My 78 year old father has been placed in ALF since October. Currently we cant even see him due to COV 19 ban which is killing us. We are very active in his care and have done it at home for almost 9 years. Since placement he has lost 20 lbs and become almost completely immobile. The hospital took him off Namenda and Excelon as they said it wasn't doing anything anymore. He is on Xanax Lexapro and Trazadone. He used to be on Seroquel but ALF took him off that. He has for the past 2 months done a series of repetitve clapping over and over and or slapping himself in the head or arm or leg and always seems agitated. This goes on all day. They have been giving him Depakote now. Only saw the effects for a week prior to the ban..it didn't seem to do much? Thoughts on this? Phone calls to the facility confirm he is still doing this. I truly believe taking him off Namenda and Excelon spread up the process and made some things worse. I also dont know if anyone can reccomend an anti psychotic that doesn't interact with Trazadone? Any help or experience appreciated when I can get back to see my Dad . They also may have changed his meds now that they will have to care for him 24 7 since we can't be there.
Please don't rely on the AL to monitor and adjust LOs meds. All they do is tell a Dr. what they are seeing and he prescribes. You may want to take the list of meds to your pharmacist and ask if any interact with each other.
Sorry to say, Drs sometimes just keep prescribing to try and solve a problem. Its the pharmacist that catches what shouldn't be taken together.
I am assuming LO has a neurologist. You need to call him/her and explain what is going on. I would say what LO is doing is an anxiety. My Moms was humming which got worse as the days went by.
Be aware too that in the elderly medications don't leave the body as quickly as in a younger person. They can build up.
Later, when she became non-verbal, she had a few terrifying episodes of anxiety, and at those times the smallest doses of Xanax were administered. Even the smallest doses caused her to sleep for as much as 30 hours at a time, which I hated, but I came to understand that it was somewhat better than the horrid agitation that she sometimes suffered.
I’m not a fan of “cocktails”, and her medical team at the time wasn't either. Almost 6 years on Zyprexa was discouraged by the manufacturer, but it worked for her.
Although these are extreme behaviors caused by his Alzheimer's, there should be something that can be done to lessen symptoms.
Just because the hospital took him off his meds doesn't mean it was the right thing to do.
His primary care physician should be on this!
And sometimes the squeaky wheel gets the grease!
God bless!!