Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as I had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any of yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others like seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 I am a health care professional (Nurse Practitioner) and live in Phoenix, Arizona. My 81 year old Mom has LBD and was diagnosed 4 years ago. I can tell you from a professional and personal standpoint that the following drugs are NOT recommended for elderly patients with dementia: Seroquel, Risperdal, Zyprexa, Haldol. Zoloft works very well for depression. Aricept has mixed responses(some good, some not). Sinimet is used if there are strong Parkinson-like symptoms.Although my Mother does not have any physical reason to have swallowing problems she insists that she can only eat baby food and will gag and " choke " on anything else we try to give her even if it has the same consistency as the baby food.She constantly talks about people who have long been deceased. My father is still alive and doing very well at 86. They both live with me and my husband. Mom is a handful--cannot follow directions and will not take any initiative to make progress. We have to make her walk or else she would just be perfectly content to be wheeled around in the wheelchair. We have to make her participate in bathing or dressing or else she would just sit and not make any effort to dress or wash herself. She is totally incontinent although she could easily be bowel trained as she seems to " go " the same time every day. She just doesn't " get it " and it makes it hard to get her to cooperate. This is the toughest patient I ever had and at times I am so frustrated and exhausted I have to walk away and pull myself together. Ann zoloft last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as I had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any of yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others like seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! Welcome to LBDcaregivers. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -- Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 My Mother takes Zoloft and Seroquel and there have been no bad interactions. The Zoloft has helped my Mother be calmer. The doctor started her out on a low dosage and then after a few weeks doubled it. in Dallas > last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as I > had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was > afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I > notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself > sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes > out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any of > yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others like > seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 2, 2005 Report Share Posted June 2, 2005 Grazia, in the first year when my dad was on Seroquel he was also put on an anti-depressant, I don't think it was Zoloft but I can't remember the name of it. It DID help and brightened and stabilised his mood. But gradually as Seroquel got increased this together with the anti-depressant and other medications he was taking for heart, blood pressure etc. all made him over-medicated. He was admitted to hospital to a short stay unit and they weaned him off everything and re-introduced only those things he absolutely needed - they took him OFF the anti-depressant and he seemed none the worse for it........so who knows. If it doesnt directly interact with his drugs I'd say where's the harm in trying Zoloft anyway......most things with LBD are trial and error as no two patients seem to react the same way. We had really good results with Seroquel for about a year yet I heard someone mention earlier that it is NOT recommended for someone with LBD.....all I know is dads hallucinations and general memory problems were helped by taking it. But it's effects DID wear off eventually and he was changed to Exelon as I mentioned before. Just be careful that once an anti-depressant is added he isn't getting over-medicated, my dad got too sleepy, couldn't do very much for himself etc. and this went on for months, but he was having brief periods of anxiety & anger etc. and sometimes a GP would come out to the house and also give him short term valium treatments as well - sometimes we were throwing this that and the other at the problem hoping something - anythying - might help. On top of this he was also on low dosage sleeping medication - this was also withdrawn when he went into hospital. In hospital with routines and regular changes of staff it doesn't matter if he has a night or two up walking around, but at home with my 78 year old mother as his main carer it was very different and sometimes the sleeping medication was just very necessary. All you can do is the best you can at the time with the information you have, it might not always be right & perfect, but your doing your best. My husband was on the computer earlier and said you had come back on but he doesn't know about the LBD group or how to use Messenger. We are connected to internet all the time so I probably always show as online. zoloft last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as I had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any of yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others like seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! Welcome to LBDcaregivers. ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Grazia, My dad was on Zoloft but the Neuropsychiatrist changed him to Remeron. He does well on that but still seems quite depressed sometimes. He takes it before he goes to bed at night, it is supposed to help him sleep better too. Hope that helps. Donna P. > last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as I > had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was > afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I > notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself > sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes > out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any of > yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others like > seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Hello, My mom has been on zoloft for about a year. Seroquel was added in January for hallucinations. Doing fine so far, the best combination we've had, and it seems as if the doctor tried them all. Relatively low dosages of both. She's also on synthyroid and has been for almost 45 years. Theresa in MN Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 Hi Grazia, My mom has been taking Celexa - another anti-depressant - since the very beginning and I think it has helped her. Courage x_grazia wrote: > last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as > I > had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was > afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I > notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself > sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes > out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any > of > yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others > like > seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! > > > > > Welcome to LBDcaregivers. > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 3, 2005 Report Share Posted June 3, 2005 HI Ann, I suppose the human brain will remain a mystery to us all. I hear you about the meds that aren't recommended. I drove myself around the bend regarding moms meds but in the end I did go with letting her have Seroquel because she was suffering so from high anxiety and hallucinations. Mom is at the last stage and would be bed-ridden if we didn't have one of those reclining wheelchairs so that we can at least move her about. She hardly cares as she basically sleeps anyway but there was a time when wheeling about was very fun for her and me. Personally, I decided years ago to just go with this disease and work with it rather than against it. Everything was must better and it was less stressful for both me and mom. I had mom in diapers perhaps earlier than she needed to be because I was so frightened that she might fall again (she had fallen twice at home which scared us all to death). I'm sure you must have a million ideas about how to care for our LO's and I'd be really happy to hear them. In this group, we have come up with some pretty creative ideas on how to cope but we can always use some more. Hang in there Ann. Courage Ann Tyrrell wrote: > I am a health care professional (Nurse Practitioner) and live in > Phoenix, > Arizona. My 81 year old Mom has LBD and was diagnosed 4 years ago. I > can > tell you from a professional and personal standpoint that the > following > drugs are NOT recommended for elderly patients with dementia: > Seroquel, > Risperdal, Zyprexa, Haldol. Zoloft works very well for depression. > Aricept > has mixed responses(some good, some not). Sinimet is used if there are > > strong Parkinson-like symptoms.Although my Mother does not have any > physical > reason to have swallowing problems she insists that she can only eat > baby > food and will gag and " choke " on anything else we try to give her even > if it > has the same consistency as the baby food.She constantly talks about > people > who have long been deceased. My father is still alive and doing very > well at > 86. They both live with me and my husband. Mom is a handful--cannot > follow > directions and will not take any initiative to make progress. We have > to > make her walk or else she would just be perfectly content to be > wheeled > around in the wheelchair. We have to make her participate in bathing > or > dressing or else she would just sit and not make any effort to dress > or wash > herself. She is totally incontinent although she could easily be bowel > > trained as she seems to " go " the same time every day. She just doesn't > " get > it " and it makes it hard to get her to cooperate. This is the toughest > > patient I ever had and at times I am so frustrated and exhausted I > have to > walk away and pull myself together. > Ann > zoloft > > > last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as > I > had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was > > afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I > > notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself > > sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes > > out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any > of > yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others > like > seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! > > > > > Welcome to LBDcaregivers. > > > > > > - > -------------------------------------------------------------------------- > > -- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest guest Posted June 4, 2005 Report Share Posted June 4, 2005 Hi Courage and Buon giorno Grazia When you mentioned Celexa I thought I would mention my mom. She was on Celexa for depression when she was diagnosed with Alzheimers. However when she was rediagnosed with LBD, the Specialist changed the antidepressant to Wellbutrin. I understood that this one was better for LBD. Take care Doris gaat wrote: Hi Grazia, My mom has been taking Celexa - another anti-depressant - since the very beginning and I think it has helped her. Courage x_grazia wrote: > last year, the neurologist has advised giving my dad some zoloft, as > I > had seen him depressed. Then I had avoided giving him, because I was > afraid to introduce a new med and the symptoms were mixed...Lately I > notice again a heavy depression besides all other things, he himself > sometimes tells me that he feels " bored " , its normal , he never goes > out, never talks with anyone of his age...What I wonder is: does any > of > yr LOs take some Zoloft? could this med interact badly with others > like > seroquel? Any suggetions is appreciated: thank u! > > > > > Welcome to LBDcaregivers. > > > > > --------------------------------------------------------------- > Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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