Originally Posted by trueimage
My dad has dementia. I had asked the doc if it were possible for my dad to take anti depressants and if that would help the mood swings. He just gave my dad a questionaire and decided dad wasn't depressed. ugh....! The mood swings are horrible and he is not the same loving man that raised me. I'm going to bring it up to the doc again. It's a painful disease for the family.
Just because someone has an MD, doesn't mean they know everything about every disease.
A freaking questionnaire to determine if someone is depressed? For an AZ patient to fill out?
You're kidding, right?
Find a new doctor. Call the local AZ chapter in your city and ask for recommendations for a Neurologist and/or a Geri-Psychiatrist, who specializes in Dementia.
There are other drugs that might help your father, including anti-psychotics. My mother is now on Zyprexa and has been for around 5 months. She's not zonked out at all, just a lot calmer, A LOT, than before. She also takes Fluoxetine (Prosac generic). She does still have her moments every now and then, but life is much more pleasant for everyone.
She was originally prescribed Symbyax, which is a combo of the Zyprexa/Prosac (well, their generics). It was crazy ridiculous expensive, so I broke it down, and now get the Zyprexa generic from Canada, and the Prosac generic here.
Bliss.
Really, the changes were almost immediate. And, yes, I've read the warnings. Which, when you dig down a bit, aren't as dire. But would you rather have your father/mother raging 20 hours a day?
I would also have your father checked for a UTI (urinary tract infection). I wasn't aware until recently that these can cause havoc in (elderly) dementia patients. They go undetected, and drs often don't check because they don't know. But the patient doesn't realize anything is wrong, or can't communicate, and there are sometimes no symptoms other than the totally erratic, aggressive, out-of-control behavior. Start with the UTI check first.