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Who are you caring for?
Which best describes their mobility?
How well are they maintaining their hygiene?
How are they managing their medications?
Does their living environment pose any safety concerns?
Fall risks, spoiled food, or other threats to wellbeing
Are they experiencing any memory loss?
Which best describes your loved one's social life?
Acknowledgment of Disclosures and Authorization
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington. Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services. APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid. We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour. APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment. You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints. Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights. APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.I agree that: A.I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information"). B.APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink. C.APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site. D.If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records. E.This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year. F.You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
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Mostly Independent
Your loved one may not require home care or assisted living services at this time. However, continue to monitor their condition for changes and consider occasional in-home care services for help as needed.
Remember, this assessment is not a substitute for professional advice.
Share a few details and we will match you to trusted home care in your area:
My mom is 85 and in early stages of dementia. She took her first dose of aricept last night. Also in her regimen is half a lorazepam to help her sleep some nights. Is it safe for her to take both of these at night?
If you only look at the drug information that each drug company provides, neither drug lists the other as a problem with interaction. Which most people would generally think means that it is safe to take both together. And, as has been shown by studies, some patients can take both of these drugs together, even at the same time of day, without interaction issues.
However, these studies don't always take into account the patient's age, other drugs, or specific symptoms they are having due to their alzheimers. For example, Alzheimers can cause symptoms of short term memory loss, decreased inhibitions, and hallucinations. Well....lorazepam lists all three of those symptoms as long term side effects of using the drug. Then, you add aricept, to treat the symptoms of alzheimers...but if these symptoms are actually side effects from long term lorazepam use...are you REALLY helping the problem?
There has also been a study of patients who were using these drugs together. No short term life threatening interactions were found (which is usually what is covered in the "drug interactions" of the white papers of any FDA approved drug. However, the study did find that over the long term, many many problem symptoms were found to be a result of taking these two medications together (and were not found in patients taking only one of the two drugs)...including some very concerning ones like increased agitation, tachycardia, dizziness, mental status changes, and many many others.
The very best thing you can do is to follow your doctors orders specifically for the drugs, be sure that the prescribing doctor knows of all medications, including how long the patient has been taking them, and alert the doctor to ANY new disturbing symptoms...even if they don't appear for a year or more. It seems that the most serious interactions of these two drugs occur after the patient has been taking both for 6 months or more (getting worse at the 2 year point).
Prescription science is not always very deeply understood by all doctors. It wouldn't hurt to also consult a Pharmacist...who are often far better versed in these issues than the prescribing doctor.
By proceeding, I agree that I understand the following disclosures:
I. How We Work in Washington.
Based on your preferences, we provide you with information about one or more of our contracted senior living providers ("Participating Communities") and provide your Senior Living Care Information to Participating Communities. The Participating Communities may contact you directly regarding their services.
APFM does not endorse or recommend any provider. It is your sole responsibility to select the appropriate care for yourself or your loved one. We work with both you and the Participating Communities in your search. We do not permit our Advisors to have an ownership interest in Participating Communities.
II. How We Are Paid.
We do not charge you any fee – we are paid by the Participating Communities. Some Participating Communities pay us a percentage of the first month's standard rate for the rent and care services you select. We invoice these fees after the senior moves in.
III. When We Tour.
APFM tours certain Participating Communities in Washington (typically more in metropolitan areas than in rural areas.) During the 12 month period prior to December 31, 2017, we toured 86.2% of Participating Communities with capacity for 20 or more residents.
IV. No Obligation or Commitment.
You have no obligation to use or to continue to use our services. Because you pay no fee to us, you will never need to ask for a refund.
V. Complaints.
Please contact our Family Feedback Line at (866) 584-7340 or ConsumerFeedback@aplaceformom.com to report any complaint. Consumers have many avenues to address a dispute with any referral service company, including the right to file a complaint with the Attorney General's office at: Consumer Protection Division, 800 5th Avenue, Ste. 2000, Seattle, 98104 or 800-551-4636.
VI. No Waiver of Your Rights.
APFM does not (and may not) require or even ask consumers seeking senior housing or care services in Washington State to sign waivers of liability for losses of personal property or injury or to sign waivers of any rights established under law.
I agree that:
A.
I authorize A Place For Mom ("APFM") to collect certain personal and contact detail information, as well as relevant health care information about me or from me about the senior family member or relative I am assisting ("Senior Living Care Information").
B.
APFM may provide information to me electronically. My electronic signature on agreements and documents has the same effect as if I signed them in ink.
C.
APFM may send all communications to me electronically via e-mail or by access to an APFM web site.
D.
If I want a paper copy, I can print a copy of the Disclosures or download the Disclosures for my records.
E.
This E-Sign Acknowledgement and Authorization applies to these Disclosures and all future Disclosures related to APFM's services, unless I revoke my authorization. You may revoke this authorization in writing at any time (except where we have already disclosed information before receiving your revocation.) This authorization will expire after one year.
F.
You consent to APFM's reaching out to you using a phone system than can auto-dial numbers (we miss rotary phones, too!), but this consent is not required to use our service.
However, these studies don't always take into account the patient's age, other drugs, or specific symptoms they are having due to their alzheimers. For example, Alzheimers can cause symptoms of short term memory loss, decreased inhibitions, and hallucinations. Well....lorazepam lists all three of those symptoms as long term side effects of using the drug. Then, you add aricept, to treat the symptoms of alzheimers...but if these symptoms are actually side effects from long term lorazepam use...are you REALLY helping the problem?
There has also been a study of patients who were using these drugs together. No short term life threatening interactions were found (which is usually what is covered in the "drug interactions" of the white papers of any FDA approved drug. However, the study did find that over the long term, many many problem symptoms were found to be a result of taking these two medications together (and were not found in patients taking only one of the two drugs)...including some very concerning ones like increased agitation, tachycardia, dizziness, mental status changes, and many many others.
The very best thing you can do is to follow your doctors orders specifically for the drugs, be sure that the prescribing doctor knows of all medications, including how long the patient has been taking them, and alert the doctor to ANY new disturbing symptoms...even if they don't appear for a year or more. It seems that the most serious interactions of these two drugs occur after the patient has been taking both for 6 months or more (getting worse at the 2 year point).
Prescription science is not always very deeply understood by all doctors. It wouldn't hurt to also consult a Pharmacist...who are often far better versed in these issues than the prescribing doctor.
Angel