Hi Again,
There are two kinds of drugs prescribed for those diagnosed with Alzheimer's. One is in the general catagory for the treatment of the illness it's self. Those drugs are: Aricept; Exlon; and Reminyl. Aricept is generally prescribed because it is said to have the fewest side effects and is most tolerated. Now I don't know nor can I say that this is true, or if it's just the result of Pfizer's good advertising and marketing campaign. I'm not a doctor nor a scientist.
The next set of drugs prescribed are for the symptoms (only) of this disease. Many people who experience the disease of Alzheimer's are on drugs to combat the symptoms. Symptoms such as aggitation; depression; combativeness; mood swings; panic attacks; paranoia; and phycosis, just to name a few. These drugs are prescribe as the need to address such symptoms appear.
All such medications need to be prescribed and carefully monitored by a qualitied professional. Therefore it is important for the person's caregiver to be in frequent communication with the Health Care Professional. You can find a lot of information about the basic Alzheimer's Drugs by going on line. Use your search engine or browser to do a search for key words like:
Aricept - or Pfizer
Excelon
Reminyl
Or you can do a more specific search like:
Aricept + discontinue
Alzheimer's + depression
Alzheimer's + symptoms
etc. etc.
There is ton's of research out there. But, I have been posting on Alzheimer's web sites for over 3 years now. The common story is that someone was taken off Aricept for one reason or another, and some weeks later the symptoms were so bad that the person was put back on. Only to find out that the person never did go back to the better way they were, before the drug was discontinued. Aricept is not a cure. It is only an inhibitor. It only keep small threads of "normal" thinking together for a short time. It kinda masks the most sever symptoms of the disease. And after a year or two it is thought to be of no more effect, because the symptoms get worse....Well they naturally will anyway. So the unknowing doctor says it's not working any more, and the patient stops. Then they find that the patient goes down a very slippery road very quickly. But by the time this happens, the damage id done, and the patient can never recover. Problem is that instead of stopping the drug at a year or two, that the drug should naturally be raised. Some doctors are reluctent to raise the dosage over 5 or 10 MG. However, current research shows that the drug can be raised effectively to up to 15 even 20 MG per day. And many find that the increased dosage was most effective in stalling off the worst of the Alzheimer;s symptoms.
All this is of course just my own personal opinion. AS I say I am not a doctor nor a scientist. But, I think that the best way to handle your situation is to go to your family Doctor. He is trusted and that degree of trust did not come without some marit. You wouldn't expect him as a general practitioner to do heart surgery if needed, would you? Of course not. That doesn't mean that he is a bad doctor. Just not the right doctor in this case. Asked to be refered to a local professional in the fiield of Alzheimer's in your area. Get him to the appropriate professional and get him on a good, effective treatment program. Then communicate often as to his symptoms and the effectiveness of his medications to address your concerns. Much can be gained from this approach. Your mom's doctor can still be the family doctor and is placed in a role of respect and guidance. The new doctor who specilises in Alzheimer's will be probably more effective in his treatment. And your mom and step-dad can live a better quality of life. It's a win win situation all around.
Hope this helps,
Gizmo
Re: meds 
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