Did medication help in Vascular Dementia

@riz1 Hello and Welcome to Mayo Clinic Connect!. How difficult and sad for your MIL. How good it is that you are there!

Why was she given the drug in the first place? I am not a doctor, but I would be sorely tempted to discontinue any drug that made my mother's condition noticeably worse. Perhaps your pharmacist could advise you? My mother was on an assortment of drugs after she was diagnosed with vascular dementia. Those two drugs are familiar as being ones that she tried and discontinued. She stayed on blood pressure medication, anti-seizure medication, and anti-anxiety/depression Rx over a course of ten years. I know the anti-seizure medication was for life, and she likely needed the blood pressure medication as a result of her many strokes. I question whether the anti-anxiety/depression drugs were the best choice for her--but that's because I know more now than I did then. We did the best we could for her at the time, which is all anyone can do. A pharmacist helped with the timing/scheduling of administering the drugs throughout the day. As it was explained to me, our bodies process medications differently as we age, requiring more individual attention be given to the administering of drugs. Good luck to you.

Whether regarding drugs or anything else, always evaluate whether the doctor is making sense and has sound reasoning. Don't be afraid to change. I changed my mom's doctor because she just seemed to put too much focus on preparing me for the inevitable and not quite focusing enough on my mom's quality of life. I understood what I was up against...

I've followed this site for around two years but never commented. My wife, who is only 66 years old, and I divorced about 2 years ago over her strange behavior. Everything was an argument. She was a school teacher and for a year saying she had to stay til 8 and 9 o'clock to finish her work. I thought she was having an affair or something and trying to run me off. I told her if she didn't top I was getting a divorce She didn't stop. I got a divorce. A year later we discovered she has White Matter Disease. I prayed and prayed and researched and researched knowing being married would be more than difficult. However, her children basically stuck her in a tiny rat hole apartment even though she had money for more. So I remarried her to take care of her. I love and adore her, of course. White Matter Disease doesn't have a DSM coding for the doctor to bill so he called it Vascular Dementia since it can turn into Vascular Dementia. So to your point: Memantine. Her Neurologist put her on a couple of things. Donepezil and Memantine being 2 of them. The Memantine has not given her any side affects and, in fact, she says it helps her. It's the one thing she makes sure she takes. My daughter's a nutritionist and when this came up she spent countless hours and phone calls and research concerning nutrition for Vascular Dementia. There are six things i try to do everyday with my wife and vitamins is one of them. Now remember everyone is different and there's no absolute in any of this. However, the thing that has help my wife most is Magnesium L-Threonate. My daughter suggested it as part of a daily vitamin regimen to help my wife's memory and it made a noticeable difference. I'm a lawyer, so I thought I'll try that and I can tell you, I make sure I take it in the morning and at night without fail. I've seen a difference in me. I've fought some big bad battles, even the Mafia for a couple of years in court and I can tell you this is the hardest thing I've ever done and my wife is fairly self sufficient. I have a great, loving, caring family but there is no way they understand what happens inside these four walls. I've spent over a thousand hours researching, counseling, talking to others and reading this Mayo Connect and this harder than hard. One lady on here a year ago said you'll be living two lives and only half of one of those will be yours. Nevertheless back to Memantine, the Neurologists do their best but nobody really knows what to do or what will happen. For a lot of it we're on our own. My best and prayers to you.

Those of us who have come to depend on this site for information and support understand. Until you're caught up in a situation like this, even sympathetic friends don't really know, as you say, what goes on within the home when you're on your own. During quiet times, I tell myself I'm going to be more affectionate and patient, then something ridiculous or annoying comes up and I find that edge to my voice returning.

My older sister was on a low dose (5MG?) Memantine for 2 weeks before I stopped it. She seemed to worsen immediately after starting it. I did reach out to her neuro doctor and they agreed with stopping it.

Hi. Would you please share the Magnesium L-Threonate brand name and dosage that you use? Thank you.

