Articept

blsmith6927

My mother just started to take it. What should I expect to see with these med?

concerned_sister

blsmith, not all persons taking aricept will react the same. I'll share my brother's experience. Prior to taking aricept it was common for my brother to get a couple of sentences in to a conversation and then have to pause mid-sentence, and start saying "um, um, um" as if he could not finish the thought. There would just be an akward pause.

Since aricept, noticeable in my visit about day 3, that is not happening anymore. He'll get stuck on a word, or use an incorrect word, but it's no longer as if he lost the whole train of thought. When prescribing aricept the doctor told my brother that it might help with clarity. My brother reports that's true. I don't think I'd describe it as helping with memory. An unexpected side benefit, was he reported he was sleeping better. Concurrent with that we were solving a lot of his financial problems such as filing back taxes and paying off credit cards, so it may have been equal parts stress relief and the medicine that resulted in sleeping better.

M1

Welcome to the forum. You may or may not notice any benefits or side effects. Usual starting dose is 5 mg once daily and if tolerated, that is increased to10 mg once daily. Common side effects are vivid dreams and GI upset (nausea, loss of appetite, diarrhea).

The data on its ability to help slow dementia progression are pretty soft. Concerned sister's experience of noticing immediate improvement is actually pretty rare. I personally never saw anyone clearly benefit from it, in over thirty years of general medical practice. A research statistic estimates that about one in twelve people will be helped by the drug, another one out of twelve will have a serious side effect, and for the remaining ten out of twelve it won't make much difference either way. we all wish there were something better out there.

nsglobe

https://alzconnected.org/discussion/69225/articept

My mother PWD took Aricept for about 6 months. She said it made her mind feel clearer. However, it gave her "living" dreams and nightmares. She felt as though she was never really sleeping. She was exhausted. We talked to her doctor who told her there was a different medicine to try (Namenda). It does not work as well (her mind seems foggier to her); but she is sleeping soundly. She said although it was tough giving up the little bit of clarity that the Aricept gave her, sleep is so much more important to her overall health though. She is early in her disease and a great communicator. We are very close, so it is easy for us to talk about medicines and side effects.

I hope this helps you watch for side-effects of sleeplessness in your LO. That was the hardest part for Mom.

By the way, the Namenda had side-effects of a different sort (bathroom issues) for the first month and it does not seem to give as much clarity; but we are still using it for now.

mommyandme (m&m)

my mom started Namenda (Memantine) well before I was involved in her direct care therefore, I wasn’t aware of any side effects in the beginning or improvement it provided. When I became her 24/7 caregiver I continued it just cause it was in the mix of her med cocktail. When moms “pill burden” became apparent, hospice recommended removing some unnecessary pills. Memantine was one I tried to taper her off of. It was only then that I think I noticed a very very slight change in her ability to follow a simple command. I reversed the taper and continued Memantine. She did seem to understand my word(s) a little better/longer, maybe. Later on I tried to taper her off again, with the same result. Going forward, Memantine was just part of the routine til the end. I have no idea what, if anything, it helped. Maybe it allowed her to use utensils a few extra days of her life, maybe not.

I suppose if your mom or her caregiver(s) see any benefit without outweighing side effects, then maybe it’s worth continuing.

Just my 2¢

mrsabaldwin

My mom started Aricept this last April. This month it was time to up the dose. I did and it was a rough night as it gave her not only insomnia but also because it gave her clarity, she was up 8 times that night and was exit seeking. I decided that the next day I would give it to her during the day. Because mom experiences choreoathetoid movements from a stroke, the doc placed her on Seroquil. The Aricept has completely overridden the Seroquil. The Aricept dose during the day kept her in constant movement and wouldn't let the Seroquil do it's job. I felt so bad for her because she hates the constant movement. So the dilemma is do I keep her clear minded or no movement and able to rest. And by clear minded, I do not mean that she was not still delusional or able to tell what time of the day it is. She told me yesterday that she dug the poop out of her butt and took it in the backyard and buried it by the people that are camped out there. None of that was true. When I told her goodnight last night, she asked why I was going to bed in the middle of the day. She watched an Africa safari themed Hallmark movie and still believes to this day that I own a house where there are giraffes and lions.

Mom follows up with the neurologist early next month but I am not sure I should wait that long and just might message him. I just cannot see letting her days and days of hallucinations, movements, and lack of sleep. Does anyone have any insight? Are hallucinations just part of the journey regardless of medications?

Quilting brings calm

Mom has been on the 5mg of Donepezil ( generic Aricept) for sone time. However we tried increasing her to the 10mg, but she had severe gastro issues. Since I was told the therapeutic dose was 10mg, I am not sure she’s getting any benefit from the lower dose. Doesn’t appear to be harmful though.

With this disease, I really don’t think there’s any way to know if it’s helping. There’s no way to tell if she’s progressing slowly due to the pills, or if she’d progress slowly anyway. Did she magically improve when she started taking them-? No she did not.