My husband was given a prescription for generic Aricept and he was completely out of reality. Is this a side effect of the drug?

I just wanted to let you know that the drs certainly DO get a cut for all rx's they prescribe. these are called "perks" and they do keep track of every rx prescribed electronically. If you worked in a dotors office you would be as shocked as I am. Please research this as its 100% true. They also get perks for whom they send you to to have you have your lab work and xrays done. This money is split monthly between them if its their associate partners office.

I have no faith at all in aricept. A few years back my mother was given Aricept after a stroke. She started on a low dose and graduated to a higher dose after 10 days. Right after the increase in dosage she went into a stupor and never really improved. She may have also suffered a mini stroke. The doctors said that there was no correlation, but I think differently. I suggest you have serious talks with all the doctors so see their take on your husband's change in behavior.

Reality check here.

desert192, I am truly sorry for what you and your husband have gone through. The basic problem was a misdiagnosis. I've had some experience with that myself, and it is hellacious. I was being treated with anti-anxiety meds for what turned out to be diabetes that became life-threatening before the mistake was discovered. (Funny how none of those anti-anxiety drugs fixed y blood sugar levels.)

My husband has been taking Aricept for 8 years. When he first started taking it a neighbor, a well-respected pharmacist, came over and explained to me a lot of what you said about the drug. He said not to expect a large improvement and that the best we could hope for was to help slow down the rate of decline for a while. He was basing that advice on studies in Alzheimer's patients, and his observations of that population. But my husband does not have ALZ. He has Lewy Body Dementia, and as it turns out, Aricept is far more effective in this population! For almost all of the loved ones in my local support group and online group for this disease, it has made a remarkable difference in cognition and in reducing hallucinations. So, sorta of slightly good for ALZ, remarkably good for Lewy Body, and disasterous for your husband, who had neither of these conditions but who was misdiagnosed with one of them. I am truly sorry for the reaction your husband had, but Aricept is not poison and is not LSD.

Another example of a drug that has very different outcomes for different populations is Haldol, frequently used in emergency rooms or nursing homes to calm psychotic behavior. It is often effective for ALZ patients, but can be fatal or cause permanent damage in up to 50% of patients with LBD. My husband and I carry wallet cards with this information. The national Lewy Body Dementia Association has education of emergency room doctors as one of its goals. A good drug or a sort-of-good drug for one population can be dreadful for another population. That is one of the reasons misdiagnosis can be so destructive.

Doctors do not get payments for every Rx they write. Who would keep track, how would they prove it, and who would do the paying? Not all doctors are equally smart about handing out prescriptions, but I doubt that greed motivates their mistakes. Smart doctors try ONE drug at a time, start on very small doses, watch reactions closely (for example, tell caregivers exactly what to look for and call them about) and increase to a therauputic dose gradually when they are sure the patient tolerates it well. Not all doctors are smart about that.

Of course we keep the drug companies alive. We keep the automobile companies alive by buying cars and the farmer's markets alive by buying locally grown produce, and the incontinence products companies alive by buying pads. So what? That is hardly a reason to stop using drugs, driving cars, or eating cucumbers.

I would very much not want to be on this journey with my husband without the help of the drugs he takes.

My advice to KariSue remains the same. Seek medical advice on this change in behavior. Play detective and write down clues to discuss with the professionals.

Good luck to all of us!

Annelia, The product is call Transfer Factor Recall of 4Life Research and you can find information of the product I have been giving my Mother-In-Law for the past 3 years on this site:

I do agree you should always consult with your doctor for any medication changes. I did consult with the doctor and did research in the PDR and other many medical sites. By the way this supplement is included in the PDR (Physicians Desk Reference) and many physicians utilize these products. This is NOT a supplement that you will find in natural food or vitamin stores. This is actually not a vitamin or herb. Its a combination of a molecule that has been in research of over 50 years. Go to the site and you can print a PDF fact sheet which you may take to your physician, so he/she can determine if this would be helpful for your husband. Good luck...I hope it works well for you.

