Worried

socoj · February 2

My dad was recently diagnosed with middle stage dementia. My mom is currently taking care of him at home, however we both have noticed he becomes agitated more often and I am worried for my mom. The doctor told us that they would not prescribe him anything unless he becomes combative. I don't want to wait until then. Does anyone have any suggestions on medication that I could possibly ask about?

H1235 · February 2

Welcome. I would suggest a new doctor! I found my moms pcp was clueless regarding dementia. Once we moved her to assisted living the visiting doctor was much more aware. A geriatric psych is usually the best option if you can find one. Is he on anything for his mood? They usually start with a low dose then slowly increase it as needed. It seems odd that the pcp is not willing to prescribe anti anxiety medication. I do think they tend to avoid antipsychotics. My mom is on Amitriptyline and before she started it she would get pretty angry. But it did take months to get the dosage figured out. I hope you can figure something out.

StarlightDi · February 2

Agreed with the find a new doctor. Don't even second guess this. I also find it VERY odd that the doctor is not willing unless he become violent. This is very common when they reach mid stage to be on a antidepressant (which helps with mood swings), and something for dementia-related paranoia and agitation. I don't believe his doctor understands this disease very well. If it is his PCP then change PCPs.

When my mom got to the mid stages, the doctor prescribed Citalopram 10mg (antidepressant) which usually is helpful for Alz patients. About a year later he prescribed Buspirone for dementia-related paranoia and agitation, which we were taking once a day in the morning 10mg along with the Citalopram. When the hallucinations about a year after that started we upped to Buspirone 10 mg taken at night as well, which pretty much stopped that. Starting last summer also she was becoming more and more agitated/paranoid during the mid day as well and started abusing our cats (just not understanding how to be gentle with them - pulling their tails so they wouldn't leave her, closing them in her room, not letting them out of her sight, etc) . At that point the dr suggested upping again to 10mg taken mid day as well (so 8am 2pm 8pm schedule). This has greatly helped my mom with her agitation/paranoia and her mood in general.

It is important to my sister and I not to "drug" our mom for our sanity and comfort (which from your doctors response I would guess he's thinking this), rather only if it is helping her, and this helped her tremendously, which is why I am passing it along to you since your doctor has not suggested.

SDianeL · February 2

ditto on getting a new doctor. A Geriatric Psychiatrist is the best type of doctor to manage meds for dementia.

MN Chickadee · February 3

New doctor. They should be working with you on tinkering with meds before it escalates or something terrible happens. Start taking careful notes, even video and audio of the outbursts, so you can show the doctor what's going on.

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