There are a lot of different med's out there for dementia, alz, mood changes, depression, sleeplessness, etc. I thought it would be a good idea to share the success we have had with certain meds, having the least side effects.
My mom is on aricept and zoloft, I feel that she has actually gotten worse as we have increased the zoloft. She is still not sleeping through the night. She has also had a fall that has made things worst.

in my case, mom was on celexa which helped with the crying, OMG I was so happy she felt good again.
Then after awhile (a year or so) she started again with the crying. The Dr increased the dosage. So far she's been great after several years.
The sleeplessness may also be the depression.

Keep talking to the Dr about it. Don't give up. I know it's hard and painful to watch a LO like this. But you can find the proper med with time.

I agree that each med has to be researched for each individual. My mom took Ambien and had a horrible time with it. In fact, she woke up standing in her hospital room with blood everywhere. The nurse came in and asked her what she did? At that point, Mom woke up and saw that she had removed her IV and was drenched in blood.

I've added that medication to her list in my growing file concerning her healthcare.

Mary

This message has been edited. Last edited by: Moms_Buddy,

Fayth if your mom is really having a hard time with these behaviors not only would I change the meds but I would also change her diet.
Now you know your mom better than anyone does she have lifelong traits or is she just responding to her current situation.
Another thing is its wintertime, this is a very hard time for our elders have you tried sun lamps?
Also have you tried altering her diet?
Now I know this sounds extreme but in my MIL's case I had one main reason why I altered her diet and that was because she had Diabetes but the added benefit to this diet was it quelled many behaviors associated with AD. Aggression, confusion, depression, anxiety.
They were still there just to a lesser degree that was tolerable without drug therapy.

Eliminate processed foods, breads (bread is no good I dont care whether it says whole grain whole wheat its still "processed") sugars, canned and boxed foods anything with a chemical substance in it to preserve it.
In other words if it looks nothing like its natural form it shouldnt be eaten.
Eliminate soda's, coffee (both regular and decaf), black teas, with the exception of Chamomile tea. Chamomile tea has no caffeine in it and natural juices you make not store bought those have added sugars in it.
Now as a rule in our home MIL had several small size meals a day rather than 3 square, the size of these meals were no bigger than her fist.
A bowl of oatmeal sweetened with honey for breakfast and Chamomile tea also with honey (no white sugar or sweeteners allowed)
The rest of her meals were fresh fruit cut up in a bowl or a banana, fruit and yogurt shakes, soups, chicken (baked broiled sauteed or BBQ'd)
fresh vegetables no starches for the first 2 months then given only as a treat after the initial 2 months of cleansing out her system.
Potatoes are ok as long as the usual bad condiments are not put on them (butter & sour cream) I usually used them in a stew or soup only and as a thickener in the base stock for soups and stews leaving 1 or 2 cut into chunks for the dish to add substance.
You can also make an iced tea with Chamomile for drinking throughout the day if she doesnt like drinking water, one I make is with a berry infusion to change up the flavor.
Boil a pot of water on the stove with about a half cup of your choice of berries (blackberries blue berries raspberries whatever you like) add the honey to the sweetness you desire turn off the flame and add several tea bags to this (about 5-10 minutes will do)
Then strain the mixture into a pitcher and chill.
Now this is a non medical way to approach behaviors which I would do first, after a 2 month period I would then access her behaviors and see how medications react if at all.
Medications react not only to the individual themselves but to what we put into our body its only obvious you put a chemical in your body it will react to a medication thrown into the mix.
If the research community cant figure out how to stave off the effects of AD then we have to try everything we possibly can to help so the idea is to attack lifestyle, the foods we eat.

Oh one more thing contrary to the popular belief in the medical community Tangerines do have a high sugar content BUT it is a natural sugar that is easily processed in the body I have often used tangerines in the fresh squeezed OJ I make for its natural sweetness also I squeeze over chopped up fruits to prevent browning.

Thank u for all the responses.
Yes, I normally do a thorough check of all the meds, but with this I just feel like its way above me. There is so much info out there and often conflicting. I don't think the aricept is working and neither is the zoloft - because my mom is so depressed, lethargic and always crying. I feel so bad for her and I feel liek if I think about it too much I'm going to break down!
Its often the case that I go into a docs appt knowing quite a bit about the meds available. I realize thats its diff for all people, but if u have similar stories about trying dif meds, or abt specific meds that have a good reputation for working with least side effects, I think that would really help.

