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Aricept Medication

JessC
JessC Member Posts: 6
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in Caring for a Parent

My mom with Alzheimer's was prescribed Aricept 5mg. She was doing fine on that. She is progressing more as expected, so nuero upped it to 10 mg. She said to look out for side effects like stomach issues and dizziness. She hasn't had any of those. What I did notice was it seems she has progressed even more in a short time. Her confusion has worsened, she is getting more upset about it, her migraines have increased. Has anyone experienced this?
I will bring this up during her follow up appointment, but my advisor said something about it that stuck with me. she said "maybe the 5mg was just right for her". Now I am wondering that too. I plan on taking her off of it when she moves to memory care. Everyone guesses she only has about two years until then. Would love to hear anyone else's experience with Aricept.

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  • Emily 123
    Emily 123 Member Posts: 980
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    I could never tell if it was the Aricept or not, but my mom started having loose BM's, which can also be an issue with it. I'm not sure if it helped her, but didn't want to take her off it. They switched her to Namenda at her MC.

  • Quilting brings calm
    Quilting brings calm Member Posts: 3,264
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    edited June 1

    My mom was on the generic version.Donepezil. She also had digestive issues on the 10mg, and had to be returned to the 5mg. The other common side affect is nightmares.

    It is so hard to tell if anything helps, because progression will happen regardless. Progression happens differently for everyone and at a different pace for everyone. Truthfully we learn to focus on what medications help reduce anxiety depression, agitation, etc- because those make a difference in their lives and those of the caregivers.

  • terei
    terei Member Posts: 976
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    https://alzconnected.org/discussion/76185/aricept-medication

    My mother had immediate gastric issues from it so that’s all the experience we had with it.

  • iceview
    iceview Member Posts: 11
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    my wife is on 15mg of aricept as welll as on 50mg of Zoloft. She does have some stomach issues and Dr suggested a patch if things get worst. Se is OK and is able to manage it so far.

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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