Thanks Jeannegibbs for bringing it to my attention....long day at work. Time to drink my apple juice :)

I agree with desert192, get him OFF of it. It is okay for some, but not all. There is a woman who brings her husband to daycare where my Mom went. 3 years ago he was president of a large company and now in daycare not knowing who he, or she, is. HE was given 2 statins combined and it melted part of his brain the MRI showed. Drugs can be so evil, use your gut feeling and get him off of it .Dont believe the dotors, they rarely say a drug caused something. Do you know they get paid for every rx they write and we keep the drug companies alive?
I am sorry for what you are going thru, take care.

My husband was misdiagnosed with Alzheimer's in 2009. Given Aricept. Started getting strange next day and by the 2nd day did not know me, where we were, etc. (we had been together 20 years at that time and in same house). Called psychologist who prescribed Aricept. Said drug didn't have that effect. This went on for 2 1/2 weeks with me calling Dr. every day or so (when I could get in touch with him). Finally he said "Well, take him off of it - it won't make a difference" Next day he got up wanting to go to work (had been retired for 10 years)I said we were at our home. He looked like he had been hit with a lightening bolt.He looked at me, Looked around and said "Where have I been? I don't ever want to go there again!
Internist said if symptoms started in a few days after starting drug (this applies to any new drug) that it most likely is the drug that is at fault for any reactions.
By Aricepts own literature - it takes 3 or 4 months to work. It May not work, it may work for about 6 months, or it may make the person worse. After 6 months the person will be where he would have been if he had not taken the drug.
THIS DRUG IS POISON!. (My husband had Normal pressure hydrocephalus and PTSD( from the war he served in had come back)
Many things cause cognition problems. Please check out all drugs, vitamin shortages, heart problems, anything that might be currently causing a lack of oxygen.
Aricept is on a level with LSD as far as I am concerned. I highly suspect DR.s' receive a "good payment" for prescribing this drug.

Nataly1, it was KariSue, not Annelia, who mentioned the possibility of overmedication causing cognitive problems. Annelia is the one whose husband is getting up several times a night. Hard to keep track of who said what, I know, but useful in formulating replies.

Annelia, in your post you said that a neurologist said that his dementia was caused by long term use of medication and then prescribes another drug...stop me from biting off his head but common sense says that every medication has some form of side effect and when combined with other meds it is a train wreck waiting to happen! I was horrible in chemistry (which is why I'm not a doctor) but I still fondly recall my chemistry class when I added one drop of god only knows what and the lab had to be evacuated. Adverse side effects happen daily and many go unreported. Anyone taking over two meds need to check and cross reference with a PDR (physician desk reference) or get a report from a PharmD. As for natural meds some studies show that two glasses of apple juice daily increases the production of acetylcholine in the brain- which is what Aricept does- minus the side effects which also is increased incontinence.

Annelia, that is an extremely common problem. It was THE problem we had to solve in order for me to keep my husband at home. At least in our case it was not caused by drugs, but by the dementia itself. Just about any reaction is possible with drugs, so definitely discuss this with his doctor, but I'd be surprised if the cause was those drugs. I'd appreciate the learning experience if you care to post back later after you've gotten some medical advice. May I ask what your husband's basic diagnosis is, and his age?

I would like to know what the Natural supplement is in order to do the same. Thank You

Karisue, My brother takes Aricept and it helps him so much to talk. In 2003 he had shoulder surgery and got massive case of MRSA at the hospital. Fever was 105 for 4 days and he was sepsis and almost died. After 2 months hospital stay he went home with many issues. Long story is the ( Generic Drug ) for Aricept DOES NOT work for him at all. Medicare made him take it for about 5 weeks and he lost ability to bring out his words to even talk and make sense. So sad it was. I took him back to dr and he understood our issue. I had to fight Medicare along with drs help and finally got Aricept back. He at least is able to communicate and bring out most of words. PLEASE tell the Dr the GENERIC does not work and makes him another person. I doubt it was your old house that has triggered any of this. Perhaps it does not go with some his other drugs. My mother had strokes and the Aricept & Namenda together made her very normal mentally. She later was bed ridden but the mental meds worked great for her. Hope this story helps a bit. God bless you and him. Life is so complicated because our doctors have clues in these cases but at the sametime, its all trial and error. Breaks my heart having experienced seeing and working hard on these type of problems.

