reminyl

[Guest guest]

> Dear All,

>

> I have been in London for the last few days and so have just

> caught up on the discussion about reminyl and my doctor's

> explanation about its ability to treat the disease rather than

> the symptoms and so thought it would be useful to clarify this

> and give you some more details.

>

> Last January my mum and I were offered the possibility of using

> this drug as an " anti dementia " drug. It was explained to us

> that it could not reverse or halt the progression of the disease

> itself but it could improve the cognitive function in some

> patients, often by 20% and for some lucky people by up to 40%.

> It was explained that we could just let the disease take its

> course (my dad is 89 years old) or we could try this which could

> help the dementia side of his problems, (but not the

> hallucinations). Initially he would be on a half dose which

> would only give a slight improvement, just to ensure there were

> no problematical side effects.

>

> We agreed for my dad to try this and even on the half dose we

> noticed a marked improvement in his cognitive abilities and

> there were no discernible side effects.

>

> The type of thing that was noticeable was that he found it easy

> to tell the time on a clock or watch and before had been having

> difficulty, his memory for recent events or events that were

> going to happen (like a visit of a relative next Tuesday for

> example) or for people's names did not become perfect, but there

> was a big improvement and on most days he can still do a

> newspaper crossword. He also became much better able to cope

> with his hallucinations and to rationalise them.

>

> With the increase to full dose, things improved further, he can

> now remember addresses of family members - this he had found

> difficult for a long time and his brain just appeared much

> sharper.

>

> Until he had the problem with vomiting one morning, he was doing

> extremely well, understanding the nature of LBD and coming to

> terms with the fact that it would be with him always and would

> be progressive and yet able to enjoy such things as attending

> football matches or visiting parks or the seaside.

>

> Even in the middle of his horrifying hallucination a week or so

> ago (which I mentioned in my last posting) when he really

> believed there were people in the room wrecking the furniture,

> he was able to say to me " will I ever be the same as I was a few

> days ago, or is this how it is going to be until the end? "

> We are very lucky, I think, reminyl appears to have really

> worked for my dad, even though the vomiting episode may be

> connected with the use of the drug. It has restored more

> quality of life for him in the time that he has left with us.

>

> By the statement " treating the disease " , I think the doctor

> means that it actually intervenes and improves the function of

> the brain, in a proactive sense, rather than reacting to the

> symptoms as, for example a sleeping pill can help if someone is

> unable to sleep.

>

> I hope this lengthier explanation of our experience is helpful.

>

>

>

>

>