My sister's MRI showed white matter disease (and a pituitary adenoma) in April after hospitalization for bradycardia and I feel like I research non-stop to find answers. She's had multiple medical issues for about 2 1/2 years but was mentally fine until the bradycardia, then went right off the deep end. I now care for her 24/7 with limited family help (and 0 life).

Absolutely glad to share. Brand does make a difference.. I order most of what I get for my wife from Amazon, of course, not all but most. You can get this a little cheaper on Ebay but it is NOW Magtein Magnesium L. Threonate. It is a white plastic bottle with orange labeling with a little swirly looking design above the word Magtein and has a blue plastic cap. We both take three in the morning and three at dinner time. I also give her 2 kinds of natural cholesterol reducing supplements in the morning on top of her statin the doctor gave her. Cholesterol needs to be down around 50 for White Matter Disease/Vascular Dementia and I found the statins her PCP gives her just won't do it. My daughter a nutritionist helps me and we make sure everything is water soluble so no chance of too much building up in her system. Except for what my wife's Neurologist gives her, I take every supplement she takes so I know how it feels or side effects.

I am intrigued by the comments about a nutritional approach to treating MCI and an earlier reference to bradycardia. My husband was diagnosed with MCI eight years ago and his memory issues were mostly just an annoyance. Last year, he was diagnosed with a 90% blockage in his carotid artery, resulting in surgery. His recovery was delayed by an episode of bradycardia that later resolved. Our doctor opined that my husband's MCI might improve by 30% after the surgery but that has not been the case. In fact, there are times when he seems to have more difficulties. Because of that, I questioned whether the statin he started taking is contributing to this occasional confusion as that can be a side effect of taking a statin. The doctor agreed to suspend the statin for 6 weeks to see if there was an improvement. One immediate improvement was he no longer has the hives that appeared after he started taking the statin. It's too early to tell if there is any improvement in his MCI. I see glimmers of hope but I know that may not prove true. Anyway, what do nutritionists suggest as a natural supplement for cholesterol? I wonder if anyone else has had concerns about statins and mental confusion as a side effect. Thanks to everyone on this website. It is a vaulable resource.

I will tell you what my wife takes. everything we do comes from a nutritionist that specializes in brain disorders. so I don't know if you would have side effects.
We still do what the neurologists prescribes though. as far as Cholesterol Carlyle Plant sterols 1200 mg x2 in the morning and NOW Sun Flower Lecithin 1200 mg x2w in the morning. We do the statin at night. We did a full Genetic work up to see what works for her genetics, even down to Tylenol and not Ibuprophen.
I try to get six things a day doe;
1. Mediterranean Diet all meals or at least fresh fruit for breakfast and lunch. I cook fresh for dinner and she helps. ( very time consuming, very)
2. Exercise to raise Pulse rate to 110 to 120 for 20 minutes 4 to 5 days a week.
3. Brain exercises 2 to 3 hours a day. The Bible is great for this for the reading part because of easy AND challenging works and some mazes in a book with a pencil for dexterity and some number games on the computer.
4. Specialization each day. Talk to someone outside of the house, mostly people who know she has some difficulty., like neighbors she walks with.
5. Absolutely NO stress!! It's hard to work around somethings but she gets jer way as long as it's possible for me to make it happen
6 Specific vitamin regimen.
When it was obvious the Neurologist just have a cookie cutter answer. I did over a thousand hours of research, talked to Mayo. Johns Hopkins, Cleveland Clinic and UNC Memory care. We are doing a six week seminar with UNC started this week. She was having trouble with reading 30% to 35% of the words in the Bible each night.
When I went with this six point program I learned from research, Karen went to having trouble with 10% to 15% each night.
I also got her a GoldenDoodle puppy two weeks ago and that has really helped with her doing something that is "HERS".
This works for me/us but I must tell you it is very very very difficult to stick with this. Her family doesn't help at all but my family loves her to death.
don't know if this will help anyone at all but I hope so. she has significant White Matter Disease but there are things we can do to slow or stop it but it's a challenge. Best to all!