Another Question: Medication

dlast

My Mom again is in the early stages of vascular dementia: she is fearful to take the prescribed dementia medication from her doctor and I have finally gotten her to start taking it. It is to be taken in the evening and makes her nauseous…

how proactive and assertive should I be with her taking this medication?

Jeanne C.

I would let her doc know about the nausea and get her opinion. There may be another med that she can prescribe or something that can be done about the nausea (like take with food). Many medications need to build up in your system to be effective and taking them sporadically may be a problem.

harshedbuzz

I would call the prescriber and let them know. There may be an alternative that she could more easily tolerate.

That said, people do react differently to the medications often prescribed for dementia. These meds are designed to help PWD function better for a time; they do nothing to stop the actual progression of damage in the brain. PWD seem to be all over the place in terms of whether they even benefit from taking the medication- some do, some don't.

M1

GI side effects are very common and cause many people to discontinue the medications. Definitely let the prescriber know. If she can't tolerate them, no great loss as their efficacy may not be great in the first place.