Alzheimer's and Dementia Weekly
Question:
My mom has been taking Aricept for three years and Namenda for two. She is in Assisted Living and continues to decline. I am not sure that these meds are helping her at all. The physician does not want to take her off the meds because she "May or May not" face a decline.
My question is: how do you go about getting good information on when its time to stop the meds, or do you have stay on them forever.
Answer:
Nurse Dina
The decision of if or when to discontinue medications varies from individual to individual. This type of decision must be made in collaboration with the treating physician who will hopefully have the patient's entire treatment plan in mind when deciding.
Certain medications can be stopped abruptly. Others require being slowly tapered down. The medications in question slow the progression of the disease but do not cure it. There is a good chance that there would be a more.....read the whole answer
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1 comment:
After working as a hospice nurse for 3 years, my observation is that if the individual is declining even with the medication, it is not working and doesn't need to be continued. These medications are made to slow down the process, not cure it-- so if it does not seem to be doing anything, I certainly have never seen a marked decline just from stopping it. Hope that helps.
Nurse Pam
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