the Exelon patch since he was diagnosed in 2015 and has been taking Namenda that long, also. He had not reaction to the patch. The patch is very expensive but I continue its use as well as Namenda. I am not sure if it is helping him now as he has progressed and as Iris said it is good in the early stages. However, I will continue using it for him as I don't know what would happen if he quit, to be very honest! These two meds have been my steady friends all these years. I just can't get the anxiety medications to work for him.

Scooterr

Thank you guys for your input. I'll make a decision after meeting with the Neurologist next week. Luckily the doctor is easy to work with and gives me some leeway.

Berryette

Scooterr-  I would just add that my DH neurologist and GP both wanted him to try the patch you are speaking of.  I even had it filled, but never put it on.  I felt a bit guilty- not tyring anything and everything that drs want.  But after reading the posts on here from caregivers that have actual experience living with this disease- we decided not to try it.  Our reasons:  my husband and reacted negatively to every med they tried him on.  He is very sensitive to things on his body and I dont think he would leave them on.  If he did get welts, it would be a major ordeal to keep him calm until they healed.  He has had memory issues for 5 yrs now and I read this is for early stages.  So-  I used the expertise of the people on this forum and made what I believe to be the best decision for DH.  The drs do not agree- but they dont live with us and this forum gave me the confidence to do what I think best for our household.  That was a long way to get to this-  trust your gut and your friends on this forum who have been there and done that.  Good luck.