My father has never been a violent or angry person.
My father was on Aricept, but I was not able to get his dosage reliably. He is on Memantine 10 mg he was only getting his morning dose.
When he moved into an assisted living he was immediately moved to Memantine 10 mg AM & PM and I found out they started his Aricept at 5 mg at night and 10 mg in the morning. I challenged the nurse to check and see if the Aricept dose was incorrect and they looked into the computer and said they were giving him what was prescribed. I challenged them that he was having severe issues with lightheadedness,
new, stomach pain, and nausea. I went to the head nurse and she confirmed that the dosage was incorrect.
My questions are:
1. Could the incorrect dosages make my Dad violent and aggressive (he is in the hospital now and restrained)?
2. Could this cause a permanent change in his brain chemistry?
3. Can this be corrected?
4. Or is the aggression a progression of the disease?
The only way to know if it's the medication is to take him off of both (Aricept and Memantine) under his doctor's supervision, and see what happens.
"Usual Adult Dose for Alzheimer's Disease:
Initial dose: 5 mg orally once a day, in the evening prior to retiring
Mild to moderate Alzheimer's disease:
-Maintenance dose: 10 mg orally once a day, after the patient has been on an initial dose of 5 mg once a day for 4 to 6 weeks
Moderate to severe Alzheimer's disease:
-Maintenance dose: 23 mg orally once a day, after the patient has been on a dose of 10 mg once a day for at least 3 months
Comments: A higher dose of 10 mg may or may not provide a statistically significantly greater clinical benefit than a 5 mg dose. Prescriber and patient's preference should be considered.
Uses: For mild, moderate, and severe Alzheimer's type dementia"
Here is the article
https://www.drugs.com/aricept.html
Aggression does not seem a symptom. But she could be allergic to it or she is on a med it does work well with. If the agression started with the med, you need to call the doctor.
Any medication can have impact on the brain that you can't necessarily foresee. You see ads for 'new meds' on TV all the time and then when they roll the 'contraindications' at the end of the ad--good grief, it's amazing what all is possible.
One thing you can be sure of is that his disease is progressive and does not 'get better'.
Best to call the Dr., in the meantime, a good source of prescription drug info is your pharmacist!!