Discontinued Use of Aricept

[Diana]

I'm wanting to know what the effects of Aricept are for a person that has been on it for over a year, then suddenly discontinues usage. What are the effects? Is there a possibility of causing damage (quicker memory loss, behavioral changes) if use is discontinued for over 30 days?

[Robert Brown]

what percentage of patients live to the total loss of memory ?

[Robert Brown]

what percentage of patients live until they lose all memory

[Dan]

Please try using Mangosteen Juice to replace the drug.
Dr Frederic Templeman in the Health Journal #44 said,
"I have been using Mangosteen with my patients for almost 18 months use Mangosteen extract as a first-line therapy and in my opinion, the Mangosteen extract equals or outperforms Aricept".
If you need more information, please contact me [e-mail]

[Jeanie]

Please someone respond soon. My Mother in law - whom I love very much - hurt herself at home over 3 yrs ago. The hospital thought a lung was punctured, but realized only the sac had been punctured. They kept her overnite for observation. After being told not to drug her as she never could handle drugs, they did so - a morophine drip & zoloft because she seemed to be anxious. She fell out of the bed, evidently throwing her leg over the rail. Broke her hip in 3 places. I saw the Dr. in her room & reminded him of the 'no drug' info. He said he had now removed that. Surgery came the next day. Then 5 days later a nursing home. They continued to give her zoloft (I know she did not need that drug). In the nursing facility I could tell she was trying her best to be herself. Finally well enough to be in assisted living, she became aware of not being home & it upset her. The dr. thought she needed something and began aricept?? She progressively got worse. Seems ok in the a.m. but twice thru the day she becomes aggitated - knowing she is not at her home. She holds wonderful conversations. Remembers much. Has a sense of humor yet her mind has become blank in some way. I want her off the med. It is not right for her. 3 yrs later and no sign of alzheimers. I know some alzheimers patients - nothing like Mom is. She is losing such wonderful years of her life with the wrong med. Help please. Is there a chat room where we can share? thankyou

[Patty]

My Mother was put on Aricept(5mg) 2 1/2 years ago after a mis-diagnosis of seizures and an overdose of the drug Depacote. She was active and driving before this and had no evidence of any medical problems except for the "tingling" behind her ear that she went in for. That overdose gave her dementia and other severe side effects and when we took her to another neurologist she was taken off the Depacote but he wanted to leave her on the Aricept.(He said it didn't hurt anything and might help with short term memory loss.) She did regain most all of her health after this but started a slow decline on the Aricept over the next two years. Her current internal medicine doctor increased her dosage to 10mg of Aricept four months ago and told me she would never recover from the dementia. I have always suspected the Aricept only took away her appetite (she lost 32 pounds) and in no way helped her. I considered the dementia was caused by dehydration and poor nutrition that she experienced as a result of her lack of appetite. She lived alone and practically quit eating. She went from bad to worse on the 10mg until I took her off Aricept about six weeks ago. Wow! Within days her cognitive ability was almost that of two years ago. Her appetite improved significantly. She was no longer a zombie but thought and conversed rationally. She seemed to have no memory of her decline or that she had been living with me for over three months now. I had to explain it all to her and it was almost too much. We went to visit relatives she had previously not remembered and the change in her behavior was beyond my expectations. She has seem to slow down mentally the last 2 weeks and has had a hard time with the short term memory. Even with this it is better than it had ever been on the Aricept. Sometimes I think maybe I should put her back on the drug, but I remind myself of all of the CRAZY irrational behavior that she had exhibited on the Aricept - especially on the 10mg dose. I am not willing to go back there.

