Re: what the heck is Namentadine ? HELP ?

[Guest guest]

Namenda (brand name) (memantine is the generic name) (amantadine is a

distant " cousin " ) is newly FDA approved and manufactured here in the

US by Forest Labs. It is available in 5 mg and 10 mg tablets, so that

indicates to me that your father received Namenda (amantadine comes

in 100 mg strength). Excellent studies have been done with Namenda in

combination with Aricept, so the Namenda is usually begun in addition

to the usual dose of Aricept without alteration. (My mother takes

both with good results.) They complement each other, but the addition

of Namenda should be slowly titrated upward to a maximum dose of 10

mg morning and evening. I encourage you to look at the

www.namenda.com webpage and www.memantine.com webpage to learn about

it. It takes time to notice the possible effect - at least 3 weeks

for my mother - and longer to notice the full effect. Her muscles

became rigid as her dose increased so we lowered it back down to the

initial dose and raised her by 2.5 mg (1/2 tablet) increments more

slowly than the weekly dosage increase. I encourage p-a-t-i-e-n-c-e.

One of the researchers, neurologist Dr. Farlowe at the Indiana

University School of Medicine in Indianapolis, evaluated my mother

last June and determined that she in fact suffers from LBD and that

she was an appropriate patient to be given Namenda along with her

Aricept. (She was not part of a study group.) She has been on it

since July and maintains a good response to it. The only medication

adjustment that Dr. Farlowe recommended was to decrease her Sinemet

(carbidopa/levodopa combination) dosage and allowing her to stabilize

at that level before adding the Namenda. I chose to jump the gun on

US availability because my mother was readily declining in to late

stage, so I arranged with her family physician to prescribe it so

that I could procure it from the Netherlands until it was available

here.

A side note...this is a very expensive medication in both the 5 and

10 mg tablets. Because these patients can be so dosage sensitive I

requested that my mother receive 5 mg tablets and take 1 tablet in

the morning and two in the evening - as opposed to having the 10 mg

tablet cut for her morning dose, in case the tablet isn't cut evenly

(which is difficult to do with many tablets). My mother is covered by

an excellent prescription benefit plan (much better than mine!)so she

is very fortunate in that respect. Tablet splitting is a factor you

may want to weigh carefully if you are faced with different morning

and evening dosages.

So many drug names are so similar and are easily confused in

charting. Hospitals and nursing homes have pharmacists available to

them (wherever the pharmacy source of their medications is)and you

can certainly feel free call and discuss medications with those

pharmacists. Given the HIPAA regulations in place, the pharmacist may

be reluctant to discuss a particular patient's medication profile

unless you are listed on a release of information form, but the

pharmacist is free to discuss the medication in general and how it

might interact with a list of medications your loved one is taking.

You might consider offering a list and giving him or her time to do

some research for you and calling you back at the pharmacist's

convenience. If all of your loved one's medications are dispensed

from the same pharmacy the pharmacist(s) are more likely to spot a

possible drug interaction.

Hoping this information helps-

Deb

>

>

> Well Dad has been out of it for the last few days at the rehab

place - so I went to bug the nurses to see if they had given him any

> sleep aid or something.

>

> In going through the chart I see he was on 5 mg of Namentadine ?

What the heck is that ... no-one knew - couldn't find it in the PDR

> etc ! But he's been getting it for 4 days so its pretty suspicious

to me that he's been out of it for 3 !

>

> SO I come home do an internet search and come up with this:

>

> Memantine - which is the new Alz drug - Nemanda - which I know some

LBD folks try - so that might be OK - but if that's what it is -

> its not helping dad thats for sure.

>

> OR

>

> Amantadine (no N and there is a second a) ... which is

> For Parkinsonism, drug induced extrapyramidal reactions,

prophylaxis of Influenza A and treatment of Influenza if

> seen < than 20hrs after onset of illness; has ability to

release dopamine;

>

> My theory is the doc called in Memantine and in the transciption it

became Nemantadine and then Amantadine ant thats; what he is

> getting ???

>

> Let me know if you know anything about either of these two drugs

>

> thanks

>

> donna