Can Namenda make Alzheimer's worse?

My husband was on Donepezil (Aricept) for several months, increasing the dosage every 8 weeks (alternately increasing another medicine as well, so we could watch for side effects). You won’t see a change per se, as it’s supposed to be slowing down the progression of the disease, not recovering or restoring anything that is lost. He finally started fussing about the amount of medicine he was taking & accusing me of trying to make him a zombie. We were told if he got off the Donepezil to expect him to lose any benefit he had gotten from it. At his last neuro-psych appt., he was taken off the Donepezil & put on Memantine (Namenda). 5MG (one pill) at bedtime, and after two weeks with no side effects present, taking a second pill in the morning as well. He’s been on it about three & a half weeks total. It seems to me his confusion & short term memory are noticeably worse, (I’m to check in with neuro-psych at the one month mark). But who’s to say it’s not from coming off the Donepezil or just the dementia itself getting worse? Side note: He also has some Parkinson’s symptoms, though not officially diagnosed yet. Since changing meds his drooling seems to be improving, but his stuttering has gotten worse. He stuttered when he was young & seemed to have outgrown it, but it is now back with a vengeance. I’m very much moving into the “why bother?” camp regarding meds. I had hoped to keep him at home & as independent as possible, for as long as possible, but we have other issues at play that are wearing me down. He has a daughter who is a nurse at a skilled care facility & she says they have seen some very good results with some of the residents who are on Memantine. So what works for some may not work at all for others. We have a follow up visit at the two month mark & I’m leaning towards just taking him off the medicine. I would agree though - get passed the three week point & see what happens. You might eventually see “improvement”.

Whalesong: Perhaps you should at least give the medication one more week and/or adhere to the neurologist's guidelines.

My mother-in-law has been taking it for 6 weeks now. The neurologist started with a smaller dose as a sort of trial and increased it after 1 month. So far the results for her have been very good. It’s not a drastic night and day change, but she is no worse than she was and is better in a lot of ways. I would say overall it seems to be a positive change in her memory, mood, and behavior. She definitely has not seen the symptoms your husband has but we are all different and one size does not fit all. Hence, the trial period before increasing dosage. Maybe this drug isn’t for your husband. Talk to your doctor about it.

Contact: https://www.alzheimers.org.uk/about-dementia/treatments/dementia-drugs/how-do-drugs-alzheimers-disease-work#content-start

I would be very careful what / who you listen to. You want an objective opinion/professional feedback and information.

I would encourage you to contact your local Alzheimer's Association.

Everyone is different which is represented here with differ experiences.
Do not stop abruptly.

What is your intention in starting this drug? and what are the overall benefits, based on the severity of the disease currently? In other words, it is worth it to slow it down now ? While this may seem cruel, the benefits need to outweigh the side-effects (or worse). Are you doing this for you or him (husband?).
If on this drug, how much time will it give you and what is / would be the quality of that time (awareness, interaction, clarity/more clarity, etc.
I read that it doesn't work for everyone).
These are important questions you need to ask yourself.
You want to keep your husband as calm and safe as possible, and these decisions certainly are not easy. My heart goes out to you.

Gena/Touch Matters

Tried it for several weeks with my husband. He became almost completely a blank slate and did not remember anything including his own name. The medical professionals all implied that this could not be right and also told us to give it more time. Other people who have ill spouses told me that they experienced the same thing, so we insisted on stopping it. You do have to titrate down BTW - don't stop it cold.

https://www.mayoclinic.org/drugs-supplements/memantine-oral-route/side-effects/drg-20067012

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Put a call in to the doctor who prescribed the Namenda. Or even the PCP,
(primary care physician).
Do not stop the drug abruptly on your own.
There may be other things going on, such as a UTI, or an adverse reaction due to other medications he may be taking, such as sleeping meds, herbal remedies, and even supplements. Or it could be dose related.
Continue to take notes on any changes.

First, personal opinion on some of these drugs that are supposed to slow the progression of the decline. They only work for a time. At some point they no longer work as they are supposed to.
My Husband was on Aricept for quite a while.
Namenda was added and as I recall this is a drug that needed to be "titrated" so a lower dose was given for a bit then it was increased that dose was held for a bit before another increase.
I noticed with each increase my Husband would have a personality change and that would remain until the next increase then it would effect him yet again. I discussed this with the doctor and we came to the conclusion that it was not worth it to continue so I had to "titrate" him back down off the medication.