My mother-in-law was diagnosed with Alzheimer about 8 years ago. She was given Aricept and Namenda. After a few days using the drug, she became anxious, had hallucinations, got a bit aggressive and was always wanting to go home and asking for her mom and dad. She kept saying I wanted to hurt her, that I had her prisoner and she needed to go home. It was terrible!! I researched the side affects about these drugs. I found over 150 complaints about Aricept from family members of patients receiving this drug. Needless to say, I mentioned this to her doctor and they agreed to allow her discontinue its use. I started giving her a Natural supplement that did the same that Aricept was suppose to do, but without the side effects. She has had Alzheimers for the last 10 years and continues to use the Natural supplement, but has been very calm, not aggressive at all, and still walks normally, eats well on her own and is still pretty alert. Although she doesn't remember anything or anyone anymore, I consider she is doing pretty well with this disease for having it for so long.

My husband is on Namenda and a low dosage Exelon Patch. He has a problem with having to get up several times each night to go to the bathroom. Does anyone else have this problem with these drugs causing this?

I have just had the same experience with Namenda which is another drug for dementia. My mother became so out of it that it was scary. The doctor told me to keep her on the drug for awhile longer but I took her off this week. She would just stand and look confused and not know what to say to anyone. It was very scary. She was on it for 5 weeks and I had enough. If you read up on these drugs they do say side effects of confusion and boy did my mom have it. If you don't trust what the doctor says and those side effects don't diminish within a couple weeks, then my personal opinion is that it is making the situation worse instead of better. One doctor my mom saw while her's was on vacation said to me that those drugs really do nothing. She was so confused that I didn't know if there was something else going on causing it. As her caregiver, I see her everyday and knew something was drastically wrong. I will see within a couple of days if it was the drug making her confused or her dementia has indeed worsened. Either way, no more drugs for her for memory....

My mother was having some physical and mental difficulties 2 months ago when she was taking Aricept and Welbutrin (an antidepressant). Both can cause dizziness and the patient needs to be sure to drink plenty of water. My mother fell three times at her AL in a month's time. The third time she broke her back and ended up in the hospital.She was dehydrated and immediately needed IV's. She had a new doctor who is tapering her completely off of the Welbutrin, and he took her off of Aricept. What a difference! She is 83 and still has cognitive impairment but is not always sleepy and slurring her speech.
She had a stroke so has aphasia, but now is aware of her difficulties and smiles and jokes about it instead of not even noticing she has it. She is in a Rehab where the staff is almost 6:1--much better. I hope you are receiving positive help and encouragement from your family and friends. Praise God you are still keeping your covenant of marriage, and looking for ways to bless your husband. I prayed for you today. May the Lord bless you and give you continued grace. Is your husband open to reading the Bible (particularly Psalms) and John 1? As a Christian I receive much needed grace, comfort and strength from God's word. God bless you! I hope your doctor will be able to come up with some answers.Please keep us updated.

It is possible it is a drug reaction. It is possible it was triggered (but not caused) by seeing the old house. It is possible that something else altogether is behind this change in behavior.

If he is seeing more than one doctor (which seems likely), I hope they each know all the medication (including any OTC) he takes. But you've been at this a number of years and I suppose you know that.

Drug reactions are highly individualized. Certainly Aricept doesn't cause that kind of reaction in the overwhelming majority of patients who take it. But that doesn't mean it is impossible for that reaction to occur, especially considering the number of other drugs your husband takes.

Certainly you need to discuss this with the doctor who prescribed Aricept and perhaps with the other doctors familiar with his case. A sudden and severe change in behavior needs to be investigated.

It sounds like you and your husband really have a lot of health issues to deal with, and at such a young age. I wish you a speedy resolution to this particular crisis.

You should be running this by his doctor, but in the meantime, can you look up for yourself the possible drug interferences for Aricept? I'm all for becoming an expert on physical problems when they arise, so I don't look like an idiot in front of the doctor when I ask questions. But then that's just my little quirk. I'm a research junkie when it's something that I don't understand.