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Anyone’s Loved One In The Early Stages Have Digestive/toilet Issues? My Husband Had Lost Almost 70 Lbs. And Is Having Digestive Issues.
He had his gallbladder out 2 years ago and I know these are symptoms of cancer. So I am just trying to cover all my bases before we panic.
@A myALZteam Member I have read the article @A myALZteam Member posted. That study concludes that there is a slightly greater chance that Donepezil would aggravate weight loss tendencies. But other studies have found the opposite. It depends on the selection of participants in the study.
As Helen strongly suggested to look also for other possible causes of weight loss, that would also my advice.
Two weeks off Donepezil would be a too short period to draw any meaningful conclusions. As my wife’s cognition has improved since she started taking Donepezil I would prefer her to continue with it.
In our case she is a patient of a neurologist who is actively involved with clinical trials and works in a major academic medical centre in France. So I completely trust his judgement.
He has proposed to take her off Memantine after a half year trial with taking both meds.
That would mean the opposite of « donepezil first and then memantine. ». Both drugs act on different neurotransmitters. My wife has ALZ and also Lewy Body Dementia, which are two different diseases, although many symptoms are identical.
There is a debate going on between Helen, @A myALZteam Member and myself on the page of @A myALZteam Member where we examine weight loss and gain issues. I think, if I may speak for the others, that weight loss is very complex issue, and also that keeping records of body weight can reveal interesting trends.
You can also find some more ideas on weight loss on my Updates page.
Just chiming in, my wife takes both there is also a pill thatcombines both meds.
@A myALZteam Member: Memantine is the generic form of the brand-name drug Namenda. It’s an NMDA antagonist, a different class of drugs than Donepizil, so it works differently in the body.
As the patient progresses, Memantine is typically the drug that follows Donepezil. (Donepezil is generally used for mild-to-moderate stages; then Memantine is used for moderate-to-severe stages.)
Memantine is frequently prescribed for agitation and sundowning. However, it isn’t suitable for everyone: for example, it’s not for someone who has seizures or heart disease or bladder problems, etc.
Thank you . His primary had us take him off the donepezil for two weeks starting yesterday and his neuro said ok to stopping it but tried to prescribe another drug that started with an m. The name currently escapes me. We declined, want to wait and see if getting him off the donepezil stops the diarrhea and loose multiple bowel movements. Started on digestive enzymes & probiotics as well so I’ll keep you posted. Also he was overweight originally (not anymore) so maybe that’s why PC want too concerned.
@A myALZteam Member: You don't specify what the "digestive issues" are, but if it was my hubby with an unexplained 70-lb weight loss plus digestive issues, I would be taking him to the Gastroenterologist and I would also be insisting to both the Primary Care Doctor and Neurologist that SOMETHING is wrong here. I'd be making some noise. Unless he was very overweight to begin with, he must have lost a pretty significant percentage of his original weight, which is definitely a concern.
Donepezil certainly COULD be a culprit -- but ALL of his medications should be looked at, as possible contributors to the problem. (Sometimes it's one medication, but sometimes it's the interaction between two or more medications that causes an issue.)
Here's an article about weight loss and Donepezil (a cholinesterase inhibitor). The screenshot below is the most important section of that article, in my opinion.
I'm also including a link to a resource about some of the possible side effects of Donepezil.
I truly hope this info is helpful to you. Please keep us posted.
https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4737921/
https://www.goodrx.com/donepezil/common-side-ef...
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