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Is It Advisable To Stop Azilect When Suffering From Dementia?
Question: Dr. Ivo has answered some of my questions and knows my husband's history. Since he has the DBS can I take him off of azelect without complications? He has a lot of side effects from it and this is the only medicine he can somewhat tolerate. I thought most of his confusion and hallucinations were from his dementia but reading the side effects of azelect it seems the medication is causing all of these problems.
Brief Answer:
I will suggest that you talk to his doctor about the following......
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thanks for this followup question.
I understand your concerns about the possible side effects if this medication. Hallucination and confusion are possible side effects as you have mentioned. However, these are also possible with dementia, It becomes difficult given the fact that he has both disease conditions to tell what the exact problem is.
My recommendation would be that you suggest to the treating doctor to suspend the medication for 1-2weeks. During this time, you would keep a careful record of all his symptoms to see whether he's doing a lot better or not. If he's improving, then this drug might be the cause. if he's not improving, then definitely this drug is not the cause. This way, you will have a real experience to tell whether this drug is the cause of his symptoms or rather the dementia.
In all, I recommend after discussion with his treating physician to stop Azilect for 1-2weeks and evaluate his confusion and hallucination. The results would help us make the difference between the drug as a possible cause of these symptoms or dementia.
I hope this is helpful and guiding enough. I wish your husband well. Thanks for using our services and feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be. Keep me updated about this and what your doctor says.
I will suggest that you talk to his doctor about the following......
Detailed Answer:
Hi and thanks for this followup question.
I understand your concerns about the possible side effects if this medication. Hallucination and confusion are possible side effects as you have mentioned. However, these are also possible with dementia, It becomes difficult given the fact that he has both disease conditions to tell what the exact problem is.
My recommendation would be that you suggest to the treating doctor to suspend the medication for 1-2weeks. During this time, you would keep a careful record of all his symptoms to see whether he's doing a lot better or not. If he's improving, then this drug might be the cause. if he's not improving, then definitely this drug is not the cause. This way, you will have a real experience to tell whether this drug is the cause of his symptoms or rather the dementia.
In all, I recommend after discussion with his treating physician to stop Azilect for 1-2weeks and evaluate his confusion and hallucination. The results would help us make the difference between the drug as a possible cause of these symptoms or dementia.
I hope this is helpful and guiding enough. I wish your husband well. Thanks for using our services and feel free to ask for more information and clarifications if need be. Keep me updated about this and what your doctor says.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Vinay Bhardwaj
Answered by
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