Mother 's dementia -whether to take memantine with aortic stenosis

[Liz1tummypain]

I realise the need to take proper professional advice and not depend upon the advice of other internet folk but just wanted to see if anyone has heard of/ been in a similar position.

My mum had tests, was due to see a psychiatrist ( I think that was her title), last week but they had to postpone for odd reason. Rescheduled for this week. Meanwhile I called to ask what the verdict was . Originally it was called a mental impairment but I was told it is dementia caused by late onset Alzheimers. I know nothing about this subject.

At the rescheduled meeting, they will break the news to mum and hope to raise the plan/ possibility of my mum taking memantine, which I understand is said to slow down memory loss. However at the start of this year she had a bad episode after which severe aortic valve stenosis was diagnosed and her health has drastically declined. Breathless, a little wobbly, physically weak, a little unsure of herself. This is now combined with ( what we've all long suspected), the dementia.

So, apologies for the long blurb, but could this new medicine conflict with the heart condition? She used to have neuropathy down her legs and the docs then said although a possible medicine exists it would make her very unsteady so they declined to give it. Which I could understand. Mum lives alone. Has carers twice a day plus me and brother some or most days. Am about to get a falls pendant for her soon.

Does anyone know about the drug memantine please? And how it combines with heart conditions?

Thanks in advance

You can read the interactions on the BNF site, hopefully both her medical and psych team will look at her condition, drug interactions and if its safe to prescribe, if she's on any other medication then the doctor and pharmacist should assess this. Is she having any treatment for her stenosis. This could also be a good time to reassess her home situation and safety, if her health is deteriorating and she's a high falls risk she may need an increased care package or residential care, it's so difficult isn't it, with medication there's always the risk of interactions and side effects.

I won't comment on drug interactions as that's for a pharmacist or GP.
What I would say is that I was very surprised when my mother started taking galantamine is that the biggest impact was physically. She became less wobbly and her gait much improved. She started doing physical things which she had previously been too weak to do eg gardening, changing a bed. You may find it is not just the heart condition/ age making her wobbly.
She did have quite a few side effects in the first few weeks (basically stopped eating) so worth keeping a close eye (sounds like you are anyway).
Good luck, it's a difficult journey.

@Smallinthesmoke thanks for your kind hearted response. That's very interesting to think it could help with her weakness/ wobbliness. Thanks yes, I'll keep an eye out for odd side effects too. Many thanks

@MissMoneyFairy thanks, yes she'll be on quite a few tablets if she does start this one.

She isn't on anything for the stenosis besides a water tablet. Also blood thinners and statins. One of the cardiac doctors, in fact I think more than one has indicated that the prognosis for her heart condition is pretty poor. We're only looking at one to two more years. I don't want her to go into a home unless it's really important. She won't make friends and I can imagine she'd go downhill very fast if/ when it got to that position. Thanks for answering. Yes I'll see what the bnf website says. Thank you.

Oh dear, she sounds frail, there's always an added risk with blood thinners if someone is unsteady and falls too. Ask if she has been referred to the falls clinic, there are also adaptations you can get from the therapists to reduce the risk of falling, also a keysafe, falls detector, all sorts of things to make life a bit easier. Wishing you all the best.

My father has mixed dementia- alzheimers and vascular. He was not offered medication for the alzheimers due to side effects that may have increased his falls (he was already suffering from these) and possible interactions with his other comorbidities. The medics did a thorough assessment and he was quite happy to not take this additional medication.

Dad was formally diagnosed in early 2024. The progression continued and by the end of the year living with us was clearly going to have to be permanent. If we get respite he goes into a home.

Good luck! My Dad's recently taken a downward step and we are juggling anger/frustration, agitation, change of character, packing to leave our house as well as no longer making sense (but expecting an answer!).