New here just found this forum today. My Grandma had been taking 5 mg of Aricept for a month as a trial dose. She did very well on it, she started remembering almost all her words and she started cooking again (she ate sandwiches before). She was out of pills for a few days, but she was put on 10 mg of Aricept, and she got really bad nausea and said she got so dizzy she thought she was dying. She was put on 5 mg again but she still got sick, so right now she isn't taking any. I'm going to cut them in half so it will be 2.5 mg and hopefully she will build up a tolerance to it. I'm wondering, has anyone had a reaction from even a very small dose? I'm not sure if she is now sort of allergic to it or what, and what is the lowest dose you/your loved one has been started at and still seen results? Thanks

Tara,

IF there is any chance she is allergic to the Aricept, DO NOT give her any more... She could die from the amount in her system.

Have her checked for a Urinary Tract Infection AND contact your pharmacist about what is happening with the Aricept. He knows better than your doctor what the side effects might be for allergic reactions..

Tara,

Welcome to our forum. You will love coming here. We have so many warm and compassionate people to help us. If we don't answer you right away, please be patient and don't think we won't or don't care. Many of us just get tied up caring for our loved ones and most times have to wait until their settled for the night.

I don't know much about Aricept. My Mom was on it about 4 years ago, and she had a reaction to it. Her blood pressure went sky high on it, and was having occassional hallucinations. So of course that was the end of that. Her doctor has suggested Namenda, but I choose to not give her that either. So you may want to ask the doctor or pharmacist about Namenda if grandma can't take aricept. I agree with Mundee, you may want to mention whats going on with her to him. They seem to know so much more about medications than the doctors.

Many of our members here have much more experience with alot of the meds the doctors give for AD than I know about, so you should be hearing from them soon. And our administrator - Aitan - knows quite a bit on that subject also. He also helps take care of his grandmother.

When you get a chance, tell us a little about yourself and your grandmother. We're here to help you out as much as we can. Just let us know what we can do for you.

Again Welcome!

Jackie

Hi Tara and welcome!
The nausea, ect. your grandma is experiencing isn't an allergy, it is a side effect, actually. Allergies are of a histamine nature, such as sinuses and can also involve skin rashes, anaphylaxis, ect. you get the picture. I went to the Aricept website and they list several side effects of this medication.

http://www.aricept.com/index.html

In reading the website, it states the pills should never be cut or crushed. This is on the questions page. Also, on the same page, it says to not let the patient run out of medication. As others have suggested, call the pharmacist and ask him about the medication. Let us know what transpires.

Welcome Tara! We actually have a Doctor in the house! Well, one in the making. I've actually never heard of Aricept working...that...well? I think I would be very interested to, if my Loved One could continue to take it? The advice about the pharmasist is a good one. They do tend to know more than the Doctors do. I am hoping Aitan will chime in, and again, welcome!

I don't mean an allergy exactly, I mean more like maybe she could just have developed a sensitivity to it? (Sort of like how my Mom hasn't taken aspirin in 10 years and she is still sensitive to it. She's not deathly allergic, she just gets sort of sick when she takes it.) I've talked to her Dr. and he thinks it's just because she was off it for a while, and that's what I was thinking too (I've done a lot of reading on it). She doesn't have the symptoms of an Aricept allergy when she takes it, no hives or anything like that, she just gets nauseous, which I know is a really common side effect which is supposed to go away once your body gets used to it. I just thought someone might know if it was possible to become sensitive to it after taking it awhile, because the caregivers often know a lot more about the pills their loved ones are on than the doctors
She is going for a blood test so I guess they'd notice if she had some sort of infection? I can ask about it. A family friend said her Mom got a bit crazy sometimes and she'd make her get checked for a bladder infection and she usually had one, so I was going to ask about that anyway.
I want to try a lower dose before giving up on it completely, because it really helped her a lot when she was first taking it, but if there's a long transition period I don't want to put her through that. She was really tired and depressed when she was getting sick every day (it was partly the magnesium she was on that was making her sick though). I hate having to experiment with her pills because if the wrong one is taken out she still gets sick and then she doesn't want to take her pills and I hate that she feels so bad.
I read somewhere that the prescribed dose is between 1-10 mg, so if 2.5 makes her sick I could ask about getting her put on 1 mg (in liquid form, probably?) I'd probably have to help her with that though, right now she can take her pills on her own, I just have to remind her sometimes. Once she gets used to it she usually remembers to take them herself.
I already like it here, everyone is so knowledgable and friendly I've been reading the forums, and I feel kind of strange being here since so many people have it so much worse that her memory loss doesn't seem so bad.
My Grandma has vascular dementia, not Alzheimer's, and she can still live by herself, she just forgets a lot of things (mostly words and short term memories, not things like wearing a jacket when it's cold). Someone is there every day, and we monitor her. Her other kids want her in a home (we live on a farm), but she doesn't want to move, because she couldn't keep her cats and she likes living by herself. She's lived here for 60 years and I don't think she'd live long if she had to move away from her memories, it would probably really confuse her and we wouldn't have time to drive the 20 miles to town to visit her very often. The other kids never come to see her anyway (they say they have no time/money, yet they can go to the Bahamas and visit all their other relatives). They have no idea what she's like or how's she's doing, they just want her in town so they can tell themselves later that they did their part. (I'm bitter, can you tell? )
I'll introduce myself better later, I should get to bed. I'm glad there is a place like this, other people don't/can't really understand.

