Alzheimers and medications for hyperactivity/anxiety/agitation

Hi Macbeth, There is an older discussion about Alzheimer's and medication and agitation in the Caregivers group here:
* Husband with early Alzheimers -question http://mayocl.in/2fd7gbG

Several members weigh in on drugs and their affects. We also sought information from a Mayo Clinic pharmacist. I'm tagging fellow members @clayton48 @shellsk24 @saltyfrog @19lin @jhammer @nanax2 @IndianaScott @rmftucker @sallysue and @lindabf on this discussion to see if they've had this experience of being told that a sedative must be prescribed by a psychiatrist.

I have not had to use sedatives for my sister. She was taking melatonin at night when she moved in along with a diabetes med. I read on here that if you have Alzheimer's the dementia gets worse and when you stop it gets better. I had her wean off both over two months and cook "real" food again and she has done super. No more diabetes at all. A1C normal. She sleeps great.

<br><br><br><br><br><br><br>@colleenyoung<br>I hope this gets to you I tried to respond on the site, but I am not very good at this system.  All I know about Alzheimer I learned when my father had the illness and that was in the late 1980's and early 1990's.  At that time there was not much medication<br> for anyone who had Alzheimer's.  In addition to my father, his sister and one brother had the illness, but they lived in his home country.  Dad did not want to have the disease so when there was a chance for him to get out of it I let him take it, due to a<br> related fatal illness.<br>There are better medications today, but if I were to get the illness I think I would rather go the way my Dad did, if I had the chance.  Sorry I can not help more. 19lin<br><br><br><br><br>

Hello @macbeth I can only add what I know from my experiences with my wife and mother-in-law, and my daughter-in-law's father. First, I do know side effects and crossover effects of drugs can be very challenging in patients with Alzheimers. The drugs actually increased the agitation in my daughter-in-law's father and it took them a long while to get the right one, which actually finally helped.

I am not a medical professional at all, but I do know all of the meds for my mother-in-law and my wife were prescribed either by her GP or her neuro-oncologist. It may be the GP realizes she/he does not have the knowledge to know which would be best and is directing you to someone who has a broader knowledge base. Just a guess there...

Peace and strength

Hi @19lin, I got your message. Thank you. I will send you a private message regarding your issues responding on the site. Please note that the message you wrote did get posted on the site in the flow of the discussion. Click this link to see it http://mayocl.in/2ffHBwv.

Thank you for sharing honestly about your father.

macbeth, it is frustrating to find the right combination of medications. My husband is 68 and was diagnosed three years ago. He has done well until a month ago when he was hospitalized for pneumonia. That has taken a toll on his processing and short term memory. He has other health issues so he is not a good subject for what does and does not work for the typical alzheimers patient. However, he does take a mild anti-depressant during the day and trazadone at night. That seems to help. He takes Aricept and has for two years, he started the Namenda last year, but our GP just changed it to Namenda XR, she believes that will give him better cognition for longer periods. I wish I could give you encouragment but until they find a cure we just have to put our faith in the Lord.

I work full-time, financially and for my sanity, I have to work. We have friends that help out and I pray everyday that the Lord will continue to give him the ability to continue to stay at home with limited care until I can stop working. FYI, we have a small dog and that has been a great blessing! He cares for him, walks him and talks to him all day long. I believe God put this little rescue in our lives to rescue my husband.

Many blessings

You helped me tons! Thank you. Lots to think about without making decisions before I have to. But when I have to I'll have thought it through. Thank you.

Welcome back @clayton48, so good to hear from you. This information is invaluable.

My prayers are with you! My husband was diagnosed 13 yrs ago at age 58. He was started on Donepezil and Namenda which worked for about 10 yrs....his memory was bad, he could not longer read or write by the 7th yr.
He had never been sick a day in his life and was very athletic so I believe that helped. He continued to walk everyday up until 3 yrs ago. I have done so much research and actually put him in a facility in 2023 and after 12 months brought him home and hired caregivers 24/7. He has done much better and now eats baby food.
They gave him so much thickener in his water that it coated his throat which in turn caused swallowing problems. I found Maty's that will remove mucous from the throat.
Hospice and the facility do not know much about anything so you have to research. I also still work. He is eating and drinking. We now switch between banana and water blended or yogurt and water. He drinks about 64 oz a day. He can no longer stand but we use the lift to get him from the bed to a chair so he can see outside. Blood flow no longer gets to his legs and they turn black so we have to watch that issue. Lost control of organs in 2022 when I was taking care of him alone and it was very very difficult. I just pray God shows his mercy.