Aricept

Aricept questions and answers

Learn more about Aricept.

Q: where can i find information about a generic aricept medicine?
aricept medicine it is used for people who have alzheimers disease

A: why not contact your Alzheimer's Support Group near you, or try some Nursinghomes. Also, you could go on Google and look up Health Issues. Good Luck.

Q: Can aricept be mind altering for one who does not need it?
I ask because it got stolen Thanks. Yes, the house got broken into and some dip stole Alzheimer's, diabetic, and blood pressure meds. Hope he has fun with that because....yeah.

A: Wow....that takes the cake. Someone stole someone's AlTZHEIMER meds??? What is the world coming to? Some of the patients reported seeing things that weren't there...they also had issues with loose stools and nausea....I can't imagine anyone getting a kick out of those sorts of side effects....but ya never know, do ya?

Q: what is the drug Aricept used for?
what dosages are used? and does it lose it's effectiveness over a long period of time? thanks!

A: Alzheimers or memory problems. The recommended starting dose for people with Alzheimer's disease is Aricept 5 mg once a day, taken at bedtime. Your healthcare provider may choose to increase your dose to 10 mg once daily after you have been taking the 5 mg dose for at least four to six weeks. This helps to decrease the risk of experiencing a side effect. The maximum daily dose of Aricept is 10 mg. Your healthcare provider may decide to decrease your dose or have you stop taking Aricept if a side effect occurs or if he or she feels you are no longer benefiting from the medication. No it shouldn't lose effectiveness over a period of time.

Q: Which Alzheimer's drug is more effective: Aricept or Namenda?
My grandmother has moderate Alzheimer's disease, and her doctor recommends both Aricept and Namenda. However, she cannot afford to take both (which would cost over $4,000 per year), at least until generic forms are available. So, if she can only take one, which one should it be?

A: Clinicians should base the choice of pharmacologic agents on tolerability, adverse effect profile, ease of use, and cost of medication. The evidence is insufficient to compare the effectiveness of different pharmacologic agents for the treatment of dementia.

Q: Do you know of anyone taking Aricept, and if so, *have you personally* noticed any improvement in them?
I'm looking for testimonials, not statistics, not claims made by doctors or pharmaceutical companies, not second hand info. Just testimonials.

A: Be very vigilant, one of the side effects is loss of apetite and reluctance to eat. My mother starved herself to death, it can make food taste disgusting and bitter. There is research showing an increase in suicide among seniors and the "preferred" method is starving themselves to death - yah right ! I am trying to find out how many of these "suicides" were on Aricept I blame my mothers death and the others on the side effects of aricept ! There was NO improvement in her mental state, in fact it got worse while she was on the drug. I didnt find out until AFTER she died that this was one of the side effects and thanks to my email campaigns and hassling them they now list this on their commercials as a potential side effect but they do NOT say how extreme it can be.

Q: Can a patient taking Aricept drink any alcohol?
93 yr. old wants to drink Gin. She takes Aricept, & Lexapro

A: I checked and alcohol is to be avoided while on Aricept.

Q: What is the effect of alcohol when taking Aricept?


A: THIS IS SOMETHING THAT YOU NEED TO ASK THE DOCTOR. I WOULD ONLY ASSUME THAT ANY INTAKE OF ALCOHOL WOULD JUST MAKE THE SITUATION (DEMENTIA) WORSE. THIS IS A MEDICATION GIVEN TO PEOPLE WHO ARE SUFFERING WITH ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE. ALCOHOL SHOULD NOT BE INGESTED .. THIS IS JUST MY OPINION.. BUT I THINK THAT THE DOCTOR WOULD PROBABLY HAVE THE SAME ANSWER...

Q: I want to know if it would be dangerous to taken Aricept, Namenda, and Phosphatidylserine Plus?


A: http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/drugdb/drugLeaflet.jsp?id=6432&drug=Aricept&func=lf http://www.healthatoz.com/healthatoz/Atoz/drugdb/drugLeaflet.jsp?id=47628&func=lf&drug=Namenda

Q: is a person on aricept legally able to have another person take him to a lawyer office and have a will made ou?