[Ali]

Hi Diane, I read your comment on the use of aricept for an A.D. patient who quickly stopped use. I dont have an asnwer for you about what damage may or may not occur when a patient stops taking the perscribed drug but i do know in reference to your comment about the memory loss becoming more rapid; that is to be expected. Aricept is a drug used to change the way neurotransmitters communicate and the strength of that chemical messenger. Aricipet is generally meant to slow the process of the deterioration of the memory and brain. Alzheimers patients have neurofibrillary tangles and plaques in their brains and with drugs like aricept (donepezil) and Razadyne and Namenda the drug will only work for so long, it may be one year of five years but when the drug has run its course of the patient has become immune to it it is very typical for the memory loss to rapidly increase and deteriorate. If youhave any questions i may be able to help you
[e-mail]
Allison

[stephie]

My nephew who is 25 was diagnosed with bi-polar in November,his medicines were not working and the Dr. put him on depacote because he was very manic, he overdosed on them, taking 60 pills to get the voices to stop, I am wondering what the long term effect of this is going to be, we have noticed it takes him longer to answer us, he stumbles saying several words, could it have caused brain damage, any answers will be greatly appreciated?

[Chris]

I was diagnosed with treatment resistant major depression many years ago. I have taken so many different medications that if someone named one it would probably be on my list. My depression, anxiety, social phobia, and weight gain have kept me from working for the past 6 years. My doctor current psychiatrist made the comment that it was time to try non traditional methods to help my depression. This is how I started on aricept. It was a sample package from the doctor for the first month. It started me out at half of 5mg. of aricept for the first few weeks but I could not handle the side effects so I cut it the smaller mg. pill in half. I have been on this dosage for a few weeks and things have become horrific for me. I feel like I have the flu yet I have had my flu shot this year. Flu symptoms are one of the numerous side-effects of this medication. It is difficult to even walk my dog to take out the trash. I had one of the worse migraines the other day and to day my anxiety and agitation was so bad I was shaking. I take Klonopin for my anxiety. I don't know what to do anymore. My self-esteem is in the toilet and this medication only made me feel worse. I hope this helps someone else. I just don't know what to do anymore.

[Renee]

Ali wrote:

Hi Diane, I read your comment on the use of aricept for an A.D. patient who quickly stopped use. I dont have an asnwer for you about what damage may or may not occur when a patient stops taking the perscribed drug but i do know in reference to your comment about the memory loss becoming more rapid; that is to be expected. Aricept is a drug used to change the way neurotransmitters communicate and the strength of that chemical messenger. Aricipet is generally meant to slow the process of the deterioration of the memory and brain. Alzheimers patients have neurofibrillary tangles and plaques in their brains and with drugs like aricept (donepezil) and Razadyne and Namenda the drug will only work for so long, it may be one year of five years but when the drug has run its course of the patient has become immune to it it is very typical for the memory loss to rapidly increase and deteriorate. If youhave any questions i may be able to help you
[e-mail]
Allison

Explain to me why there is rapid decline when Aricept is stopped. If it has indeed stopped working, then it shouldn't create a sharp decline when withdrawn because it isn't working to begin with! If it is STILL working, why would you take her off? I am currently having this arguement with her doctor. I do not want her taken off this drug. She has had good results.

[bisj]

Robert Brown wrote:

what percentage of patients live to the total loss of memory ?

I have the same question. In addition, will the cause of my mother's death be Dementia? I'm not understanding something. I also don't totally grasp how if she no longer has any mini-strokes, though some brain cells have died, why will she continue to lose memory and at some point, lose all of her memory. Also, why doesn't the drug continue to work forever? I'm speaking specifically of Aricept.

