How can I get my mother who has Alzheimers to take Aricept? She has early onset Alzheimers. Things are getting worse at an alarming rate. Any advice on getting a stubborn Alz. sufferer on board with Aricept?? I've heard that Aricept can not only help slow down the Alz. but can even start to reverse some of its symptoms. Can I please have any and all advice that is out there?
Thank you
Mike
Hello!
My mom was rather stubborn about taking medications (and often tried to monitor her own pills). During the time that she was with me, I would get her to take them by telling her that all pills (including Aricept) were prescribed by her favorite physician (which wasn't totally true, but I was focusing on getting her to take the pills). I also would "bribe" her a bit by offering her a treat (such as a cookie) if she would take her pills. Both those tricks often would work. As Mom's Alzheimer's progressed, the nursing home staff would grind the pills and put in pudding. So that also may be an option.
Take care and keep us posted!
Dorian
I know aricept is a small pink pill. You don't have to tell her to take it. You can use a trick. Ground it and put it in the yogurt or apple sauce. She can take it without knowing. You can even keep it as a pill and mix it up with other favorite food of hers and she would take it without knowing. It does not help to tell her to take it if she refuses to take it. She cannot understand it. Stubborn or not, it is her brain that tells her no. So you just need to use the food trick.
My father-in-law does not have that trouble. Once in a while he may not want to but we just tell him it is good for him. He was a pharmacologist so he wants to take drugs if we explain. But we also put the pills in the yogurt or apple juice and etc. Sometimes he takes them with the water. He chews pills so we put the pills in the yogurt or sherbet. The hospital uses apple sauce.
Take care,
Nina
There are 5 types of AD drugs. Aricept is one of them. Namenda and exelon were the ones my father-in-law took. But he was too confused and he cannot have too many medications for his heart so he stopped taking them. According to him, it worked and improved his perception. So if your Mom can take these drug, by all means. Usually it is a pair of drugs to tackle different issues in the brain (you can check it out in the web.)
These drugs can delay the symptoms for 6 months to 3 years. But it does not delay Alzheimer's itself. My father-in-law is getting worse very slowly every year. The drugs will improve her quality of life and make it easier for the caregivers.
Regards,
Nina
aricept did help my mom, i believe for 2 years. however, i just slowly withdrew aricept b/c of nightmares. it is amazing how much brighter and better she is. ther eis a point when the med does not work and in my mom's case started to interfere. i also took her off prozac slowly-what a big difference in her overall attitutde etc. these are thing to consider. thank you. my mom is 85 and was diagnosied 2 years ago, although she started showing symtoms a year before that.
Aricept is not a miracle cure, that does not exist ( yet). You have to ask yourself whether it is worth the struggle to prolong a life that is going downhill fast. Why extend the suffering? Just keep your mama happy and please let her have what she wants. It will make your life easier also. I am in the "Damage control" stage. Have to redo many things my husband tries to help me with. Like having the dog lick the dishes and then put them back in the cupboard, as he is convinced they are clean. After he goes to bed I load everything in the dishwasher, so he is not aware of my 'fixing" and can keep his dignity. He is also a very stubborn man, I think it is all about feeling very insecure and lost, so he hangs on to a few certainties. I wish you all the best, it is not easy, but please just make sure that her quality of life is as joyful as possible, even if that includes eating icecream for breakfast.
I am trying to respond to the last answer here. I understand perfectly what was said there. Why delay this disease unnecessarily... However, I don't think these drugs can delay the disease itself or make them live longer. It does not do it. The drugs only delay the symptons, not the disease or years to live. It only makes the patient feels more perceptive or alert.
The issue here is actually whether these patients should be alert or not. At this point, I wish my father-in-law is not alert at all to save his agony. He is in such mental pain that he knows his brain has something wrong (he said he got a cloud over his head a lot.) Now he is not taking any AD drugs and I don't push for it anymore although the reason is that he has too many medications now for his heart alone.
Alzheimer's is a horrible slow disease. It kills your mind so slow that you feel you cannot live properly. My FIL knows that. At times when he realized he can no longer have normal work or normal relationship with ladies or families, he wanted to die. I don't think we are able to help him to die but it is how he feels at this point. Sometimes he insists that he wants to work or drive or jog. His trying is so sad and hopeless. He forgets about yesterdays easily unless it is very dramatic. It is sad indeed. Why prolong his suffering? I have no solutions for that because we cannot do anything to stop it. My moral thoughts is that we need to allow them to go on living. But the suffering is so hard to watch. Even the laws only allow hospice if the person will die in 6 months. For this slow disease, it is 5 years to 10 years at least, what can we do about it!
NIna
Important:
We hope you find this general health information helpful. Please note however, that this Q&A is meant to support not replace the professional medical advice you receive from your doctor. No information in the Answers above is intended to diagnose or treat any condition. The views expressed in the Answers above belong to the individuals who posted them and do not necessarily reflect the views of Remedy Health Media. Remedy Health Media does not review or edit content posted by our community members, but reserves the right to remove any material it deems inappropriate.
Featuring Content From:
By using this service, you accept our Terms of Use. Please read them. The consumer health information on is for informational purposes only and is not a substitute for medical advice or treatment for any medical conditions. You should promptly seek professional medical care if you have any concern about your health, and you should always consult your physician before starting a fitness regimen. Copyright © 2012 Remedy Health Media, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
