My Uncle was in a home for Assisted Living for Memory Impared. He had dementia.He was on a small does of trazadone (25 mg) once a day. He was a very small man and weighed less than 100 lbs. He got pnuemonia and was in the hospital over a week, went to a nursing home to rehab. They put him on 250 mg at night or morning and 450mg night or morning. I forget which way. And there was another one they were giving him so he was very "zombie" like.I would go in and complain every day (I am his guardian) saying how can he rehab or get better if he is too drugged to do anything. By the end of the week he was very dehydrated, sent to the hospital and admitted with different problems. He is not in hospice with a day or 2 left. It is still really bothering me about how much medication they gave him. By the time he left the hospital and a couple of days at the nursing home I would guess he weighed about 90 lbs. Am I over reacting?
I am a huge proponent of drug therapy in dementia. It did wonders for my husband's quality of life throughout his ten-year journey. BUT each and every drug should have a specific purpose and should be monitored closely for how well it is meeting that purpose and for side-effects. Just because 50 mg of trazadone was helping doesn't mean 700 mg would be better! (And just because 700 mg is awful doesn't mean 50 wouldn't be good.)
When it comes to drugs for dementia, one size does not fit all! A doctor needs to be willing to try only one drug at a time, start at a low dose, titrate it up gradually, and be willing to give it up and try something else. Not all doctors are that patient and knowledgeable!