Official diagnosis & Medications

Kay♡

Is a official diagnosis needed to start taking medication (Aricept) to slow down memory loss?

Mri showed brain atrophy more accelerated for age than should be & chronic vessel ischemic changes. Memory loss & behaviors are declining also

Neurologist prescribed Aricept but can't be started without official diagnosis which seems impossible to get

Very concerned that by the time a official diagnosis is made it will be too late for the medication to help slow this down even if only temporary

JulietteBee

I believe an official on the record diagnosis is required. Your neurologist can give said diagnosis.

Anna Magdalena

Hi Kay, did you finally get a diagnosis? In the case of my brother, we definitely needed the neurologist to give the official diagnosis of early onset AD before he could take any medication (including Aricept). So the key is getting the neurologist and your relative to do the testing needed to get the AD diagnosis. In my brother's case, it was super hard to get our brother to do the medical testing but my sister was super strong and basically forced our brother to go with he. That said, he did put his foot down for a couple of tests.