My mother's memory care facility had their resident doctor prescribe Depakote 2 times daily and Seroquel at night. My mother has always been feisty and independent. She was diagnosed with vascular dementia 2 years ago, and finally had to go into a facility. Her behavior became combative, physically aggressive, and she was very agitated. My concern now is that she is too passive. I thought Depakote had quit recommending use for this with dementia. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
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I understand that this option is not available to everyone and there will come a time when I can no longer take mom out to see her own doctors but even so we've had to switch her anti-psych drug and she is now taking risperdal
She is more docile but still feisty and she is more confused than she was a year ago
All of these drugs carry FDA black label warnings not to use in elderly dementia patients so one has to get beyond that hurdle when deciding what to do - for me I didn't want mom asleep during the day or put at greater risk for falls than she already is
Let's us know what the doctor says
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The same drug works differently in different people. This is especially true with drugs that treat the brain, and doubly true when the brains are damaged.
The doctor's care plan was reasonable. It just doesn't work for your mom's particular brain. Perhaps fine-tuning the dosages will make it effective. Or perhaps other drugs should be tried.
This is extremely common. Don't lose faith in that doctor. Work with him or her to make adjustments. Only if the doctor or the facility is unwilling to make adjustments would I consider a second opinion.
Is your mom "Zombie-like" or docile? There is a big difference , at least in my mind, between those two states. Perhaps now that her agitation and aggression are being treated, the doctor can dial back the dosage to see if a lower dosage can prevent the untoward behavior and leave her still "feisty".