Question:
Can anyone give me advice on the right medication for my partner age 79years who is suffering from loss of memory, she has a memory span of about20 seconds, compulsive obsessive disorder.ie,checking everything all day. Ihave to repeat my self over and over again and again .At the moment she ison ANAFRANIL 25mgs x2 per day which have very little effect plus all hertabs for her disability osteoarhritus .whilst I appreciate the help givenby her GP I feel that she does not have experience of dementia patients Ifeel that i am becoming brain dead,and loosing the will to live

Can anyone give me some suggestions???

Answer: Caregiving is associated with depression for sure. It is in everything youread about the subject. I experienced it myself, though I never thought itwould happen to me. You have absolutely got to deal with it or it willmake your life unbearable.

Please take care of yourself. You cannot care for anyone if you are notfeeling well yourself. You need to get a break now and then or you willnot be able to cope. Contact the alzheimer association in your area, andsee what options are available to you in alternate care plans for yourpartner. Daycare was a godsend to us. We could handle it because we hadour days to ourselves to rest or to shop or take care of business. Evenstill it was hard.

You are absolutely right in that your loved one needs proper medication forher dementia, and fortunately there ARE several good ones out there.Aricept, Reminyl, Namenda, and others. If you feel she is not doing well,I would suggest you bring her to a gerontologist or a psychiatric doctor whospecializes in elderly problems. Regular GP's don't always know what drugsto use. I was extremely fortunate in that my GP worked with me all the waywith the latest and best drug combinations that helped my mother in law.

From what you say, the repetitions, the short term memory problems and theobsessive compulsive checking over and over again are exactly what my motherin law was experiencing when she first evidenced signs of alzheimers.

You need to get a real and proper diagnosis and to move on from there.There IS help out there but you have to make an effort to get it.