A: Depends. The drug is irrelevant. What matters is the mental competence of the person.

Q: Do you ever laff (just a little) at the Aricept commercials?
No thumbs down from the Alzheimer's Advocates...it's just that lady getting lost in the bowling alley cracks me up. YA picked the scategory. Uncle Joey...is that a Spare?

A: Yeah, but just a little.

Q: is it legal to take a elderly person on aricept to a lawyers office to have a will made out or to change?


A: The use of aricept is not the defining point, but rather whether the person was of sound mind. By rights, the lawyer should be questioning the elder to make sure they understand and approve the changes to be made. If the changes are to the benefit of the person accompanying the person, the lawyer should be noting that. Any other heirs or potential heirs could very well have a strong argument for nullification of the changes, depending on the conditions of the person.

Q: Aricept as a treatment for Alzheimer's, does it help anybody?
My mother was diagnosed with Alzheimer's Disease and her doctors put her on Aricept. I don't think it helped at all. I doubt if she had Alzheimer's because she started to get dementia after she had a bout of congestive heart failure and got a pacemaker. I think the dementia was related to her heart problem. Also, the books I read about Alzheimer's say the people who have it live for years and years and slowly deteriorate. My mother died within two years of getting the diagnosis and she deteriorated quickly--which also sounds more the way vascular dementia is described in the books I read. Maybe it's better she died quickly, because it was so sad to see this intelligent woman lose her mind. But I digress, has anybody heard of anyone having positive results from Aricept? I don't think it helped my mother; I wonder if it helped anybody else.

A: First of all, my heart goes out to you. My mother suffered from Alzheimer's also. My mother was also an intelligent woman who began showing signs of forgetfulness at first. It was soon diagnosed as dementia. She too was prescribed Aricept. In my mother's experience it did not seem to help at all either. She was on it for about 4 years. I too probably read every book available about Alzheimer's Disease. What I also learned was that stressful events (whether family issues, living situations, health issues or simply changes in their daily routine) seem to accelerate the progression of the disease. I also strongly believe that there are hereditary factors involved, as my grandmother displayed similar symptoms when I was a child (but back then it was called senility). Multi-infarct dementia, also known as vascular dementia such as you describe, is the second most common form of dementia after Alzheimer disease in the elderly. The term refers to a group of syndromes caused by different mechanisms all resulting in vascular lesions in the brain. Early detection and accurate diagnosis are important, as vascular dementia is at least partially preventable. This type of demetia is related to strokes and often goes unnoticed in it's early stages. I believe that my mother also had this type of demenia because she later suffered from more apperant strokes. Did your mother show signs of "mini" strokes in the years proceeding her diagnsis? After the onset of my mom's diagnosis she lived for another 5-6 years. Her experience was progressive. She went from being very physically abled yet unable recall recent events along with difficulty in following instructions to becoming bedridden and unable to eat on her own. Eventually, she no longer recognized family and friends including me, with whom she lived with. During the last 6 month's of her life she could no longer talk. Whatever the cause or reasoning behind such a scary and heartbreaking disease, I do hope that science can someday find a cure or even better treatment of the disease. It really is a devistating illness, not only to the person experiencing it but also to their family and friends. Take care.

Q: is it safe to take aricept and st johns wort?


A: Your best (and safest) bet would be to ask a pharmacist if there are any interactions listed between the drugs and supplements you're taking. Doctors and pharmacists both have access to a database of drug and supplement interactions and they can tell you quickly if you can safely take them together or not.... anyone here will just have a best guess from searching on the internet (which isn't always accurate, as we all know) ;-) Good luck!

Q: Does anyone know of anything for alzheimers besides aricept, that has a lot of side effects?


A: I think you are saying Aricept has a lot of side effects? Anyways, a medicine called Exelon is also used for mild to moderate Alzheimer's. Unfortunately it can also cause nausea or lack of appetite in some people. http://www.exelon.com/index.jsp?usertrack.filter_applied=true&NovaId=3350119459238032100