Megz, look for messages here by barbara rose, if she doesn't see your
message try emailing her. She has LO with similar problem. Not sure what
reminyl is called in the UK the most common drugs here are memantine (aka
namenda in US) and aricept.
Obviously he is just using side effects as an excuse not to take them,
(given that the side effects of alchoholism are terminal & he's not looking
at giving that up I notice) so I would recommend the simple expedient of
lying*. Can you come up with a plausible resaon as to what they are, that he
would be happy with? Relable the bottle if necessary or take the pills out
and put them in a dispenser?

(first time user, i don't know if i am posting reply right to
tumbleweed...)
i had a disagreement with my brother about the ethics of giving someone
something they don't want to take. i presented a similar arguement "would
you let a two year old..." about giving him the drugs and he (my brother)
got all righteous about my dads civil rights. so, it is a problem within
the family, but i am doing it anyway because i feel as though this drug
can give him a chance to keep his mind and some dignity. now, with
possible side effects surfacing after two weeks (a report of double
vision) I am guilty. the doctor seems sympathetic to me, but i understand
he might be sticking his neck out (ethically) too, which is why I don't
want to call him. it is complicated.
Any logical conversation I have with my dad is soon washed away by the
alcohol.
i will look for the posts by Rose, but i am working so i will have to look
in the evening. thanks for you response.

This may seem harsh but IMO you are probably wasting your time until you get
the alcoholism stopped. You either need to make a decision to intervene and
assume full responsibility for your father's care or let him keep drinking
and not worry about his declining memory. At age 85 the damage is done and
any memory improvement will be slight and temporary at best.
You might get his driver's license revoked unless he happens to live within
walking distance of the liquor store.   best

Take charge of an alcoholic? Sigh. Although this is somewhat off the
subject... (reminyl and alcohol effects.)He gave up driving years ago. He
can walk to the store. He denies the problem, hides the bottles and is
actually quite brilliant and devious at the same time. My worst nightmare?
That he will lose his mind and his body will survive another ten years -
longevity is in his genes. he is on no other medication. i have to say, i
tried navigating the families of alcoholic forums and there seem to be so
many troubled people there...they say that alcoholic dementia and
alzheimers are treated the same, which is why i decided to look for advice
here.

Memantine (aka Reminyl, Axura and Ebixa) is an NMDA antagonist and
ethanol inhibits the NMDA receptor current (sorta like a dimmer
switch).  In English ;-), glutamate is an excitatory neurotransmitter
which gets out of whack in AD.  Take memantine to slow things down BUT
being an alcoholic will slow things even further.  What sort of
symptoms does he have?  

Here is yet another interesting case where memantine is apparently not
prescribed alongside a traditional AD medication such as Aricept (a
so-called acetylcholinesterase inhibitor) .  I suspect that the first
thing the doctor would have considered is a B-vitamin deficiency and
as Tumbleweed mentioned, see Barbara's post for more info.  If you
can't find the post on your computer, go to:

http://groups.google.com

and search for the following (include the quotes):

"Problem with Mum's alcohol"

Darryl.

Hello Megan

Yes, I know exactly what you are going through as I have had this same
situation with both my mother and father.  My father is now dead but the
problem is ongoing with my mother who drinks a litre (35 ozs a day) but
denies it.

She was living with us for two years and in complete denial, would never
admit how much she was drinking and I really don't think she even
remembered.  She was put on reminyl, in England it is called Aricept and
eventually she was diagnosed with Vit B deficiency and has to take folic
acid, iron and Vit B shots every month.

Like your Dad she doesn't see that she should cut down her drinking but now
she is in a residential home and her latest blood tests have caused the
doctor to limit her sherry to 1/2 pt a day.  Of course she is not happy with
this and swears she hardly drinks, all in the same breath.  It has affected
her responses, memory and all functions.  To be honest at her age (almost
89) I don't see the point of prolonging her life by depriving her of what
she has drunk for over 20 years, but I am no longer in charge of her
medication and the doctor is adamant that she must limit her intake.

I asked the doctor about whether the alcohol interferes with the medication
and she said a moderate alcohol intake would be fine, but not what your
father is drinking.  I too, am having a problem with certain members of the
family championing 'human rights' so I know how you feel and any
conversation with my Mum is a waste of time as she forgets the minute she
has finished her sentence.  I also am living your fear, she has lost her
mind but her body is very well and all her family have lived to very old
age.  I think that at an advanced age the brain cells have already been
destroyed and there is little point in trying to
stop them drinking when it is their only pleasure.

I really feel for you because I am in the same situation.  In my case I made
the very difficult decision to put Mum into care as I couldn't cope any
more.  It was only a matter of time before she had a bad accident as she was
always falling after drinking and became very aggressive and hard to handle.
If you have any more questions that I can help with let me know.  I also
know what it's like when they won't eat and only want the drink.

Take care

Barb in UK

re: boydett and dpharris. thank you. i think what is especially sad is the
people with alzheimers have no choice in the matter. the alcoholic has the
option to modify or correct his behavior. at one point, in the seventies,
he was told to see a psychiatrist (by the firm he was working for,) who
suggested that he was manic depressive and should be medicated. those that
lived with him agreed - he did not. he has been self medicating with the
alcohol since he was sixteen. hopefully, we are becoming more aware of
chemical imbalances in the brain that lead to addiction. although it
always depends on the individual resolve to conquer it. thanks again.megan