Fayth, except for certain drugs which should NOT be given to dementia patients (which some patients and doctors may not realize), we try to leave the prescribing up to the physicians. Each patient is so different! What works this week may not work for them next week, etc.

What's most valuable is to carefully research ANY drug prescribed (particularly for dementia symptoms, sleeplessness, agitation, etc.) BEFORE starting them on it! I used to research Mom's before filling the 'script. Sometimes, the anticipated benefit might not be worth the common side effects or may interact with another med she was on (this happens frequently). Any questions which pop up should be discussed with the prescribing physician.

Having said that, you might want to research zoloft (sertraline hydrochloride). It can cause an electrolyte imbalance where the sodium level of the blood plasma becomes too low. This can lead to all kinds of troublesome problems...

quote:

"Signs and symptoms of hyponatremia include headache, difficulty concentrating, memory impairment, confusion, weakness, and unsteadiness, which may lead to falls.

Signs and symptoms associated with more severe and/or acute cases have included hallucination, syncope, seizure, coma, respiratory arrest, and death..."

(from Pfizer's site - Zoloft Medication Guide at http://media.pfizer.com/files/...i_zoloft.pdf#page=19 )

Ew good point BC I see this alot with the bottoming out of stats with a patient especially with the anxiety meds, anti depressants ect.
Morphine is another but this is usually with Hospice so thats a no brainer.
Give to them at the peak of activity so it doesnt bottom out to the extreme when their just sitting/lying down.
I make judgment calls with these meds if their up and moving around but will soon be sitting thats when I give it to them or right after they have eaten when the heart rate increases.
Tell her to try that sometime and see how it works for her.

Fayth, it is a very individual matter. Like BG said, you need to look up every med and keep records. For a friend of mine,,her Mom is diagnosed AD and tends to become highly agitated but the anti depressents and anti anxiety meds send her blood pressure to the floor, and down goes mom right with it. Daytime activities (mostly make up stuff, rarely anything helpful in a case like yours) fold clothes, again, clip coupons, sort a card deck, mash potatoes, seem to be the way to cope for now, tomorrow may be different. In fact it is a matter of keeping her occupied so someone else can get something done, and not worry that she has been picking at herself. If your Mom really has AD, she is likely to lose ground, and to try to get her to do what she did (fix breakfast) is going to frustrate you both.

Be very familiar with potential side effects and just how serious they are so you can react. Make the Docs tell you why they are prescribing this or that and what they expect from it and a timeline. Some meds take several week to kick in.

Falls can really be shocking to the elderly Fayth nothing like you or I falling we get up dust ourselves off, with the elderly it can and does affect every part of their body even the ole brain.
Some medications, especially to help with sleep can create a fall risk also so when you do have to put them on a sleep med you have to be on guard with them at all times.
With meds for sleep and AD always remember each individual is unique so its going to affect them differently like for instance:
Aricept does not work on my MIL and each case that I have worked that a patient is on Aricept either the treating physician keeps them on a dosage for far too long or they just prescribe it because its an AD med with no follow up at all.
Families have no idea unless they research and ask questions.
This is one of the reasons I fell in love with ECO.
All the members here taught me from the beginning its absolutely necessary to research and question doctors on how they treat and prescribe different meds for our LO's.
I compiled a list of possible medications for the symptoms I was seeing in my MIL along with AD meds, as we tried the AD meds and found they didnt work on her we then went to the Psychotropic class drugs since mil was presenting with psychosis and finally diagnosed with several.
The trick is to get the right mix.
My mil is on Trazedone & Seroquel but if you ask others Seroquel may not work with their LO its a crap shoot.
For sleep some respond to Ambien others do not.
There was one sleep aid thats also classified as a behavioral med but its a short lived script (Im going to guesstimate it at about a year till your at the maximum dosage)and that was Remeron generic Mirtazapine.
Now not all PCP's know yet that this is classified as behavioral med so dont expect them to know this yet.
Yup you read that right I still have people that argue that point with me in the nursing profession...thats a little scary I know but they have way too much on their plate along with PCP's to research like we do, this is why its important to research, often we have answers that the medical community hasnt and if were lucky enough to find a PCP that respects CG's like us then sometimes their willing to go out on a limb and try something new.
So the word for the day my dear...Research.