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Rivastigmine???

mathreader
mathreader Member Posts: 65
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edited August 2024 in Caring For a Spouse or Partner

My DH used to be on donepezil but the neurologist took him off of it because he also takes escitolopram for depression. He put him on rivastigmine instead because of concerns about interactions of the drugs. Just the other day, he doubled the rivastigmine dose to 3 mg (from 1.5) as my DH has been having hallucinations and a harder time all in all. We like this neurologist a lot, but I just feel like we are going nowhere. We are currently waiting for an appointment with a neuropychologist testing in Sept to see if there is a decline from last year before anything else is determined. Anyone else using rivastigmine?? Just wish we could get some answers.

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  • M1
    M1 Member Posts: 6,788
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    I don't know that rivastigmine will do anything for hallucinations and may in fact worsen them. Have you asked about an atypical antipsychotic like Seroquel or Risperdal? If the neurologist is not willing to prescribe, ask for referral to a geriatric psychiatrist.

  • SDianeL
    SDianeL Member Posts: 2,168
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    geriatric psychiatrists are the best to regulate the meds. My husband was on Risperidone which helped with hallucinations.

  • Colacho10
    Colacho10 Member Posts: 34
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    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/70399/rivastigmine

    Can you give us an update, please, on what happened at testing and did he change the therapy again? Thank you in advance

  • mathreader
    mathreader Member Posts: 65
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    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/249765#Comment_249765

    He is still on rivastigmine. I never saw much difference to be honest, and I'm thinking it is not doing any good at all now, but our next neurologist appointment isn't until next May so, unless something happens that he needs to go sooner, I'll keep going with it. He has progressed to stage 6 these days so I'm not sure it was any help at all.

  • Colacho10
    Colacho10 Member Posts: 34
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    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/comment/252894#Comment_252894

    It is sad that there aren't many options in therapy, and you just can't do anything but wait. Hopefully, it will not progress fast since there are cases where, at one point, progression just stops.

  • Birdie456
    Birdie456 Member Posts: 4
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    My husband used the Rivastigmine patches for about two weeks. Since they cost a fortune, and we have one and a half boxes left, I feel frustrated. He didn't understand why he was using the patches, couldn't tell any difference, and chose not to put up with them.

    Anecdotally, my sister's friend felt much more clear-headed on Rivastigmine pills, without the headaches she had with Aricept.

Commonly Used Abbreviations


DH = Dear Husband
DW= Dear Wife, Darling Wife
LO = Loved One
ES = Early Stage
EO = Early Onset
FTD = Frontotemporal Dementia
VD = Vascular Dementia
MC = Memory Care
AL = Assisted Living
POA = Power of Attorney
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