Side note here....(simply because it is me responding)
Is your husband a Veteran? If so the VA might be of help. He may qualify for some in home help. Medications and other supplies could be provided as well.
Contact the local Veterans Assistance Commission and they can help determine if he qualifies for any benefits.
And have you thought about Adult Day Programs. It would give you a break, give him something to do a few days a week.

My DH has Parkinson's related dementia and started with aricept then namenda was added later. It has been helpful for him, but had to cut back to 1/2 tablet of aricept. There are so many things that can cause confusion along with new meds. Definitely don't make any adjustments or discontinue without the doctor's evaluation.

Infections of any type can cause confusion. If you have not done so yet, consider getting a UTI home test from the pharmacy. I keep them on hand because I have kidney stones and randomly test my DH whenever things don't seem right. The ones at the pharmacy usually are only 3 to a pack but readily available.

Here is what I keep handy: https://www.diagnoxhealth.com/product/urinox-10 I like these because they are individually wrapped and available 20 per box and a lot cheaper than getting three at a time. Among other things, these also check for dehydration which can cause confusion.

I only use the home tests as a screening tool. If it is negative and I still suspect a problem because of other symptoms, I follow through with a call to the doctor. Even if it is positive I do not rely on it 100% and definitely call the doctor. Home tests leave a lot of room for error.

My experience with Aracept for my dad and Namenda for my wife were both expensive and useless. I stopped them when I realised there was no value in continuing them.

My mom reacted poorly to it many years ago, she only took it either one or two days. She took it one weekend, and experienced changes. My dad told the doctor it wasn't the right medicine for her.

If the pharmacist recommended giving it three weeks, I should give it three weeks unless something dramatic develops, in which case take advice again immediately.

"Can a given drug make a given type of dementia worse?" depends on lots of factors, and especially on how much detailed investigation has been done into a person's condition. Certain types of dementia can be made a very great deal worse by inappropriate medications; but I'm only speaking in general - if that were the problem here with your DH I'm sure you'd have noticed!

He's almost to the 3 week mark so just stick it out and then have a discussion with his neurologist after that about deciding to wean him off it.

From Google:
Some side effects of Namenda are dizziness, confusion, headache, sleepiness, constipation, vomiting, pain (especially in the back), and coughing. More serious side effects are rare but include shortness of breath and hallucination.

Can memantine make dementia worse?
In addition to antipsychotics, Ely said that drugs like memantine can also cause dementia patients to become less alert than they were before taking the drug. “Such drugs, while hopefully given to increase engagement, can have individual negative outcomes [including patients becoming more lethargic].

What happens when you stop taking Namenda?
It comes with serious risks if you don't take it as prescribed. If you stop taking the drug or don't take it at all: Your dementia symptoms may not be relieved, and they may get worse. If you miss doses or don't take the drug on schedule: Your medication may not work as well or may stop working completely.

Here is a link to an article about Memantine and how it's not thought to be very effective in the first place, and then only for advanced cases of AD/dementia:

https://www.center4research.org/namenda-works-severe-alzheimers-disease-dementia/

It's not been proven that ANY medication is effective to help improve 'memory loss' per se, with dementia or AD. Unfortunately, the disease is progressive so the symptoms are treated, not the disease itself. At least not yet; medical science has yet to arrive at that place.

My mother had pretty bad dementia with neuropathy in her legs and was prescribed Cymbalta for the neuropathy, which is known to help with the nerve pain. And it DID help her quite a lot with that issue, but it made her dementia SO bad that it had it be discontinued, which was sad. She was falling and not even realizing she was on the floor after she'd fallen. It was a terrible mess, but her pain was relieved :( Note: She had to be SLOWLY WEANED off of Cymbalta to avoid serious side effects (and this after only 4 weeks of taking it) and she STILL had a terrible time coming off of it, with horrible mood swings & cussing, etc.

Maybe you are best off waiting the 3 weeks to see if things improve with the Namenda, as the pharmacist said.........at least give it a chance, I guess. Then make your decision afterward weighing out the pro's (if any) and the cons. Be sure to have DH take the meds as directed, and DO NOT stop this medication w/o consulting his doctor.

Best of luck.