Tuesday, May 29, 2012

Thursday, July 03, 2008 J Revels asks

Q: My Mother has dementia and is taking aricept, do I help her remember? What about panic attacks?

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Carol Bradley Bursack, Health Guide
7/ 6/08 8:02am

Since the doctor has prescribed the drug, I would certainly do my best to make sure she gets it as directed. That's the point of prescribing it. I know that's hard if you aren't living with her. There are many pill boxes with alarms and reminders at drug stores and online, but this are only effective in the earlier stages. If the drug isn't taken properly, it won't help as much as it should, so this is a priority. Is there a neighbor that can help? A teenager that can stop by?

 

One caution: I put my mother-in-law's pills in a daily reminder container only to find she'd been playing a shell game, and had piled a bunch into one segment of the box and more were missing and I had no idea what she had taken. That's when I knew that "solution" was no longer practical and could even be lethal. Human observation is best if at all possible.

Carol

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By J Revels— Last Modified: 12/26/10, First Published: 07/03/08