I just received a call from the NH saying that the doctor is taking all the residents and my Mom off of Namenda. Any advice?

Daisy, not sure but in the US we are no longer able to get 5 or 10 mg Namenda. Only the XR is currently available as far as I know. The pharmacies sent out notifications to those using the 5 and 10 mg back in May stating it was being discontinued. I see on your profile you are in England. Maybe that is why it is different.

Anybody know for sure?

the thing is my hubby takes memantine but product is made by ebixa ?

Daisy it is two different medications. Namenda and Namenda XR which is replacing the previous formula.

Neither is shown to change the progression of Alzheimer's. However I have read stories on this site about what occurs when stopping these medications. And they run the gamut. Everything from definite improvement to a very rapid decline. It largely depends on the physiology of the one taking the medication. Once you have met a person with Alzheimer's you have met a person with Alzheimer's.

i had an email to say that this medication was being stopped so why is it still available no disrespect to those who it is working for but I have been told it dosent do anything for people with dementia how they know I do not know ?

Gotta keep those pharmaceuticals raking in all that dough! Yup! I took my husband off Namenda over a year ago, and his thinking has been much clearer ever since. I don't need any doctor to tell me how to read my husband's condition. She hasn't been his wife for 63 years!

One more post for me on this thread.

At the top of this page, there's often an ad for Namenda XR. Right in the orange banner, it says the following:

"There is no evidence that NAMENDA XR prevents or slows the underlying disease process in patients with Alzheimer's disease."

Why are doctors prescribing it like popcorn?

Whynot, Bizarre, I have heard the opposite, that the 5 and 10mg had been pulled, replaced with the 28 mg. I know some pharmacies are having some trouble getting the XR.

http://www.fda.gov/downloads/Drugs/DrugSafety/DrugShortages/UCM386064.pdf

Talked to the doctor and the FDA has pulled the 28mg XR because of FDA issues but the doctor and the pharmacy said that they still can get the 5mg and 10mg and my mom will be able to still take her 10mg twice a day. He did say that down the road Namenda could stop making the 5mg and 10mg all together. I guess I will cross that bridge when I get to it. Thanks again for all the great information and support.

My mom took Namenda and had no side effects, at all. If your mom has no side effects, I wouldn't worry about them if you think they help.

Namenda did not help my mom, so I'm not saying that it actually does work, I'm just saying that she didn't have a problem. As with all medications, some people have side effects, others don't.

Also, there are so many studies around, until there's one that truly conclusive, if you think this helps, I'd just start by talking to the doctor at the nursing home about this, first, to see if he'll just leave her on it. If he won't, then find another doctor outside the nursing home, maybe her old doctor, to talk to him.

If it's not hurting her and if you think it's helping her, put this to him nicely and ask if this study is so conclusive and he's so sure about this and, sometimes, a doctor will go along with something that "does no harm." I'd do this in-person, though.

Thanks for all the great information. I'm going to call the nursing home this morning and try and get some answers. I asked if she was going to be put on anything else to replace the Namenda and I was told no. This is the part that worries me...... why mess with something that isn't broke. She has done so well the last 8 years, I really think it needs to be left alone. As for the rest of the residents, I hope they have family that cares enough to ask questions.

Why not, is it possible that you may have misunderstood the doctor or did not receive a full explation? I ask because Namenda 10 mg tablets are no longer being manufactured. The company has replaced it with Namenda XR, that is given once a day. My Mom was also on 10 mg twice a day, so is on the 28 mg XR once a day. I just find it hard to believe that a doctor would simply remove nukerous patients from any drug because they don't think there is value in giving the medication.

Wow tough call...Memantine (marketed as Namenda) I do not know a lot about... BUT, IF it seems to be effective with the other meds I'd leave it alone unless the doc can give you a logical explanation as to why not?

My dad takes aricept. There was a time when we considered changing him to Namenda, but the aricept has kept him from not being uncontrollably confused like he was so I didn't bother changing. I would like to learn your results. Very odd that a physician would take everyone in a facility off a drug! You might seriously consider contacting the pharmaceutical manufacturer of Namenda about this....

whynotsmile13, there is no way to know if Namenda is still helping your mother except to see how she does without it. But if she is doing fine now and has no possible side effects, why rock the boat?

That is what my husband's neurologist always said about his drugs. "I can't say for sure if this drug is still effective, but he is doing so well I am afraid to rock the boat."

If that is how you feel about it, then advocate for continuing the drug.

Some drugs are probably not worth prescribing on the very small chance that they might help. But if you happen to be one of the patients in the "very small chance" group it would be a shame to stop now (in my opinion).

I give this doctor credit for keeping up with research and not just putting someone on a popular drug and never reconsidering. He is not a villain. But I think I would have opposed him for my husband.

I arbitrarily took my husband off Namenda over a year ago because it seemed to make his thinking foggier. He has been much better off without it. But, then the fat cat pharmaceuticals would rather have him on it. And so would his doctor, who is in bed with these vultures. But I am his caregiver, so I have the last word.

Cut to the chase. Go to jointcommission.org and file an online complaint, tonight. You are dealing with typical administrative myopia infused with corporate idiocy. I would classify it as abuse, depriving a patient of medication.

Thanks MaggieMarshall, you have some really good points. My mom has done so well on it that I'm afraid that it could go the other way for her. Since I received the call late tonight from the nurse, I do plan on calling and talking to the head nurse tomorrow.

Oh, one more thing . . . talk to the doctor. I'm betting he won't discontinue it if you make a fuss.

If you really want her on it, you can get a new doctor not associated with the nursing home.

Me? I say good riddance.

Why not take a wait-and-see approach? The nursing home put mom on Namenda ten days before she left rehab. She had awful sleep disturbances. Vivid dreams...not pleasant ones...and, I'll be darned, if she didn't sound like Linda Blair some of the time as she talked in her sleep. Stopped the Namenda after I did some research on it, and three days later, she was normal. No middle-of-the-night wake-ups...no vivid and vocal dreaming.

Dr. Peter Rabins, Johns Hopkins, says:

"However, colleagues whose opinions I value feel that a drug such as Namenda offers false hope and the benefit is so minimal that it should not be used unless family members feel strongly that they want to try it with their loved one."

johnshopkinshealthalerts/alerts/memory/Namenda-effectiveness-Alzheimers_5958-1.html