I wrote this all offline (dialup, you see), and just refreshed the page, lol. I don't know why I didn't think to check if there was an official Aricept website. I'd been wondering if maybe since her pills are cut in half right now, they're absorbing too fast and that's why she's sick? The pharmacist said they can be cut in half, but I read on random drug websites film coated pills like Aricept can't be cut and then I read some people do cut them and there's no problem, so I don't know :S She was on trial 5 mg pills before and she didn't get sick, which is why I was surprised she is now. They only difference was the trial pills were fully coated, no open edges like now. Guess I have to go with the official site. So now I'm not sure what to do. I think I'll try a 2.5 mg piece of pill anyway and if she gets sick, I'll ask about the liquid form or the trial pills again. Or maybe the pills could be recoated with something (they're soo expensive, I don't want to waste them).

And yeah, I've heard a lot of stories about Aricept not working or being really horrible, so it's surprising it worked so well for her and I hope she can keep taking it.

Thanks everybody, and good night

Hi Tara, welcome to the board. I don't recall my grandmother having this type of reaction, but that is listed as a side-effect and may very well be related to the dosage. Let us know if this gets any better with 1/2 the dose.

Tara, welcome to the family. Trust me, we are often much better than those blood relatives.

I am not a big advocate of AD meds. When my friend was alive, we tried 3 different ones and there was never one that seemed to make any difference for any period of time. If you find they are working, then by all means, do what you can to find a way she can tolerate them.

If you end up taking her off the meds, then please consider trying vitamin E. It made a big difference for us for quite awhile.

Again, welcome.

Welcome Tara,

I'm taking care of my husband 24/7. He has had AD over 7 years and is now at stage 7.

When he first was diagnosed, he was started on 5 mg of aricept for, I think it was 2 week, Then it was gradually increased from once a day to twice a day, then he went to 10mg once a day and 5 mg once a day. From there he went to 10 mg twice a day. He was on it for quite a while, then when namenda was introduced in the US. he added that along with the aricept. He never showed any side effects from it. The only incident we had was that it lowered is blood pressure too much. At the time he was taking BP meds so the doctor stop the BP meds and every thing was fine.
Maybe your mother just needed a little more time adjusting to the aricept before increasing it to the 10 mg.
I really don't know if it helped my husband or not, they say it slows down the progression, but how am I to know it it was slowed down or not.
Maybe the doctor will suggest you try the 5mg again, after she has been off of it for awhile to get all of it out of her system. Then start anew.

Good luck and come back often

Hi Tara, welcome!

My mom never had any GI upset from Aricept, but her stomach is made of cast iron, I swear. It's hard to say whether it is side effect, the magnesium or even a tummy bug she might have been working on as far as the nausea.

If you saw an improvement when she was taking it, I'd really hate to see Aricept given up. Rule out any physical illness or infection and try the 5 mg again. I think splitting the pill may not be good because I think the coating on the pill is supposed to have some protective effect for the stomach.

You may also ask your doctor about trying Razadyne, which is a similar type drug, but I believe it has similar side effects. She may not be sensitive to this drug though.

I know the pills are expensive but you don't want to keep giving your grandma pills that are going to make her ill. The coating is there for protective reasons and once it is destroyed, they should not be given. The chemicals in the medication can do damage to her stomach lining and cause even more harm. Cut your losses with the damaged pills and get her a new prescription of uncut pills.

Also, did you know that you can apply for assistance with the drug companies if you are unable to afford medication? Call the manufacturer of Aricept and ask about their program. They will send you an application and have you fax it back to them after you ad the dr. fill out your portions. We did that with my mother and she was able to get her meds free. Also, check into a circuit breaker program in your community. They also help pay for medication as well as give discounts for house taxes and utilities. Make sure, though that your grandma's dosage is regulated before you get her situated with assistance. You want to make sure she is getting the appropriate strength so you don't have to keep filling out new paperwork every time it is switched.

Tara,

Ask the doctor for samples.

DH was on Namenda for two years before the insurance decided to cover the cost, at least part of the cost. I never had to buy them, between his PC and Neurologist, he was supplied with samples. The samples are there and you may as well make use of them. The doctor can't say more than no he doesn't have any samples. It won't hurt to ask.

Hi
Sorry I haven't been around, my internet has been crappy again. I'm trying to switch to a different provider. Grandma took her 5 mg again before I could take them out, and she hasn't been getting sick anymore. I guess enough must have absorbed before she threw up that her body could get sort of used to it. I'm glad about that. Her prescription will be done soon, and she'll be switching to the 10 mg so I hope her body is used to it by then.
We're in Canada, and there's a drug program where necessary prescriptions only cost $15 or less. If the Dr decides she needs those pills, he just has to fill out some forms and then it will cost $15 a month instead of $160. So hopefully that'll happen. I'll have to ask him about it if it's not covered next month. She'll get a refund if he decides it is.
Hopefully my internet will be good soon and I can actually come on here ttyl

Hi Tara, I'm in Canada too!
My Mom also had nausea when she started taking 5mg. of aricept but after a week she was fine and the Dr. increased the dose to 10mg after a month. She was fine until just a while ago when she refused all meds for a week. I know that you are not supposed to just stop taking aricept. You are supposed to taper it off.
We had to start at 5mg all over again and this time she was much worse with the nausea and tiredness. We got her back up to 10mg and the Dr. also put her on Ebixa (namenda in the U.S.) She is much more pleasant now. No more catastrophic responses and actually smiles at me once in a while.
Take care.
northernlights

Northernlights and Tara,
So nice to have our canadian neighbors on here with us. My husband has a sister that lives in Canada in a town called Barrie. Hear of it? And also a few cousins that live near Toronto. Don't remember the name of the town, but a suburb of Toronto. He's not here, but I'll ask him when he returns. Beautiful country Canada, and beautiful people. Thanks for coming here and being a part of our forum.

Jackie

He just came in, the name of the town is Etobicoke? Don't know if thats how it's spelled but I think thats how its pronounced.