Memantine Question? - Alzheimer's Disease & Dementia Message Board

LOVE FOR MOM · 11-05-2003, 03:21 PM

I Am Trying To Get The New Medication For My Mom.

She Is Already Taking Exelon.

Has Any One Had Any Experience With The New Drug
Memantine?

Or Both Together?

Thanks

SciTeach · 11-05-2003, 03:29 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LOVE FOR MOM

I Am Trying To Get The New Medication For My Mom.

She Is Already Taking Exelon.

Has Any One Had Any Experience With The New Drug
Memantine?

Or Both Together?

Thanks

My aunt has been taking mementine for the last few months. Her daughter has gotten it from overseas. She is taking it in conjuction with Aricept. It seemed to help at first, now it appears to be just "maintaining" her status. I was hoping for better news because my mom is in even later stages than my aunt. When it becomes available in January, I'll talk to the neurologist and see what he thinks.

Has anyone out there had really good results using the mementine??

SciTeach

camachinist · 11-05-2003, 11:17 PM

Just a general comment about the AD/dementia drugs out there right now...

There are no cures or fix-all drugs, just ones which slow the progress of the disease, in some cases to nearly a standstill. It still is a disease which is ultimately fatal.

We don't expect miracles from these meds, just a reasonable quality of life and comfort, both for the patient and for the caregivers.

The biggest difference I've noticed since Mom went on Aricept 6 months ago is that she now cognitively understands when she's running out of steam and needs to eat or rest and can comment on her confusion when fatigued. This level of cognition was absent prior to beginning the medication. We hope to experiment with Namenda when it is available via prescription (she can't afford the current exhorbitant price and has excellent insurance) and will report the results on the boards I post to as well as to the AD center which is monitoring her case long-term.

I personally haven't seen any clinical trials with Exelon and Namenda although I have seen some with Aricept and Namenda in mid stage AD. You can monitor many of the clinical trials out there through this [url=http://www.clinicaltrials.gov/ct]site[/url].

Pat

gizmolove · 11-11-2003, 09:40 AM

Mentine has been available in Europe for over 25 years, and has been used from beginning stages to later stages of this disease with great success. However, due to the growing need for this medication (and the lack thereof), here in the U.S., a similar drug (Menenda) will be marketed here early next year. I would be curious as to how this drug differs from it's Europian counterpart, (Chemically and in practical usage). If anyone can answer this question, I would be very greatful.
Gizmolove

Jacks · 11-14-2003, 11:05 AM

[QUOTE=gizmolove]Mentine has been available in Europe for over 25 years, and has been used from beginning stages to later stages of this disease with great success. However, due to the growing need for this medication (and the lack thereof), here in the U.S., a similar drug (Menenda) will be marketed here early next year. I would be curious as to how this drug differs from it's Europian counterpart, (Chemically and in practical usage). If anyone can answer this question, I would be very greatful.
Gizmolove

[/QUO

It is exactly the same drug. Forrest labs has the marketing rights in the U.S. The price of the drug is unknown at this time. We currently purchase memantine through a nonprofit org out of nyc.[url]www.Daair.org[/url] if you are interested. the cost is $135.00 per 50 10mg pills. I bet the price will be higher still when forrest labs gets Namenda to the pharmacy's after the first of the year. With over 4 million Alz patients in the U.S. and 1 million of those in late stages this is a big oppertunity for them.