Donepezil side effects

howdoidothis

My mom has been on donepezil for a little over a month. I felt like the pills were making things worse for a while, but the last couple of weeks she seems to have been a little better, remembering more conversations and walking me through her bookkeeping process. I was starting to feel hopeful.

She’s been complaining that she can’t sleep though. Today she told me she didn’t sleep at all last night and she decided the meds were to blame and she’s going to stop taking them. She said she called the doctor and they told her they would pass on the message, but apparently nobody has called her back. Arguing that she shouldn’t stop has done no good, especially when she’s cranky over lack of sleep.

Web searches confirm insomnia a side effect but they say not to stop taking them cold-turkey. I’m hoping that if she can skip one dose and get some sleep tonight she might be more willing to go back on them. She has a follow up appointment at the end of this month. I was really hoping the meds would be successful. ☹️

To top all of this off, I have an uncle in Western North Carolina that we haven’t been able to reach.

M1

so sorry about your uncle, let us know how that goes. Unfortunately I doubt that skipping one dose will solve the issue with the donepezil, sleep and GI side effects Andre pretty common.

SusanB-dil

I would tell her doc what is happening.

Hope your uncle is ok. Besides power being out, a lot of cell-towers have damage as well. (central NC here)

Quilting brings calm

I wouldn’t worry about forcing her to take the medication - honestly. It helps a few, a few have too many side affects to take it, and the majority see no benefit. My mom takes the very lowest dose, which is a ramp up dose, because the therapeutic dose gave her bad gastro affects. I know people say ‘ oh he/she is so much better’ - but the truth is they have good days and bad days, and they all decline. Mom certainly is.

SusanB-dil

Gotta love it when folks don't see the whole picture. 'she seems like she's doing a little better, now'… Yeah, you didn't see what we were putting up with yesterday…