[bisj]

Ali wrote:

Hi Diane, I read your comment on the use of aricept for an A.D. patient who quickly stopped use. I dont have an asnwer for you about what damage may or may not occur when a patient stops taking the perscribed drug but i do know in reference to your comment about the memory loss becoming more rapid; that is to be expected. Aricept is a drug used to change the way neurotransmitters communicate and the strength of that chemical messenger. Aricipet is generally meant to slow the process of the deterioration of the memory and brain. Alzheimers patients have neurofibrillary tangles and plaques in their brains and with drugs like aricept (donepezil) and Razadyne and Namenda the drug will only work for so long, it may be one year of five years but when the drug has run its course of the patient has become immune to it it is very typical for the memory loss to rapidly increase and deteriorate. If youhave any questions i may be able to help you
[e-mail]
Allison

What can you tell me about Multi-Infarct Dementia/Vascular Dementia? Can you explain the specific differences between Vascular Dementia and Alzheimers? Can you explain why, if someone no longer has mini-strokes (which caused Dementia), why will they continue to lose memory and why, at some point, they will lose all their memory? Do you know on average, how long a person lives after being diagnosed with Dementia? How long is it possible to live with the lost of memory? I'm not getting the total picture. Losing memory is synomous with brain cells dying, correct? Those brain cells are not just memory cells, correct? Those memory cells, are not cells that 'remember' to tell the heart to pump or an organ to do this or that and when, correct? How long, on average, is a person's memory retained after taking Aricept?

[chris]

I would like opinion on patient starting Aricept at the age of 95. Could that help or would side effects hurt more. Thank you.

[Beverly]

My Mother has been taking Aricept but has been having horrifying nightmares. Is this a common side effect? Any suggestions as to how to handle this one?

[Carlos]

Hi Alli, Can you comment more on Aricept wearing out! Also, what about switching Exelon when this happens?

[Margie]

bisj wrote:

<quoted text>
What can you tell me about Multi-Infarct Dementia/Vascular Dementia? Can you explain the specific differences between Vascular Dementia and Alzheimers? Can you explain why, if someone no longer has mini-strokes (which caused Dementia), why will they continue to lose memory and why, at some point, they will lose all their memory? Do you know on average, how long a person lives after being diagnosed with Dementia? How long is it possible to live with the lost of memory? I'm not getting the total picture. Losing memory is synomous with brain cells dying, correct? Those brain cells are not just memory cells, correct? Those memory cells, are not cells that 'remember' to tell the heart to pump or an organ to do this or that and when, correct? How long, on average, is a person's memory retained after taking Aricept?

Do a search on vascular dementia on Wikipedia. There are a few websites and links there that may be of help to you.

I'm in a similar situation, with a friend diagnosed with AD but...(big but) I do not believe that she even has AD at all. A few months ago she woke up very off balance. Walking as if pregnant leaning to the back and left and toppling over.

They said she had AD and then put her on Aricept 10mgs. She's been terrible ever since. Mean, confused, not herself, etc.

Two days ago we ran out of her prescription for Aricept and had to skip an evening. Yesterday I almost fell out of my chair as she was great. Back to her old self mentally and physically. The only thing I can think of that happened differently was the lack of "Aricept".

Today she is back on it and TERRIBLE again. I've been reading that if she really does have vascular dementia and not AD - it seems Aricept is the LAST thing she should be on. Aspirin would fare much better.

Keep reading, researching and simply listening to your loved one. You'll find the answers you need.

[ayr2]

Search for adverse reactions to Aricept reported to the FDA at www.adverse-drug-reaction.net

[ferdie]

Im planing to take the Bar exams this year and I would like to know if Aricept, Donepezil can be use by normal individuals for memory enhancement purposes?

[Jane]

Facts regarding the use of Mangosteen in lieu of Aricept / Namenda.

[Doug]

I don't believe in either Aricept or Razadyne. My mom is 66 years old and this Alzheimer's doctor says she has MCI (mild cognizant impairment), and subsequently prescribed Aricept. However, after trying aricept for one year (with severe nightmares) her memory test she took a year later showed significantly worse results. Not only that, I never noticed anything wrong with my mom until after she started taking meds. It's as if the meds caused her memory to worsen. The doctor then prescribed Razadyne, and my mom then sufferred dizziness and light-headedness. She has discontinued all meds and after two weeks she finally appears to be her normal self. She is no longer repeating things, her memory seems to have gotten better, and I am convinced these drugs do not work and they are certainly not proven.